In “The View From Dave’s Barstool,” Principal and Managing Director, Dave Paule, discusses…well…whatever happens to be on his mind.

Why the barstool? Barstools can certainly be social. They’re frequently the center point of great conversation. There is no pretension, no corner office or head-of-table amongst a row of barstools. So, every month, Dave invites you to pull up a barstool and explore a topic he’s found particularly important (or amusing) recently. Because some leadership lessons show up in boardrooms. Others show up at the bar.

Dave’s Thoughts This Month: Influence Is the Job

I’ve spent a lot of time recently talking to clients who are faced with difficult decisions. So, leadership and decision-making are top of mind right now. Pull up a stool and let’s chat about it (and maybe bring a fan!). 

In my career, the decisions I remember as the hardest aren’t the ones that turned out badly. They’re the ones where there wasn’t a good option.

Every option has a cost.  Leadership teaches you that eventually. There are moments when protecting one thing means sacrificing another. You can protect the budget or protect the mission. You can preserve a relationship or uphold a principle. You can act now with incomplete information or risk making the problem worse by waiting.

There is no perfect answer to any decision. There is only a choice about which consequences you are willing to accept.

I’ve also learned that avoidance is often a decision as well.

Leaders sometimes avoid choosing because they don’t want to own the consequences. They call it “gathering more information”. They call it “building consensus”. Sometimes those things are exactly what is needed…and sometimes it’s just postponing the inevitable.

The problem is that circumstances seldom wait for us to become comfortable. While we deliberate, the organization continues to spend money, employees continue to worry, donors continue to make judgments, and opportunities continue to disappear.

Eventually, not choosing becomes a choice we have made.

The decisions I respect most aren’t necessarily the ones I would have made myself. They’re the ones where the leader understood the tradeoff, made the choice deliberately, and was willing to own the consequences.

That’s the part of leadership nobody puts in the job description.  You don’t get to choose the cost of every option.  You only get to choose whether you’re willing to pay it.

This Month’s Drink: The Sazerac

This month we’re pouring a Sazerac. Rye whiskey, bitters, sugar, and a little absinthe. Complex, assertive, and not something you order casually.  It is a “deliberate” cocktail. It doesn’t hide what it is.  Nor does a difficult decision.

Recipe:

  • 2 oz rye whiskey
  • 1 sugar cube
  • 3 dashes Peychaud’s bitters
  • Absinthe
  • Lemon peel

Rinse a chilled rocks glass with absinthe and discard the excess. Muddle the sugar cube with bitters and a few drops of water. Add rye and ice, stir well, and strain into the prepared glass. Express the lemon peel over the drink and discard or garnish.