Incentive Compensation for Contractors - Audience Question: Cooling Off Period and Closing

Sometimes, any change in the organization, including incentive programs, simply doesn't work.

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Contributors Sue Weiler-Doke David Brown

One of the hardest leadership decisions is making the decision to:

  1. Push forward knowing that the problems are momentary and the end objectives will ultimately be achieved if you stay the course.
  2. Make adjustments to the program and immediately give it another try.  
  3. Allow a cooling off period before executing either A or B, giving the team time to recover.
  4. Pull back and don’t move forward in that direction again.  

The challenge is that there is no single right answer for all situations.  

  • Leaders must know their teams and how resilient they are at this particular moment in time.  
  • Leadership is rarely about making decisions that are black and white - those are simple.  
  • Leaders must make tough directional decisions in the absence of complete information to move a team toward often fuzzy objectives.  

Test out your course of action based on talking to a few of your trusted team members at all levels and then decide. 

This is Part 20 of a 20-Part Series


Topics Covered in the Series Include:

  • Risks
  • Culture
  • Prerequisites
  • Succession
  • Types of Programs

All relationships start with a simple conversation. Let’s schedule some time to talk about your specific challenges and opportunities.


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