Flip-Flopping Leaders?
Frustrated by leaders who seem to flip-flop on their decisions? When leaders have a habit of making a decision and then reversing course soon after, those affected often start taking a wait-and-see approach. Why respond when today’s marching orders might not last until next week? When flip-flopping persists, engagement, trust, and credibility suffer.
The problem isn’t so much that someone changes their mind. That’s not always a bad thing. The problem is when it occurs often without a clear and convincing rationale for the change. This is especially true for significant decisions that will have a widespread and lasting impact on others. Let’s look at three examples of leaders who might be accused of being a flip-flopper. We’ll start with the most favorable situation.
Introspective Leaders
Leaders might reverse or change a decision as more information becomes available. In some cases, that could include admitting they were wrong. If this doesn’t occur too often, it could be a sign of humility and emotional intelligence. The alternative, keeping the decision in the face of contrary information, could be a sign of stubbornness, inflexibility, and arrogance. Better to be flexible than rigid for the sake of saving face.
Compulsive or Reactive Leaders
When flip-flopping becomes a predictable pattern, it could reflect the compulsiveness of the leader. These leaders might act quickly without thinking through the impact of the decision on others or the consequences of the decision. They want to be decisive and get the issue off their plate. After they have time to think about their decision and get feedback from others, they realize that they spoke too soon and need to backtrack. This recurring situation tends to breed frustration. When you know that it’s a rash, effortless decision that’s going to have to be reversed or changed, enduring it can be demoralizing.
Rudderless or Conflict-Averse Leaders
Flip-flopping also could show that the leader is not acting from an underlying set of principles, values, or vision. They make the original decision for whatever reason and then backpedal when they get pushback. They act to avoid conflict and protect their position rather than having a principle-centered basis for their decision making. Often, the loudest voice in the room gets their way. To save face, these leaders might try to explain away the change by saying that the original decision was misinterpreted.
It can be frustrating when leaders flip-flop so much that you can never really trust what they say. It becomes easy to ignore them or to procrastinate with the expectation that quickly responding to the decision will be wasting your time.
Tips to Avoid Flip-Flipping on Your Decisions
Want to avoid being a flip-flopper yourself? Here are six tips:
Assess the need for an immediate decision. If it’s not urgent, sleep on it.
Consider whether the decision will set a precedent or whether it can be viewed as an isolated decision. If it’s going to set a precedent, that elevates the importance of getting it right the first time.
Think about the impact of the decision for all stakeholder groups. Get input from trusted advisors and those that will be affected by the decision. This can be quick. It doesn’t need to be a drawn-out process.
Physically write bullet points that support your rationale for the decision. If you can’t put it in writing even for you to read, then rethink how you arrived at the decision. This will help ensure that your rationale is fair, consistent, and substantial.
If it’s likely that added information or a change in the situation will force you to update your decision, emphasize that the decision is subject to change.
If you must change a decision, provide a clear rationale for the change. If the revised decision has a negative impact on others, express sincere empathy and be open to discussing the change and your rationale.
