When to Fold 'em

The Kenny Rogers song, The Gambler comes to mind.

“If you’re gonna play the game, boy, ya gotta learn to play it right.

You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em,
Know when to walk away and know when to run.”

Leaders need to know when an issue is important and worth taking a stand on and when an issue is not worth making a fuss about. We all know a person that always has something to say on every issue. The problem is, people switch off when they speak because “it’s them again!”

Many times I have watched managers in an organization tackle issues as though it is something that needs to be won. They approach it like a contest they need to win or need to exert their authority. Every issue is seen as a challenge that they need to overcome and dominate. The mindset goes something like this:

“I’d better get control of this quickly before it gets out of hand. It’s amazing how they simply can’t get things done without my guidance.” Or “What a mess, I’d better deal with this quickly and show them how it should be done” and even worse, “I know how to solve this. I will tell them what to do and then move on.”

Approaches of this nature are ‘managing the situation’. It is only leadership when they are rarely used and at times when it is vitally important. It is not the ‘management’ approach that a real leader uses. A leader weighs up the situation and doesn’t always speak first. Standing back often allows a leader to see who can rise to the situation and also learn how people think or approach issues.

Once the discussion is under way, the leader will give input at the right time. As the discussion moves along the leader will evaluate the situation and decide the best way to get things done. In some cases they will push a little, in other cases they will push hard and in some cases they will go with the flow. The leader looks beyond the immediate issue and reflects on the longer-term implications.

Doing this enables them to make a more strategic decision. For example, the leader may decide that what is being suggested isn’t the best thing to do now, but equally it is not worth forcing a change of decision. It is far better to let the decision go because down the line there is a more important decision that needs to be dealt with. It will be at that time that the leader will need to be more forceful.

So it is about knowing “when to hold ‘em, when to fold ‘em and when to walk away.”

Kenny Rogers also ended his song with these timely words:

“You never count your money when you’re sittin’ at the table.
There’ll be time enough for countin’ when the dealin’s done.”

If it does not go the way you wanted, don’t do a post mortem in front of the people, walk away and consider what went wrong and what you have learnt from it. Equally, don’t gloat when you have got your way, it is time to commend others for their input.