<\/p>\n
“If you’re not clear who is supposed to be holding the decision-making key, things will get very fuzzy, very fast.”<\/strong><\/p>\n That piece of leadership insight from a trusted mentor has helped me navigate some tricky leadership waters for many years.<\/strong><\/p>\n Because when it comes to making important leadership decisions, it’s all about knowing who is holding the key.<\/strong><\/p>\n Several years ago our organization had partnered with a local church to present a leadership conference.<\/p>\n The schedule was set to go all day Friday and all day Saturday. But noticing that there was nothing scheduled on Friday evening, a leader from our partner church said we should program a concert for that timeslot.<\/p>\n I disagreed.<\/p>\n And there we stood; standing at the door, not sure who held the decision key.<\/p>\n Ultimately I deferred and allowed our partner to program a concert for that evening. It turned out to be a disaster. It was very poorly planned and executed.<\/p>\n But the real learning happened Monday morning. The disaster that was this concert had absolutely no lasting impact on this church leader, nor his church. But I was digging myself out of this mess for weeks afterwards.<\/p>\n Because at the end of the day, the programming for the entire conference, including Friday evening, was my accountability. Not his.<\/p>\n And because I held the accountability, I held the decision key. But I gave it away, and paid for it dearly.<\/p>\n In short, here\u2019s what I learned.<\/p>\n Whoever is ultimately responsible makes the call.<\/p>\n1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Always be clear who holds the decision key<\/strong><\/h2>\n
2.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>You can\u2019t share the key<\/strong><\/h2>\n