Tough Calls

As my clients emerged from the global economic turmoil that began in 2008, I began to see what others didn’t see. Something was standing in their way—usually the unwillingness or inability to make a critical decision. They thought they needed more—more education, more experience, more time, or more data. They had enough of these, but they lacked the confidence, courage, and optimism to make the tough calls. Through our work together, we learned that when leaders make good decisions, little else matters. When they refuse to make decisions, or show a pattern of making bad ones, nothing else matters. The most successful leaders realized they could no longer push growth. Instead, they had to remove barriers to success—obstacles they had erected themselves. The compelling stories and surprising research findings in this book focus on real people who actively sought professional improvement and personal development. Working together, we mapped out their journeys, identified roadblocks, recognized the wrong turns they had taken, and unlocked their decision-making potential—in some cases, more than doubling the size of their companies. Most of these stories illustrate how and why these leaders succeed, but others serve as warnings about what can happen when leaders refuse to decide.