The Easy Choice Is Often The Wrong Choice
- Dave Anderson
- Apr 15
- 3 min read
When something seems easy, maybe we should stop and think about whether it is right.
It would be nice if there was actually an Easy Button for the choices leaders make. But life doesn’t work like that. In fact, when we have a choice between something that is easy versus something that will cause us to work a little harder or endure some level of pain, the easy choice is often the wrong choice.
Don’t get me wrong, I am a big believer in being pragmatic. Let’s not overcomplicate things. Let’s get stuff done! These are familiar phrases that people who know me have heard often. But there is a danger when we don’t take a moment to run those choices through our values. Without a values filter, the path of least resistance becomes a slippery slope down into the pit of hypocrisy and selfishness.
The easy choice can lead us to:
● Keep us in bed longer than we planned.
● Choosing to do fun work versus the stuff our team needs more.
● Omit information that makes us look bad.
● Say, “I ran out of time.”, when I actually procrastinated starting.
● Cutting and pasting a paragraph from an old performance review into this year’s.
● Sending an email instead of walking down the hall for a conversation.
● Telling someone what to do instead of teaching them how to do it.
● Ignoring the dishes in the sink, instead of putting them in the dishwasher.
● Finding a way around the rules versus working within the rules.
● Avoiding a difficult conversation versus proactively engaging.
● Holding onto information to maintain control versus sharing all that you know.
When something seems easy, maybe we should stop and think about whether it is right. Is this the right thing to do or just the thing that makes my life easier at the moment? Is it the leader’s job to make their own life easier or is it to do what is right and what is best for others? When our first instinct is to look for what is the easiest choice, I want to challenge you to go with your second instinct and filter that easy choice through your values.
● Am I choosing the harder right or the easier wrong?
● Would I be satisfied if I were on the receiving end of this action?
● Did I just make the other person’s life easier or harder?
● Would the people I love be proud of my choice?
Asking ourselves these questions will help us stay off that slippery slope that will lead us into hypocrisy and selfishness. When we can take the high road and put our feet on solid ground, we will be the leads others will trust and the person we will be proud to see staring at us in the mirror every morning.
Question:
- In your past, when has the easiest choice proven to be the wrong choice?
- In your past, when was the harder choice the right choice?
Audiobook sales have taken over for ebook sales. When we first published Becoming a Leader of Character in 2017, people were predicting ebooks were going to kill traditional hard copy print books.
That didn’t happen. In fact, print books’ percentage of sales are very similar to what they were in 2017 when we first published. What has changed is that audiobooks have eaten away at ebook sales.
Therefore, if you have been waiting on the audiobook version of Becoming a Leader of Character it is now here! You can get it on Spotify, Audible or any other major platform for audiobooks.
While you drive or workout, marinate your brains in the Six Habits of Character - Courage, Humility, Integrity, Selflessness, Duty, and Positivity.
Order now on your favorite platform:
(Audible is coming soon!)
Audible: Will be available in the coming weeks. We will let you know as soon as Audible makes it available.
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