Decision Decisions

May 12, 2014 • 3 Min Read

Learn How Good Leaders Make Decisions

Ever wondered how great leaders make good decisions? Decisiveness is one key skill that leaders must master as they often shoulder the responsibility of making decisions with far-reaching impact on their organisations, and at times the community at large. Here are three things to bear in mind when making decisions:

Limit your options

At times, you may find yourself with too many choices. Is that really a good thing? Not really. A good way to start is by limiting your choices. Having more than five or six choices, you may have a challenging time deciding. But if you narrow them down to a few, you will be able to better examine those choices and their consequences.

Control your emotions

Feelings like fear or anger will cloud your judgment. The ability to have emotional self-control is absolutely vital. “Great leaders are aware of their emotional state and are able to manage intense emotions so they can make smart decisions,” says cognitive behavioural psychologist Dr Larina Kase.

Listen and trust your intuition

Often, we are told to listen to our “inner voice.” However, distractions and our busy schedules can overwhelm and drown that inner voice. Why not make it a habit to spend quality time alone? It could be as little as five to 10 minutes daily to reflect and consider things that are happening, maybe during a walk or in a cafe with a nice cup of coffee. This should put you in a better position to make decisions when you return to the hustle and bustle of work. In Kase’s words,

“To hear your intuition, you must have some time when you’re a human being, not a human doing.”

Did you know?

“You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.” – Michelle Obama

“It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” – Roy Disney

“Inability to make decisions is one of the principal reasons executives fail. Deficiency in decision-making ranks much higher than lack of specific knowledge or technical know-how as an indicator of leadership failure.” – John Maxwell

According to Dr Larina Kase, a cognitive-behavioural psychologist, “Great leaders understand how to balance emotion with reason and make decisions that positively impact themselves, their employees, customers and stakeholders, and organisations.”