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A LEADER IS A
DECISION MAKER
by Sheila Murray Bethel, Ph.D.
Every day of our lives we are faced with decisions.
Whether in our business or personal lives, to make a
difference, Leaders need to develop the valuable skill of
productive profitable decision-making. Recent survey of the
Fortune 500 companies revealed that one of the most
important qualities Leaders look for when hiring or
promoting is a person's ability to make decisions.
How do you rank in decision-making skills? When you're
under pressure, can you take the risk, make the decision,
and accept responsibility for the outcome? Or, do you feel
like the centipede that was told to put his best foot
forward? Going through the mental and emotional gymnastics
of committing yourself to the task of deciding is not
always easy. It can keep you up all night, weighing the
pros and cons. It can take your energy and your attention
from other important things. It can be a difficult, stress
filled time, but getting caught in the trap of indecision
is just is bad. When you don't decide, time and
circumstance will decide for you.
One of the most important steps a leader can make is
preparing to decide. This step gives you information,
data, and insight into the decision to be made. For simple
daily decisions a checklist can be done mentally in just a
few minutes. For major ones you'll need paper, pencil and
a quiet place to concentrate.
Eight Key Questions:
1. Is the objective of the decision clearly defined?
In analyzing the alternatives and consequences of the
decision, your objectives must be as clear as possible or
you may be led astray.
2. Who should make the decision?
Are you really the person to be deciding? Or, is this a
decision you should delegate to someone else...even a group
of people?
3. What time factors are involved?
Do you have deadlines or time frames in which you must
work? Are they reasonable? The author Paul Moody, in
referring to the "time cost trade-off," explains that the
cost of gathering data increases with the time spent. At
some point it becomes too costly to delay making the
decision. You need to consider this early in your
preparations to deciding.
4. Do you have enough information to make the decision?
Do you need to enlist a specialist to give you further
facts? Some research might give you a better view of both
sides of the question or problem to which your decision is
targeted. Can you delegate part of the information
gathering process?
5. Have you done a field force analysis?
Every situation is controlled by forces (people,
circumstances, policies, etc.) acting upon it. What forces
will be acting in favor of your decision? What forces will
be acting against your decision? Identifying the issue can
help you better plan your course of action to be taken once
the decision is made.
6. What risks are involved in this decision?
Are you willing to accept the responsibility for the
potential payoffs or losses in terms of human relations,
finances, time, effort and commitment?
7. Are you ready to implement?
Making a decision before you are ready to act upon it is a
waste of time, energy and money. Be sure that you have at
least moderate resources ready to carry out your action
plan once the decision is made.
8. How will you track the outcome of your decisions?
Feedback is vital to your decision-making skills. In
statistical written form or by brainstorming with the
people affected by, or involved in, the decision. Feedback
will enable you to make better decisions in the future.
True Test
There are many times in life and in business when you don't
have the luxury of going through all these questions. The
situation is urgent and you must decide immediately. Now
comes the true test of the Leader. He or she takes
whenever information is available, reaches down inside for
a gut reaction, makes a mental jump and decides. At times
like this some kind of a decision is better than none.
Rarely are our decisions irrevocable. If the wrong
decision was made, it can be repaired or corrected. But,
if you want to make a difference, not deciding is usually
the worse decision of all.
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