Career Coach: Why do bosses fail? Sometimes they are too cautious

One common derailer of managers is being overly cautious. Photo / Thinkstock

Have you ever prepared a report for a manager about a future opportunity for your firm, and waited and waited and waited, hoping it would eventually be implemented? And you wondered what was the hesitation? Sadly, this phenomenon seems to be a more common occurrence than we would like to see.

In fact, one common derailer of managers is being overly cautious. That is, overanalysing decisions to the point where the manager is so worried about making the wrong decision that he or she keeps asking for more studies, more task force recommendations, and more data.

By continually waiting for more and more input, the manager puts off making a decision until perhaps it is too late and the opportunity has passed them by or the firm is now behind the market. Over the years, a number of leaders have been criticised as being too cautious.

As David Dotlich and Peter Cairo noted in their book, Why CEOs fail, being cautious can be advantageous when you are just being prudent or thorough.

But those who are overly cautious frequently fail ("he who hesitates is lost"). They are unable to act decisively at important moments. They obsess about what might go wrong.

They sit on the sidelines during discussions hardly offering their own point of view for fear of being criticised. Yet, by not being involved in discussions, others are not sure where they stand and it becomes difficult for the organisation to move forward.

Some believe these leaders fear failure more than they desire success. It's analogous to playing a tennis match in a conservative fashion so you don't look bad; rather than playing aggressively so you can win.

What are the consequences of a manager's inability to act decisively and being overly cautious? The firm misses opportunities for growth. The leaders who report to him/her may actually leave the firm. They may be frustrated by the leader's inability to take action and tired of being micro managed since their boss is so worried that any proposed projects might be flawed that he/she continually seeks second and third opinions.

Interestingly, Dotlich and Cairo noted that most leaders who led a major change initiative wished they had moved faster and sooner. They wished they had more courage of their convictions.

Being cautious is in itself not necessarily a problem, and in fact, it is critical that leaders support their decisions with data. What is the problem is when a manager crosses the line and becomes too cautious, and too fearful of taking actions since they want guaranteed analytical support. No such guarantee exists, and at some point, the leader has to be willing to take a calculated risk and a chance.

If they can't do this, not only do they risk losing their top leaders (who leave for competitors), but also they will sacrifice the future of the firm. In today's ever-changing, turbulent environment, leaders who are able to make faster and bolder decisions will not only be more successful, but they will also be perceived as more successful.

Russell is director of the Executive Coaching and Leadership Development Program at the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business.