How do you make tough decisions knowing they may affect your entire team?
It can be difficult to make challenging decisions when you know your entire team will be affected. Most importantly, you want to answer with sincerity, speaking truthfully while aligning yourself with IBM's expectations. "What it means to work here: When you join IBM, you join a culture of openness, collaboration, and trust. You join a team of IBMers who are bringing change into the world, helping cure diseases, clean our oceans, and make technology work for good." Your ability to be decisive and diplomatic will make all the difference!" If you take a more team-oriented approach, share how you collaborate with the group by inviting everyone to discuss their opinions and come to a census. If you prefer to take charge of these situations, share how you prioritize the needs of your company and your teams.
"Leaders are truly set apart by their ability to make tough decisions respectfully and diplomatically. Last year we had to lay off 25% of our sales team. I knew feelings would be hurt, and it was challenging to do. I got through it by reminding myself I am the leader for a reason. I needed to trust my judgment but still be able to justify my decisions. When tough choices are in front of me, I will back up my gut feeling with data analysis. If the data supports my intuition, I know what the answer or decision needs to be."
"I believe that when you are working with a team, it is important to bring any questions or situations to the team before making a decision. Everyone should have input; however, the leader needs to be able to pull the trigger on all decisions in the end."
"I think it is important to involve others, especially those in positions of leadership. It's important to respect the chain of command. The last thing I'd want to do is overstep my bounds."
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