Trust your instincts. Not as easy as it sounds.

by Gabriella Krista Morgan
January 20, 2014

As my company has transitioned from kitchen table to Series A, I faced the same challenges most founders encounter. Co-founder friction, delays in raising money and unforeseen obstacles in getting up and running as quickly as we planned.

Throughout those challenging times the one thing I never had trouble doing was trusting my instincts and moving forward with a clear plan. Until now.

Now I am in new territory. My company isn't just a few co-founders trying to prove our concept and raise money. We have investors, we have a Board of Directors, we have executives and we have employees. And amazingly, we don't always agree on the best course of action for our business. On the best way to create a valuable organization that we all want to a part of.

Tough decisions need to be made in the face of a seemingly endless stream of thoughts and advice from a lot of smart, successful people whom I respect and trust. It's hard to find my instincts let alone trust them.

My approach to leading from a place of self (borrowed words from Kyle Vucko of Indochino) has been to:

Listen to everyone

Listen and try to understand their perspective and their motivation. It's natural to get defensive and fight your corner while doing this, but don't. I suggest taking a lot of deep breaths to stay calm.

Play out different scenarios in your mind 

Think about what the impact of a decision would be. It's easy for someone to tell you to change your product strategy, but there are usually significant operational and timing impacts they may not have thought of. Find rational, non-emotional pros and cons and it will help you gain clarity in your decision-making.

Take the time and space you need

When tough decisions need to be made, there is often a false sense of panic and urgency in those around you. Understand what the real timeline is and be clear with your stakeholders about what you need to come to a decision and when they can expect to hear from you. 

Control your optimism

I'm a founder. This means I'm stubbornly optimistic about the potential my business has to succeed. When you are making tough decisions, try to be honest and straightforward about what is working and what isn't. My difficult conversations became much more productive when I stopped selling.

And once you've located your instincts and made your decision, move on. If you've got good investors and advisors they will respect your decision. There's no need to spend time trying to bring them around to your way of thinking.

Just go forth and execute. Success has a way of bringing everyone onto the same side.

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