Leadership and decision making – i.e don’t f*!k it up like Liz Truss

Was it an embarrassing volte-face or a change of strategic direction? Did they listen to consensus, or were they forced to alter course in the face of disaster? Was it a display of flexibility and understanding, or was it a sign of weakness?

Mistakes are how we learn

The Government’s decision to ditch its plan to abolish the 45p rate of tax this week played out like a Kwartastrophe. Despite the official line, ‘we get it, and we have listened’, the optics are not good. 

That one bad decision, and the aftermath, could quite possibly cost the Conservative Party the next general election if the opinion polls are to be believed. But why? Surely any leadership should be applauded for listening to the concerns of its people and reacting accordingly. In management speak, isn’t this an example of agility? And are mistakes that bad anyway? We all make them, after all. Mistakes are how we learn.

There are three reasons why this debacle became a negative, rather than a positive.

Good leaders listen, learn from mistakes and understand the facts

Firstly, good leaders should understand their people from the start. They should have their ear to the ground and instinctively know how their people think and feel. This empathy is created through open and effective communication. A good leader understands if a decision will be unpopular and mitigates accordingly. 

This doesn’t mean you don’t make the decision. Sometimes unpopular things need to be done. But if you understand how a strategy, action or plan will land, you can prepare people for it. It appears that Liz and Kwarsi fundamentally failed to grasp public mood. They were tone deaf, and that’s not a good thing for a leader to be.

Secondly, the Government ignored the facts and the experts and took too long to rectify its error. Several economists warned of the implications of uncosted tax cuts coupled with spending increases. But Liz was intoxicated on a cocktail of ideology and naïve ‘blue sky thinking’. She had a vision for growth. But sometimes visions aren’t enough to deliver, you need facts.  

Sterling plummeted, mortgage offers were withdrawn, the IMF issued a warning and the Bank of England stepped in to save pension funds. Realism met idealism, and it wasn’t pretty. Still, the Government doubled down and recommitted to its original plan. Liz only changed her mind when she was threatened with a revolt within the ranks of her own MPs. The effect was that when she did alter course, it didn’t appear genuine.

Thirdly, politics is a different arena from business management. In business, leaders make bad decisions. That is a fact of life. Good leaders change and learn from mistakes, and generally, they are forgiven. People expect more of politicians, however, and are less forgiving. 

In politics, you can wash your underpants, but you can’t unsh!t yourself, as they say, which is why no matter how much oratorical bleach Boris Johnson used, Partygate clung to him like a nasty stain and would have remained a stink until the next General Election.

Seven steps to good planning and decision-making for leaders

So what can we learn from all this?

• Firstly, mistakes are not bad per se, but if you can avoid them, you should. Assess the likelihood of error before embarking on a decision, strategy or action. Look at how similar actions or strategies played out. Talk to people with experience. When you have something important to deliver you need to consider if it’s the right time to experiment or take risks. Some situations require caution.
• Understand the brief in its entirety.  High-level overviews are good for saving time, but they don’t include detail. For example, when implementing a new CRM do you find the best one on the market and buy that? Or do you look at the reviews? Do you do a deeper dive? What else might you need to understand?  What does each department need from a CRM?  Will the system integrate with the old one? What data will it capture and how will this information be used?  The more information you have, the more informed you are.
• Engage important stakeholders and influencers who can help you make decisions. These should be people with tacit knowledge of the subject. Stakeholders should include decision-makers, information-givers, influencers, supporters, challengers and blockers. If you surround yourself with people who think like you and agree with you, you’ll end up in an echo chamber.
• When you think you have all the information you need, make a plan then check in with your key stakeholders. Many leaders miss this part and assume they have the perfect plan without getting it checked, but everyone has blind spots.
• Test the idea or action and, if possible, hold feasibility reviews. Try to understand how implementation would play out. Would it work? A working group made up of different experts is a good sounding board at this ‘wargaming’ stage.  
• Listen to feedback with an open mind, especially when you are invested in an idea, as this is when feedback tends to fall on deaf ears. If you’re taking a decision or implementing a strategy where there’s not much room for error and a mistake would have wide-ranging repercussions, surround yourself with people who challenge your thinking to help you work through the challenges. 
• When delivering the strategy, action or plan, take people on the journey. Tell them what you did, why you did it and how you did it. Give them confidence by sharing your experience. 

Some mistakes are more costly than others. Understand what’s at stake. Is your strategy going to affect the bottom line, jobs, or lives? Is it a time for caution or a time for risk? Consult, and if it does go sideways, rectify quickly, learn, and own your mistakes. 

Follow these rules and you should be able to avoid your own Trusterf4ck.

For more information on how to help your leaders avoid costly mistakes and develop strategic thinking skills, take a look at our Truly Human Leadership course.