Why and How Great Leaders Make the Hard Decisions
Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. It’s about being willing to make decisions, especially the hard ones.
Years ago, one of my store managers asked me a question she could have easily answered on her own. She wanted input, but I knew she had what she needed to act. My response was simple: “Make a decision,” and I walked away. Looking back, I might have handled it more thoughtfully, but the core message still holds. If you’re in a leadership role, you need to lead. That means stepping up when the path isn’t clear and taking responsibility for the choices that move the business forward.
Let’s talk about what that really looks like and why leaders can’t afford to avoid making the difficult calls.
1. The Hardest Choices Are People Decisions
Some decisions are just tougher than others, and more often than not, they involve people. That’s what makes them feel so difficult. Whether it’s deciding who gets promoted, how to coach someone through a rough patch, or when it’s time to let someone go, those moments carry real emotional weight. Even more so when you’re dealing with layoffs or restructures, where the person affected may be doing their best but is no longer the right fit or part of a shift the business needs to make.
Customer situations can also push leaders into difficult decision territory. There are times when you’re balancing what the customer wants against what’s reasonable or sustainable for the business. In companies with a strong values-based culture, the choice is often clearer. But in the moment, especially with other factors at play, these decisions still require courage and clarity.
2. Remove the Emotion, Keep the Empathy
When you’re facing a tough decision, it’s natural to feel the weight of it. That’s not something you should ignore, but you do need to keep your emotions in check. There’s a difference between empathy and emotional overload. You can care deeply about the people involved while still making a decision that supports the bigger picture.
Removing emotion from the process helps you see the situation clearly. It allows you to concentrate on what’s right, not just what feels easiest in the moment. But you don’t need to remove your humanity. The best leaders I’ve worked with bring compassion into the room while still providing direction. That combination earns respect and builds trust, even when the decision is hard to hear.
3. Your Values Will Light the Way
If you don’t have a decision-making checklist, a strong set of values can be just as effective. When your values are clear, they act like a compass. They keep you from drifting too far off course and help you make decisions faster and with more confidence.
One of the best examples of this comes from Disney. They use a simple set of priorities known as the Four Keys: Safety, Courtesy, Show, and Efficiency. Safety is always number one. That may surprise some people, given how much Disney focuses on guest satisfaction, but it makes sense. Nothing else matters if someone gets hurt. If a child is too short to ride on an attraction, turning them away might feel disappointing, but keeping them safe is more important than pleasing them in the moment. That’s what values do, they provide clarity in tough situations.
I’ve used my own version of this over the years: take care of the team, take care of the customer, and the business will take care of itself. That’s my order of priority. If I make decisions with the team in mind first, the rest usually falls into place. And even when someone disagrees with the outcome, they can at least understand the reasoning behind it.
“Leadership is not about making popular decisions. It’s about making the right ones, for the right reasons, at the right time.”
4. Own the Outcome and Move Forward
Every leader has made a decision that didn’t go as planned. If someone tells you otherwise, they either haven’t led long enough or they’re not being honest. Sometimes your plan doesn’t land the way you thought it would. Other times, the results are fine, but the impact on the team or customer experience wasn’t what you intended.
When that happens, the most important thing you can do is own it. Acknowledge what went wrong and the part you played in it. It may feel uncomfortable, but it disarms criticism. It also builds credibility, and clears the air. People respect leaders who take responsibility. And when they see you do it, they’re more likely to follow your lead. And that becomes an important cultural element of growing any business. Teams that feel safe in making decisions, make more and better decisions in the long run.
Bring your team into the recovery. Ask for their perspective. Let them help rebuild. That turns a failure into a growth opportunity, not just for you, but for the group. Once you’ve done that, move on. Don’t let a misstep make you hesitant to act in the future. Learn the lesson, then get back to making the next call. Leadership isn’t about getting every decision right. It’s about continuing to lead through every outcome.
5. Empower Others to Decide
That moment when I told a manager to “make a decision” wasn’t meant to leave her hanging. It was meant to say, “You’ve got this.” I saw her ability and wanted her to see it too. In hindsight, I realized that the way I delivered the message may have been misread as frustration rather than empowerment. We talked it through later, and I made sure she understood where I was coming from. My goal was to build her confidence. And while I would have handled the tone differently, I wouldn’t change the intent.
That’s what I expect from the leaders who report to me. I want them to feel confident making decisions. If they’re truly unsure, I’m always available to talk it through, but I’m not there to hand out answers. I’m there to help them learn how to think through the problem and come to the right conclusion. That’s how you grow decision-makers, not just doers.
6. For New Leaders: Don’t Be Afraid to Decide
If you’re new to leadership, it’s normal to worry about getting it wrong. Most of the decisions you’re making, especially early in your leadership journey, aren’t going to make or break the business. They may create extra work or lead to uncomfortable feedback, but that’s all part of learning.
When you’ve thought something through, weighed the options, and checked it against your values, make the decision. If it doesn’t work, own it. If it creates some tension, face it. That’s how you grow.
I still remember one of my early lessons. As an assistant manager, I was asked to clean up the backroom. I did, and then I pushed too much product onto the sales floor to get it done. It looked clean in the back, but the store was not as shoppable as it should be. I had solved one problem and created another. My district manager pointed it out and helped me understand what I missed. I never made that mistake again. The real lesson: mistakes happen. I didn’t get fired. I had a tough coaching conversation and then I got better. My relationship with that District Manager remained strong, and ultimately, he appreciated my learning and I took on more responsibility just a few months later.
No Decision Is Perfect
Leaders aren’t expected to be perfect, nor is every decision. But they are expected to decide. People are looking for direction. They want to follow someone who’s willing to make a call and stand by it. You won’t always have all the answers. That’s okay. Just don’t stand still. Make a decision. Own it. Learn from it. Keep going. That is the kind of leader people choose to follow.
What lessons have you learned from past decisions?
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