How to Make Clear Decisions Under Pressure Without Adding More to Your Calendar
It was 4:45 PM on a Friday when Dr. Sarah Chen, Chief Medical Officer at Metropolitan Health System, faced a decision that couldn't wait until Monday. A critical staffing shortage had collided with an unexpected surge in patient volume, and her leadership team had presented three different solutions—each with significant tradeoffs affecting patient care, staff wellbeing, and financial resources.
Every stakeholder was waiting for her call. Her calendar was packed with back-to-back meetings. And her mind was swimming with conflicting data points, perspectives, and priorities.
Sound familiar? Or are you one of those mythical healthcare leaders who spends Fridays sipping tea and contemplating the perfect work-life balance? (If so, please write YOUR article and send it to the rest of us!)
The Healthcare Leader's Decision Dilemma
In today's healthcare environment, leaders like you face increasingly complex decisions under extraordinary time pressure. Whether you're managing clinical operations, leading quality initiatives, or overseeing system transformation, the stakes are high and the time is short.
The conventional wisdom suggests that better decisions require:
More data
More stakeholder input
More analysis time
More meetings
Yes, the universal solution to healthcare problems: MORE MEETINGS! Because nothing says "I'm making progress" like watching your colleagues perfect the art of looking attentive while secretly answering emails under the table.
But what if that approach actually undermines the clarity you need when it matters most?
"I kept thinking if I just had more information or another hour to think, the right decision would become obvious," says Dr. Chen. "But additional data often created more questions than answers, and I found myself increasingly paralyzed when quick, clear decisions were needed."
The Counterintuitive Path to Decision Clarity
Research from the Healthcare Leadership Institute reveals a surprising truth: The most effective healthcare leaders don't make better decisions by adding more to their process. Instead, they gain clarity through what I call "decision connection"—a practice of reconnecting to self, team, and purpose especially when pressure is highest.
This approach doesn't require more time—it changes the quality of the time you're already spending. No, it doesn't involve time travel or cloning yourself, though I'm sure we're all still waiting for those options to become available at a reasonable price point.
Three 5-Minute Connection Techniques That Transform Decision-Making
1. The Body Compass Check-In (5 minutes)
When Dr. James Wilson, Hospital CEO, faced a contentious decision about resource allocation between departments, his first step wasn't to gather more data—it was to reconnect with his physical experience.
"I realized I'd been holding my breath and my shoulders were at my ears," he explains. "Once I recognized the physical signs of disconnection, I could actually use the sensations as information rather than being hijacked by them."
In other words, his body was sending critical decision-making data while his brain was busy creating PowerPoint slides nobody would remember in a week.
Try this: Before your next high-stakes decision, take five minutes to:
Find a quiet space (even if it's just a bathroom stall or your car—we all know those are the real executive offices in healthcare)
Take three deep breaths, extending the exhale
Scan your body from head to toe, noticing areas of tension
Ask yourself: "What is my body trying to tell me about this decision?"
Note any physical responses to different options (constriction often signals misalignment with values)
For Dr. Wilson, this practice revealed that one option created a feeling of expansion in his chest—a physical signal that this path aligned with his deeper purpose despite being politically challenging. And yes, "politically challenging" is healthcare code for "certain people won't speak to you in the cafeteria for a while."
2. The Values Filter (5 minutes)
When Jessica Ramirez, Chief Nursing Officer, faced conflicting recommendations about a new care model implementation, she used a rapid values filter to cut through the noise.
Try this:
Write down the 3 core values most important to you as a healthcare leader
For each decision option, quickly rate alignment with each value (1-5 scale)
Notice which option maintains the highest overall alignment
"This simple practice cut through hours of circular debate," Ramirez explains. "When I filtered the options through my core values of patient dignity, staff empowerment, and evidence-based care, the right path became immediately clear—even though it wasn't the easiest one."
And by "wasn't the easiest one," she means it required actual change rather than forming another committee to study the possibility of maybe considering potential options at some unspecified future date.
3. The Purpose Pivot (5 minutes)
Dr. Robert Kim, Chief Quality Officer, found clarity in a controversial decision about performance metrics by reconnecting to purpose.
Try this:
Write down your purpose as a healthcare leader in one sentence
For each decision option, ask: "How does this choice serve that purpose?"
Notice which option creates the strongest resonance
"We were caught in endless debate about which metrics to prioritize," Dr. Kim recalls. "But when I reconnected to my fundamental purpose—improving patient outcomes through systems that support caregivers—I could see that one approach clearly served that purpose while the others actually undermined it."
Turns out "what gets measured gets managed" works a lot better when what you're measuring actually matters. Revolutionary concept, I know.
The Decision Connection Diagnostic
How do you know if you're disconnected in your decision process? Watch for these warning signs:
You keep seeking more data but feel less clear
You've revisited the same options multiple times without resolution
Your gut feeling conflicts with your logical analysis
You feel physically tense when thinking about the decision
You're concerned more about perception than outcomes
You're struggling to articulate why any option feels right
You start fantasizing about careers that don't involve electronic health records
Experiencing three or more of these signals suggests you need connection before more information. Experiencing all seven might mean you need a vacation, but since that's unlikely in healthcare, let's focus on what we can fix.
Dr. Chen's Breakthrough
Let's return to Dr. Chen's Friday afternoon dilemma.
Instead of scheduling another meeting or requesting more data, she took five minutes to implement the connection practices above. First, she noticed her shallow breathing and intentionally took several deep breaths. Then she quickly filtered the options through her core values of patient safety, staff wellbeing, and system sustainability.
"I realized I'd been overthinking a decision that was actually clear when viewed through my values," she explains. "Once I reconnected, I could see that only one option truly honored all three priorities, even though it required more courage to implement."
The result? Her team implemented a solution that maintained safe staffing, supported staff wellbeing through creative scheduling, and actually reduced costs by eliminating redundant processes they identified during implementation.
No capes were required for this healthcare heroism, though I hear the marketing department is working on branded ones for next year's strategic plan rollout.
Your Next Decision Framework
The next time you face a high-pressure decision:
Recognize disconnection signals (physical tension, circular thinking, values confusion)
Take a 5-minute connection break using one or more of the techniques above
Articulate your decision from a place of connection, clearly stating how it aligns with your values and purpose
Communicate with confidence, acknowledging tradeoffs while standing firm in your connected choice
As Dr. Chen discovered, "The time I invested in connection actually saved hours of indecision and created a better outcome than any amount of additional analysis could have provided."
And she made it home for dinner on Friday instead of staring at spreadsheets until midnight. Sometimes the real healthcare innovation is leaving the office.
The Connection Advantage
In healthcare's complex environment, your greatest decision-making advantage isn't more information—it's maintaining connection to yourself, your values, and your purpose, especially when pressure is highest.
This doesn't require adding more to your calendar. It means changing how you use the time you already have. Because let's be honest—your calendar couldn't fit another 15-minute block if it came with a guaranteed retirement plan.
What decision are you facing right now? Take five minutes to try one connection practice and notice what becomes clear. And remember, the worst decision is often no decision at all—except maybe that time someone decided healthcare billing should be that complicated.
Eva Minkoff is the founder of Bold Being, where she coaches healthcare leaders to maintain connection to self, others, and purpose even under extraordinary pressure. Through her work with healthcare executives across the country, she's developed practical approaches that transform leadership effectiveness without adding more to already-full schedules. She still maintains that laughter is the second-best medicine. The first is whatever your physician prescribed, so please take that as directed.