Becoming a Decisionizer: Smarter Compliance Decision-Making

Decision-making in compliance rarely fails because of a lack of rules, expertise, or unclear regulations. It breaks down because people hesitate. You’ve seen this play out.

Compliance professionals are wired to analyze risk, think through consequences, and avoid mistakes. Those instincts protect organizations. But when analysis turns into paralysis, accountability gets fuzzy, and confidence—both inside and outside the team—starts to erode. That’s the turning point most teams miss.

Strong compliance teams do more than interpret regulations. They make timely, defensible decisions based on the best information available when a decision is required. The ability to commit without perfect certainty is what separates effective compliance leaders from perpetual reviewers.

That shift—from analysis to action—is what I mean by becoming a decisionizer. It’s not about being reckless. It’s about knowing when enough is enough.

From Over-Analyzer to Decisionizer

“If you’re gonna be wrong, be dead wrong.”

My college fencing coach, Jo Redmon, said this to me constantly. She often paired it with another favorite:

"Have the courage of your convictions.”

Her message was simple, even if I didn’t love hearing it. I had the ability to win—but I hesitated. I waited for more information.  I kept hoping certainty would eventually show up and make the decision easy.

It didn’t. It never does.

That hesitation cost me matches. And it revealed something uncomfortable: my fear of being wrong was stronger than my will to win. That should’ve been a clue.

I am a natural analyzer. Give me data, context, alternatives, and time, and I’m comfortable.

My wife can decide to go to Rome six months from now, book flights, and reserve an Airbnb in seven minutes. I will spend thirty minutes debating whether to book a routine round-trip flight to Dallas.

Same task. Very different wiring. One approach waits for certainty. The other recognizes when the moment calls for action. Neither is wrong—but only one works when a decision has to be made.

Fencing trained me to recognize that moment—and act.

That lesson shows up all the time in compliance decision-making, where delay often creates more risk than a thoughtful, imperfect decision ever would.

Why Decision-Making in Compliance is a Leadership Skill

Over time, a few things became clear. None of them were surprising—but all of them were unavoidable:

• Leaders must decide.

• Teams look for direction, not endless options.

• Confidence grows when someone steps up at the right moment.

• Loyalty follows leaders who are willing to commit.

Titles vary—team lead, manager, VP—but leadership always requires decisiveness. And decisiveness, like anything else, comes with a few rules.

Rule #1: Have the Courage to Be Wrong

“54%.”

—Roger Federer, explaining that across more than 1,500 matches, he won only 54% of his points.

The fear of being wrong is one of the biggest barriers to effective decision-making in compliance.

Many professionals quietly believe management expects perfection—and that being wrong is punishable. That belief shuts decisions down fast.

Here are a few realities worth saying out loud:

• Being “right all the time” is impossible.

• Holding people accountable supports growth; punishment shuts it down.

• Avoiding a decision when one is required is often worse than making the wrong one.

Compliance professionals are excellent at analysis. That’s a strength. But analysis without commitment is not leadership. It’s just delay with better vocabulary.

And here’s the part we don’t always give ourselves credit for:

You usually know more than you think you do.

Rule #2: Match the Decision to the Consequences

“The surgery was a success, but the patient died.”

—Unknown

Not every decision deserves the same level of analysis. Treating them as if they do is how organizations get stuck.

In compliance, nobody dies because of a bad decision. But some decisions carry real organizational consequences—and others don’t. The time and information required should match that risk.

Choosing the wrong LOS system can materially harm a company. Choosing the theme for the holiday party does not require six meetings.

When decisions keep getting pushed down the road, it’s worth asking whether the delay reflects real risk or just discomfort with deciding.

Rule #3: Decide With the Best Information Available

“It’s tough to make predictions, especially about the future.”

—Yogi Berra

No one can expect decisions to be made based on information that doesn’t yet exist.

You’re being asked to decide based on what you know now. That means doing the work up front:

• Gather real information—not noise

• Prepare before the decision is due

• Be able to explain why you chose what you chose

One of the clearest examples of this comes from the Apollo 13 mission. After a catastrophic equipment failure in 1970, NASA engineers and astronauts had to make rapid, high-stakes decisions with incomplete information and limited time to bring the crew home safely.

A movie made years later dramatized the timeline, but the decisions themselves were real—and they worked.

Compliance decisions rarely carry that level of consequence. Let’s be honest—that’s a good thing. But the principle is the same. Waiting for perfect information guarantees delay. Acting on solid information creates progress.

Rule #4: No One Cares About Your Failures as Much as You Do

This is the rule that matters most, and is the part that few people say out loud:

• You care more about your mistakes than anyone else.

• Strong leaders don’t judge decisions solely by outcomes.

• They look at the process used to make the decision.

Stop confusing outcome with decision quality. They are not the same thing.

That distinction is what allows leaders to decide again—and do it better the next time.

Final Thought: Decide Anyway

Do not fear being wrong.

If a decision turns out to be wrong, own it. Odds are it was the best decision available at the time. And never let anyone confuse a bad outcome with a careless process.

Because if you’re going to be wrong—be dead wrong.

Commit. Learn. Move forward. That’s the job. That’s decision-making in compliance done right.

How Loan Risk Advisors Can Help

Decision-making in compliance doesn’t get easier as regulations grow. It gets heavier. More data. More scrutiny. More moments where someone must decide—without perfect information and with limited time.

That’s where experienced perspective matters.

At Loan Risk Advisors, we work alongside compliance leaders, executives, and risk teams to help them make clear, defensible decisions with confidence. Not by removing accountability—but by strengthening the decision-making process behind it.

If you’re facing a decision that feels stuck, unclear, or heavier than it should be, we’re here to help you think it through.

Book a free discovery call with Loan Risk Advisors. Let’s talk about what decision-making in compliance looks like when you’re not doing it alone.