How to Handle Difficult Leadership Decisions

In my career, I have had to make the hard decision to end things. Sometimes it's a client contract, and sometimes it's a contract with a person I've had the privilege to work with.

I understand the temptation, once the decision is made, to say, "It is what it is. I made the best business decision, and their reaction is their problem." That response ends the discomfort quickly. It also lets me skip my own part in how things turned out, and I would lose the chance to grow from it.

Instead, I force myself to sit in the discomfort of the decision and look back at the relationship. I ask myself a few questions. Did I communicate enough? Did I give feedback the person could act on? Was I transparent about the stakes?

I ask these questions to learn, and I try to keep them from turning into self-criticism. If I find a gap in my own leadership, I fix it for the next person.

I've accepted that I can't control how a decision is received. What stays within my control is the clarity and care with which I deliver it, and how I improve as a leader afterward.

If you've recently had to end something, you can ask yourself the same questions once the decision is behind you. What would you do differently for the next person?