The leadership soak period
Jeffrey Immelt, former CEO of GE (who I wrote about recently), talks about the need for leaders to have a soak period when making big decisions. By taking the appropriate time to make a big decision, i.e. letting the idea have time to soak in, usually the correct answer surfaces.
I always do better when I force myself to take time on a decision. This isn’t always easy for me, as I like to be a leader that can make smart, decisive, and quick decisions. “Analysis paralysis” is something that I detest. I much prefer the art of simplification when making a decision.
Abraham Lincoln was famous for having long, long soak periods. In fact, it was a strategy of his to wait so long that often times the problem would be resolved before he had to make a decision. Lincoln is known as a great strategist, but perhaps his best tactic was making sure he thought long and hard, and took the appropriate amount of time, before making a decision.
As I’ve become older more experienced, I’ve learned to take time on the big decisions. I just never knew it was called a soak period ;)
