14 Strategies for Combating Decision-Making Paralysis and Anxiety

Leaders often have many things and people depending on them. When every decision made can have far-reaching consequences, it's not uncommon for some leaders to be stressed or apprehensive about making the wrong call.

Rather than letting their negative emotions get the best of them, and potentially lead to important decisions being delayed, it's crucial to determine what processes will produce the best decision possible for a given situation.

As leaders themselves, the members of Newsweek Expert Forum are well aware of the importance (and downsides) of decision-making. To make the process easier, 14 members offer advice to help leaders better manage the paralysis and anxiety that can occur while making critical decisions.

1. See Decision-Making as a Process

Viewing decisions as a process rather than through an "all or nothing" lens tends to defuse inflated pressure and help those with perfectionistic tendencies avoid stagnation as a result. Consulting with peers that create space for you to process rather than quickly try to advise or give their opinions helps leaders build confidence and obtain the experience necessary to become an effective decision-maker. - Leah Marone, Corporate Wellness Consultant

2. Create a Community to Turn to for Support

Create and tap into an advisory board, which is a group of trusted colleagues you can turn to for advice, insight or support. Each member can have specific characteristics and serve a different role. If you need more data before making a decision, ask a colleague who is in the know. If you need to quell anxiety, ask a supportive, calming colleague for help. Important leadership decisions are hardly ever made alone. - Loren Margolis, Training & Leadership Success LLC

3. Conduct Due Diligence

My advice for how to better manage decision-making paralysis or anxiety is to make sure that you have done your due diligence. Considering all of the ramifications and potential impact of the decisions at hand means doing thorough and complete fact finding and data gathering using input from low-level employees that can provide insights you might have missed. - Lisa Lundy, Lisa A Lundy

4. Make Decision Making a Team Effort

Don't make decisions in isolation. A diverse team will give leaders access to more perspectives on an issue. Diversity of thought makes for better decisions. Utilize the people around you as sounding boards and to play devil's advocate. If you are able to explain the "why" behind the "what" of your decision, you will feel more certain of your choice. - Michelle Tillis Lederman, Author, The Connector's Advantage

5. Focus on the Desired Outcome

Keep your eye on the ball. Focus on making the best decision with the information you have at the time, knowing that there are very few single decisions that lead to failure. Failure is usually a series of bad decisions. Trust in your judgment and know you can pivot if you find that there is a better way. You'll never make the shot if you focus on the ground because you are afraid of missing. - Sandra Cho, Pointwealth Capital Management

6. Make a Concise Plan

Leaders can manage decision-making paralysis or anxiety by defining clear objectives, gathering and analyzing relevant data, seeking diverse perspectives, setting deadlines and having contingency plans. Additionally, it is important for leaders to approach decision-making with a structured process and not let fear or doubt prevent them from making necessary choices for their organization. - Joseph DeWoody, Valor

7. Develop an Understanding of Yourself and the Situation

Leaders can improve decision making by using the concept of bounded rationality. This means being aware of their limited cognitive abilities and psychological biases. They can set clear goals, gather information, consider options, seek diverse perspectives and seek advice from other experienced leaders. - Dr. Kira Graves, Kira Graves Consulting

8. Hire Outside Experts

It's vital for company leaders to hire top-level professionals to help them in any type of transition. We often hire specialty companies based on their expertise and this takes the anxiety out of our decisions because they are made based on expert knowledge. - Tammy Sons, Tn Nursery

9. Appoint a Key Decision-Maker

One impediment I've seen in complex, matrixed organizations is that effective staff are slowed down by a lack of decision making. They don't know who has the authority to make a decision, so they can't close that gap. Someone once told me I was a "decision ninja" and how helpful it was to her. So, I now try to ensure teams find the decision-maker in their group and get their projects in gear. - Alexa Kimball, Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians at Beth Israel Deaconess

10. Set a Deadline

Sometimes difficult decisions just require a deadline. With complex decisions, there often isn't enough information or data to be sure of your choice. At some point, there will be no new information, insights or discussions to be had, and delaying the decision will become disruptive. A deadline will drive you to make the best decision with the information you have. - Krista Neher, Boot Camp Digital

11. Leverage Your Intuition

Leaders who are responsible for key decisions are often derailed by analysis paralysis. To move past decision-making paralysis or anxiety, leaders can adopt the 40/70 rule from the late great General Colin Powell. The rule says go with your gut after 40 to 70 percent of the required data has been collected. Intuition is often what sets leaders apart. Trust your intuition. - Lillian Gregory, The 4D Unicorn

12. Take a Leap of Faith

Hard decisions can always be undone by making more hard decisions, but unmade decisions cannot be corrected. The saying that "not making a decision is still a decision" holds true here, but there's no way to A/B test an unmade decision. Instead, it's usually better to take a leap and then correct it mid-air (or after you land in the wrong place) than to stay trapped in a loop that isn't serving you. - April White, Trust Relations

13. Have a Contingency Plan in Place

Leaders should create a culture where pivoting is part of the decision-making process. If the team goes into the process knowing that a major decision will be adjusted as the team learns more during the roll out, it creates an environment that minimizes paralysis. - Eric Bing, The College of Healthcare Professions

14. Embrace Mistakes

Don't be afraid to make a mistake. If you do, fail quickly and try to fix it. Waiting for the perfect moment rarely works out. Take feedback from those around you at all levels and then make a decision you think is best for the organization. - Brian Katz, Safer School Solutions