How to Manage Your Ego and Make Great Decisions

Success boils down to one thing: making good decisions. Easy to say, but what do you do when you are faced with terrible options, anxiety, and fear of failure? Learning the right frameworks now can make all the difference later.

Today, we are joined by the CEO of Meetup, David Siegel, who is also the author of Decide & Conquer: 44 Decisions that Make or Break All Leaders. He addresses common issues that result in poor decisions, and how you can overcome these problems.

Join me and David in this informative episode and get tips on how to become better at decision-making immediately.

Discussion Points:

• 0:00 Introduction

• 2:18 David's worst decision in business

• 4:51 Distinguishing short term and long term consequences in decision-making

• 6:08 What's a trapdoor decision?

• 7:08 David's advice to ensure you're not belaboring your decisions and missing out on opportunities

• 9:01 Learning to make tough decisions through painful circumstances

• 11:24 David's perspective on sunk cost fallacy and why it's a challenge for decision makers

• 15:28 How to decide if you're caught between breaching the contract and damaging your business

• 17:46 Balancing ego and humility in decision-making

• 19:46 As a CEO, how do you ground yourself to become an effective listener?

• 24:06 Getting out of the loop of being the CEO who makes too many decisions

• 25:20 An effective framework for delegation within the company

• 26:48 The biggest mistake in delegation

• 28:36 Managing an environment that feels safe for all team members to give feedback

• 32:34 Framing accountability

• 35:03 Top 3 most important decisions that leaders must make

• 36:45 Are you the fox or the hedgehog in decision-making?

• 40:22 Guidelines in hiring the people we want to work with and surround us

• 43:36 Giving your team the space and confidence to disagree and speak

• 45:33 EQ is crucial in order to become an effective decision maker

• 47:00 What to do when you made the wrong decision?

• 48:47 3 concrete actions a leader should take to get better at decision-making immediately

About Our Guest:

• David Siegel is the CEO of Meetup, the largest platform for finding and building the local community. He has over 20 years of experience as a technology and digital media executive leading organizations through innovative product development, rapid revenue growth, and digital traffic acceleration. Prior to joining Meetup, David was CEO of Investopedia and before that, President of Seeking Alpha. David holds a BA in Philosophy, Politics & Economics and an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania. He is an adjunct professor at Columbia University where he teaches strategic planning and entrepreneurship. He hosts the podcast Keep Connected, which is dedicated to the power of community. David's book, Decide & Conquer,(HarperCollins) lays out the framework for decision-making that leaders can use to ensure organizational and personal success.

Resources:

• Decide & Conquer: 44 Decisions That Make or Break All Leaders by David Siegel http://www.decideandconquerbook.com/

• Need help designing and playing your business game? Contact Eric Anderton: www.constructiongenius.com/contact

Do Your Project Executives Need to Become Better Leaders?

• Book a 10-minute call with Eric Anderton to see if/how he can help (https://10minutes.youcanbook.me/)

Connect with me on LinkedIn. For more podcast episodes, you may also visit my website. Tune in and subscribe to the Construction Genius: A Leadership Master-Class Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and Stitcher.

Thank you for tuning in!