Powerplay

Leader’s Guidance Technique for Decision Making

A Framework for Strategic Decision-Making and Action in the Leader's Absence

The Leader’s Guidance technique empowers teams by providing a framework for strategic decision-making and action in the leader’s absence.

Leader’s Guidance is a decision-making technique that includes a set of execution principles for the team to follow when acting and making decisions, particularly when the leader is absent or has delegated authority to the team.

Constructing a Guidance Statement

A guidance statement consists of two things:

The Aphorism

A brief, memorable saying or phrase that expresses an opinion or makes a statement of wisdom without flowery language.

The Context

The parts of an idea surrounding a word or passage that can shed light on its meaning.

Example

Find value for the customer. Our job is to help our customers. Constantly seek opportunities to provide value to them. That may mean changing what or how we deliver the effort–use your judgment, reflect on the question, and adapt. If the initial contact or sponsor doesn’t get the value you are providing, then get creative to get them there or find another key contact who does. The lanes of latitude are wide here–stay transparent and engaged with the customer and TPG leadership to ensure no surprises.

Implementing Leader’s Guidance

Share and discuss your statement with your entire team during a team meeting. Allow for at least 30 minutes to ensure the team has time to digest and review.

For each statement, ask:

How would this shape your action or decision?
What questions do you have?
What concerns do you have?

(Consider having a scenario to “color” the conversation.)

Sustaining Leader’s Guidance

After you’ve implemented Leader’s Guidance, here are some additional tips to consider for long-term sustainability:

Focus on 1-2 statements per week.

Spend 5-10 minutes discussing, “How well did we demonstrate the guidance?”
Assure that it is a safe place to speak openly – it’s ok to talk about misses.
Reflect and update context as needed.

Download the Leader’s Guidance PowerPlay™ PDF, which includes sample guidance from Bill’s firm, The Persimmon Group, as well as the Leader’s Guidance Implementation Guide to use to create 2-3 Guidance Statements for your team.