Effective leaders always initiate actions proactively and actively participate in decision-making, especially the tough ones. However, what can you do when your leader, is an indecisive confused individual instead?
Not all bosses are equal. While great leaders are often defined as great decision-makers, sometimes you have to deal with an indecisive leader, who can tend to avoid all responsibilities and fail to guide the team with an unidirectional focus. Working for an uncertain indecisive leader, who can have a change of mind at any given point of time, is definitely a frustrating challenge for employees working under him and looking up to his leadership.
How will the team move forward, when the manager at the helm isn’t capable to steer the course of the organisation? If you do face such scenarios at work, then the team’s credibility is questioned, being made to suffer from poor performance efficiency and unclear goals.
Before you can determine the next steps to overcome this issue, you need to know what you’re actually dealing with. There are several reasons on why a person becomes indecisive. One of the most common being, the fear of failure. Your boss might feel insecure and unconfident with their own capabilities. They are worried too much about failing to meet expectations, which then results in the inability to provide clear and concrete direction.
When you work for a manager who falls into this indecisive character trait, you should rather uphold your stance and get a quick grasp on the hurdles foreseen. Here are some strategies, you can put to practice to deal effectively with an indecisive leader:
See: How to Create Leaders That Take Your Company From Strength to Strength?
To create a better assessment of what the root cause of problem is, you need to evaluate the current situation carefully. First of all, you should find out the root cause of your boss’s indecisive behaviour. Have they always been like this, or they have suddenly started acting strangely towards particular issues?
By figuring out the crux of the problem with your boss, you can determine the appropriate approach and next steps to address the problem. Through this, you can also make sure to not hold any preliminary judgments, biased opinions or blame your boss, which will thus make you see things in a better light.
Once you have identified the root cause of the problem, the next step is on figuring out how you can help them resolve the issue. For example, when you know that your boss is suffering from severe insecurity, you have to step forward and lend him a helping hand to support objective business goals.
Encourage them to be confident by providing positive feedback and constructive inputs. On the other hand, if the indecisiveness is rooted from naturally-complicated issues, then you can offer your perspective and provide relevant data to help them make decisions.
Sometimes, people are unaware of their own shortcomings, which makes it further difficult to fix the drawbacks. Therefore, you need to confront your boss directly by initiating a face-to-face conversation regarding their behaviours and how it dampens morale of members in the team and impacts productivity.
During direct confrontation, you should express clearly on how the indecisiveness has affected performance of the whole team. While it is crucial to avoid being too aggressive or emotional, you should emphasise that you’re genuinely concerned about the team’s future. You can also use this occasion to offer a proposal on next steps that can be initiated to maintain consistent performance levels.
When you have executed the three points above, yet your boss remains stuck in his own endless confused state of mind, then you should move forward and take the lead. It is true that decision-making rests in the final control of the top management.
However, you can ‘push’ them to take action by giving your boss reliable and helpful information to proceed with the decision-making process quickly. Alternatively, you can also use another approach, such that your boss eventually delegates you to take care of the case altogether.
No matter what you do, sometimes you just effectively change what people really are, true to their sense of being and character. Regardless of all the efforts you put in to change the situation, your boss might not budge at all.
If this happens, then all you have to do is protect your reputation. For example, if a project is executed poorly due to unclear direction, your boss should be the one to take responsibility. To avoid becoming scapegoat when something goes out of control, you should record your attempts and movements.
One of the keys to dealing with an indecisive confused leader is by not overstepping the boundaries. Rather, you should emphasise on teamwork and group efforts to exert control over things. Through this approach, you can gain attention from the higher-ups (which will be helpful for your future promotion) without demeaning your boss of his incompetence to lead.
Read also: How Sleep Affects Productivity of Business Leaders?
