Strategic Decision-Making for Business Leaders
- May 6
- 3 min read
By Linn Atiyeh
I’ve never been particularly comfortable making decisions in a vacuum. Early on, I probably tried to, the way a lot of leaders do, thinking that was part of the job. But over time, I realized my best decisions almost always had one thing in common. They weren’t mine alone.
At Bemana, I’ve come to rely pretty heavily on bringing multiple voices into the process, and doing it early. Not just at the leadership level, but across roles and levels of experience. That mix has been one of the most valuable shifts in how I work.
Part of it is just practical. The people closest to the day-to-day work will catch things I won’t. They see where processes break down, where something sounds good in theory but won’t land in reality. At the same time, more senior team members tend to think a step or two ahead. They’ll point out second-order effects, or ask what this decision unlocks or limits down the line. When you put those perspectives together, you get a much fuller picture, and usually much faster than trying to think it through on your own.
It also changes the tone of how decisions get made. Instead of presenting a polished plan and asking for feedback, we’re building it together in real time. That means ideas get challenged earlier, when they’re still flexible. It’s a lot easier to adjust at that stage than it is to unwind something that’s already been rolled out.
That same approach carries into how I think about risk. I don’t try to sit alone and map everything out. I’d rather hear a range of opinions, especially the ones that push back. Where could this break? What are we not seeing? What would actually have to be true for this to work the way we think it will?
What I’ve noticed is that patterns emerge pretty quickly. When a few people, coming from different angles, raise the same concern, it’s usually worth paying attention to. It doesn’t mean you stop, but it does mean you slow down just enough to really understand what’s being flagged. And on the flip side, if something holds up after that kind of scrutiny, you move forward with a lot more confidence.
I really think this keeps planning grounded. It’s harder for ideas to drift too far from reality when they’re being shaped by the people who will actually have to execute them.
There’s also a human side to it that matters just as much.
When people are brought in early, they feel a sense of ownership. It’s not something being handed down to them, it’s something they helped build. That changes how they engage. There’s more accountability, but also more care. People are more willing to speak up, to challenge things, and to support each other because they’ve been part of the process from the beginning.
Over time, that builds a stronger team. Not because everyone agrees, but because there’s a shared understanding of how decisions get made and why.
And maybe the biggest benefit is flexibility. We’re not locking ourselves into a rigid long-term plan. We’re aligning in real time, based on what we’re seeing and hearing. In a business like ours, where things shift quickly, that matters. What made sense a month ago might not hold up today, and that’s okay.
Because we’ve already built that habit of open input and adjustment, those shifts don’t feel disruptive. They feel like a natural extension of how we operate.
It’s not the cleanest process on paper. It can feel a bit messy at times. But in practice, it’s more resilient. And for me, that trade-off has been well worth it.
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