Su cliente se enfrenta a una decisión empresarial crítica. ¿Cómo puedes guiarlos hacia la elección correcta?

Over the years, I’ve worked to help clients take out their personal emotions when making difficult business decisions and encouraged them to look at the facts for what they are. Once you remove the emotions, and look at the facts, the decisions usually become pretty apparent.

How can you take the right path if you don't know where you want to go? Focus on truly understanding the direction / vision - does this decision fit with that? Does it help them take them towards that vision? If so, the decision should be easy! If not either the vision needs changing, or the plan needs amending!

I once helped a client who was stuck with a big business decision. First, we figured out what they wanted to achieve, like boosting sales or cutting costs. We brainstormed all possible options and weighed the pros and cons of each one. We used data and tools like SWOT analysis to see the financial impact of each choice. We also got input from key team members to get different perspectives. After reviewing all the info, my client made an informed decision, and we put together a solid action plan. We kept an eye on the progress and later reviewed the results, which not only proved we made the right choice but also gave them a great decision-making framework for the future.

Clarity - Confidence - Consistency. Without clarity, the decision they make won't be the right one. It might be close, but it won't be on the mark. Without confidence, every decision that follows will be suspect. Without consistency, it won't get done period. So, it would be back to the drawing board.

1. Have detailed discussions to uncover goals and challenges. 2. Ask probing questions to understand motivations. 3. Listen actively and note non-verbal cues. 4. Summarize to confirm understanding. 5. Consider industry context and long-term objectives. 6. Propose tailored solutions based on their needs.

What you don’t measure you can’t improve on. Getting all the data is the first step to any good decision. Making sure that the correct numbers are being captured is going to make sure you are on a path to making a good choice

A collaborative approach always works best. I always find letting clients fill out a questionnaire form helps steer professionals in the right direction. This also avoids wasting valuable time & resources in the wrong place.

Die besten Entscheidungen entstehen tatsächlich, wenn man zuerst tief in das Problem eintaucht, zu verstehen versucht, warum eine Herausforderung entstand. Da helfen bspw. die "5 Why's" (5mal warum fragen, bis man WIRKLICH beim relevanten Punkt angekommen ist) oder eben auch Zahlen, Daten und Fakten, damit man ein "Problem" echt beurteilen kann.

Gathering relevant data doesn't seem like a controversial idea, but I got surprised more than a few times with business leaders making decisions without trying to do this. While these leaders are conditioned to often make decisions with limited data, there are still a lot scenarios where they don't need to deprive themselves of some time just to collect relevant data that might make all the difference. Such data should ideally be both internal data (e.g. performance metrics) and external data (e.g. market, customer, competitor).

How top advisors can help prepare clients (3 simple steps): (1) ASK IN CONTEXT Start with the tangibles that are easy to measure. A) What impact could this have on your revenue? B) What impact could this have on your time? Progress to other areas that could be adversely impacted. (2) VALIDATE Before a final decision is made, attempt to identify a potential process for validation. While this won't be exhaustive, it will increase clarity toward the final decision. (3) DISCUSS MITIGATION STRATEGIES Develop strategies to manage and reduce potential negative impacts. Prepared clients handle are confident clients.

Risk analysis tends to be the most important in situations where business decisions seem too obvious or if the potential gain is particularly attractive. An example was when a business leader had an no-bid opportunity take on a new stream of work with significant revenue potential. Encourage a disciplined approach to understand what actual investments are needed to reap the revenue potential. Assess existing competencies to be clear whether the business actually knows how to manage & capture the value of the decision. Finally, always understand what external factors the upside/ potential is influenced by, which may affect the long term viability of the decision.

Es gibt so viele gute, rationale Bewertungsmethoden. Einfach nie vergessen, dass unser Bauchgefühl oft richtig und gut ist. Ich sage immer gerne: strategische Intuition basiert auf Vor-Erfahrung und Wissen, dass man sich angehäuft hat. Und das Gefühl, dass bei einer Sachlage entsteht ist selten "aus der Luft gegriffen". Eine Bewertungsmethode, welche das "Bauchgefühl" nicht vergisst: Die "Six Thinking Hats" von Edward de Bono mit dem "roten" Hut.

Evaluating options is a necessary part of a business decision, even if in the end the decision is still the most obvious one from the beginning. Smaller, more nimble businesses tend to feel they don’t need to do this or cannot afford to. But a relatively simple thought exercise that considers the available options, can be essential to introduce clarity into where the strengths, weaknesses and risks of each option lie. It’s much better to go into any decision with “eyes open” as it provides the business with the opportunity to course correct in the event things do not pan out exactly.

4 steps to turn decisions into successful outcomes: STEP 1 Develop a robust action plan with clear steps, timelines, and resources. STEP 2 Communicate the decision effectively to all stakeholders involved. STEP 3 Ensure buy-in and support from your team. STEP 4 Monitor progress with defined success metrics. If you can't measure progress, you're off track already.

Prepare a clear action plan for once the decision has been made. Make sure all stakeholders are on the same page. Especially in a fast paced innovative market it is important to execute the plan on time to be able to keep the cutting edge over your competitors.

In action planning, the way to significantly increase the effectiveness over the long term is to consider the whole of the system to see if the key actions in the plan need to be supported by other actions by collaborators and stakeholders. These actions are often harder to control (e.g. competing agenda). Oftentimes, it is this lack of control of these actions that eventually create the biggest obstacles for the core plan. Hence, the key actions in the core plan need to include adequate engagement and alignment of the actions by collaborators and stakeholders, from the very beginning.

I would guide the person by listening deeply. I would repeat their words back to them (not all, but the key ones) so that they get to hear their own words. I would continue to do this until they gain some clarity. i would also ask them about how they feel, where the emotions are in their body and specific questions about them. This can help them feel understood by themselves. i would help them explore what they truly want for themselves, so they can come to their own conclusion about their decision.

With critical business decisions, the desired impact and the aspirations associated tend to play a strong role in driving a business leader's action. As a coach, one of the most important job we have is to facilitate a process where the leader is able to crystallize the vision of the desired end-state as well as the path that will lead to that destination. As the leader formulates the journey as well as the potential end-state, it will become clearer what it really takes and more importantly, whether the end-state is indeed where the leader wants to be eventually. Sometimes, this process can show the leader that a bigger, more aspirational end-state is needed!