Leadership Series: Decision Making
It’s often said that being a decision maker is a necessary attribute to be a leader. But this is only, at best, a half-truth.
Why?
Well, on the one hand, it’s very important for a leader to be able to move an issue forward by making a sound decision but on the other, being the one that has to make the decision could be your organization’s biggest bottleneck. If you’re making all the decisions, you’re either too involved (i.e. you don’t trust your people) or you’re just plain egotistical (i.e. you don’t think your people are smart enough to make good decisions).
So, how do leaders approach decision making? They see themselves as decision drivers rather than decision makers. In other words, they focus on making sure that a decision is made vs. that they personally make the decision.
Liz Wiseman suggests a leader focus on three main issues around every decision:
- What question is being addressed?
- Why do we need to focus on this question?
- How will the decision be made?
- What’s the timeframe?
- Who will make recommendations?
- Who will ultimately decide?
In making sure that these questions are clear, the issue at hand can be fully addressed as timelines, motivation and ownership are established.
Once these questions are outlined, open, rigorous debate has taken place and a decision has been made, the final step is to discuss how the decision will be communicated.
Using this method of decision making, a leader will access the intelligence of all those involved and in turn, may spare his/herself some undue stress in the process.
Being a decision maker is a good leadership attribute but being a debate making, decision driver is essential to leadership acumen. So, go out, get out of the way, drive decisions, and look forward to the success that follows!