Issue #28: The Leadership Skill PMs Fear Most: Making Decisions Without All the Answers

👋 Let me tell you about one of the scariest moments of my early PM career…

I was leading a complex project, multiple teams, missing information, moving parts everywhere.
Everyone kept looking at me for a decision:

“Should we move forward?”
“Should we wait?”
“What’s the plan?”

And I froze.

Not because I didn’t care.
Not because I wasn’t capable.
But because I felt I needed more information to be “sure.”

So I waited.
And waited.
And waited.

And in that hesitation, the project stalled.
The team lost momentum.
Stakeholders lost confidence.

That moment was a punch in the gut.
I realized something uncomfortable:

The fear of being wrong is often what makes PMs ineffective.

It’s not lack of knowledge.
It’s not lack of experience.
It’s fear of deciding with imperfect information.

And project managers live in imperfection every single day.

🧨 The Leadership Truth No One Tells You

Most projects don’t fail because someone made a bad decision.

They fail because:

❌ No decision was made
❌ The PM kept waiting for more clarity
❌ The team drifted without direction
❌ Stakeholders lost patience
❌ Risks escalated while people hesitated

Indecision is the silent killer of projects.
Momentum dries up.
Teams disengage.
Leaders lose trust.

In From Project Manager to Project Leader, I talk about this exact trap, the moment you believe you need certainty before you act.

But real leaders don’t wait for certainty.

They create clarity by making the decision.

🚀 The 70% Rule: The Mindset Shift That Saved My Career

When I learned this concept, everything clicked:

If you have 70% of the information, make the decision.
If you wait for 100%, the moment has already passed.

This rule changed how I lead:

✔️ 70% = confident enough
✔️ 30% = adjustable with course corrections

It took me from hesitant PM
→ to decisive leader.

📌 A Real Story: Building a Roadmap Without All the Pieces

Not long ago, I was leading a ServiceNow implementation where the architecture wasn’t finished.
Designs were incomplete.
Teams were waiting for direction.
Stakeholders kept asking for a roadmap.

And I had two options:

1️⃣ Wait for architects to finalize the details
2️⃣ Build a provisional roadmap based on assumptions and experience

Old-me would have waited.
Leader-me decided.

I created the roadmap using the 70% I had:

– Past implementations
– Known modules
– Rough sequencing
– Logical dependencies

Was it perfect?
Not even close.

Was it enough to move the project forward?
Absolutely.

Teams gained momentum.
Stakeholders gained confidence.
Architects finally had a structure to refine.

Sometimes leadership means stepping into the uncertainty and saying:

“Here’s the direction — and we’ll adjust as we go.”

🎯 Why PMs Fear Decision-Making (And What It Costs Them)

Let’s be honest:

PMs are terrified of making the wrong call because…

🔹 They don’t want to be blamed
🔹 They want to appear competent
🔹 They worry about executive judgment
🔹 They’re conditioned to seek perfection
🔹 They think certainty equals safety

But here’s the paradox:

The longer you wait to decide, the less credible you become.

Because teams and executives don’t need perfection.
They need leadership.

Your confidence matters more than your certainty.

🌱 The PM-to-Leader Shift: From Reporting to Owning

A PM says:
“I’m waiting for clarity.”

A leader says:
“We have enough to move forward — here’s my call.”

A PM says:
“I’ll update the plan once I get more details.”

A leader says:
“This is our direction. I’ll refine the details as we move.”

A PM says:
“I don’t want to make the wrong decision.”

A leader says:
“Any decision we make together, we can adjust.”

The shift is not about knowing more.
It’s about owning more.

🛠️ The Decision-Making Playbook (Straight From My Book)

Here’s what I teach in From Project Manager to Project Leader — and what I practice every day:

1. Clarify the decision

What exactly needs to be decided?

2. Gather the essentials

Not everything.
Just what matters.

3. Apply the 70% Rule

If you have enough to move — move.

4. State your rationale

People trust what they understand.

5. Own the outcome

Good or bad — leadership is responsibility.

6. Adjust quickly

Perfection isn’t real.
Adaptation is.

This is how leaders build trust.
Not by being right —
but by being decisive.

🔥 A Story of Courage: Daniel’s Vendor Decision

Daniel was stuck between two vendors:

Vendor A: cheap but risky
Vendor B: expensive but reliable

Leadership kept delaying.
The team kept waiting.
The project kept slipping.

Finally, Daniel made the call.

He chose Vendor B.
He explained his logic.
He took ownership.

The project launched on time.

Executives didn’t praise him because his choice was perfect.
They praised him because:

He made a decision when no one else would.

That’s leadership.

💬 A Question for You This Week

Think about one decision you’ve been avoiding.

Be honest:

🔎 Are you really missing information
or are you afraid of committing?

🔎 What would you decide today if 70% were enough?

🔎 How would your team feel if you stepped forward with clarity?

Write it down.
Say it out loud.
Act on it.

Your leadership muscles grow through decisions
not certainty.

⭐ The Bottom Line

Most PMs never grow because they wait for clarity.

Leaders grow because they create clarity.

You don’t need perfect data.
You don’t need full alignment.
You don’t need to eliminate all risks.

You need to decide with courage
and adjust with confidence.

Because the PM who makes decisions
becomes the leader people trust.

And the leader people trust
is the one who transforms their entire career.Issue #28: The Leadership Skill PMs Fear Most: Making Decisions Without All the Answers

Why waiting for certainty is killing your momentum — and how real leaders decide with courage.