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How to Enhance Your Decision-Making Skills as a Leader

• 14 Mar 2024

As a leader, you make countless decisions—from whom to hire and which projects to prioritize to where to make budget cuts.

If you’re a new leader, acclimating to being a decision-maker can be challenging. Luckily, like other vital business skills, you can learn how to make better decisions through education and practice.

Here’s a primer on why decision-making skills are crucial to leadership and six ways to enhance yours.

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Why Are Decision-Making Skills Important?

While decision-making is built into most leaders’ job descriptions, it’s a common pain point. According to a 2023 Oracle study , 85 percent of business leaders report suffering from “decision distress”—regretting, feeling guilty about, or questioning a decision they made in the past year.

When distressed by difficult decisions, it can be easy to succumb to common pitfalls , such as:

• Defaulting to consensus
• Not offering alternatives to your proposed solution
• Mistaking opinions for facts
• Losing sight of purpose
• Truncating debate

By defaulting to the “easy answer” or avoiding working through a decision, you can end up with outcomes that are stagnant at best and disastrous at worst.

Yet, decision-making is a skill you can sharpen in your leadership toolkit. Here are six ways to do so.

6 Ways to Enhance Your Leadership Decision-Making Skills

1. involve your team.

One common pitfall of leadership is thinking you must make every decision yourself. While you may have the final judgment call, enlisting others to work through challenging decisions can be helpful.

Asking for peers’ input can open your mind to new perspectives. For instance, if you ask your direct reports to brainstorm ways to improve your production process’s efficiency, chances are that they’ll have some ideas you didn’t think of.

If a decision is more private—such as whether to promote one employee over another—consider consulting fellow organizational leaders to approach it from multiple angles.

Another reason to involve your team in the decision-making process is to achieve buy-in. Your decision will likely impact each member, whether it’s about a new or reprioritized strategic initiative. By helping decide how to solve the challenge, your employees are more likely to feel a sense of ownership and empowerment during the execution phase.

Related: How to Get Employee Buy-In to Execute Your Strategic Initiatives

2. Understand Your Responsibilities to Stakeholders

When facing a decision, remember your responsibilities to stakeholders. In the online course Leadership, Ethics, and Corporate Accountability —offered as a Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB) program elective or individually—Harvard Business School Professor Nien-hê Hsieh outlines your three types of responsibilities as a leader: legal, economic, and ethical .

Hsieh also identifies four stakeholder groups—customers, employees, investors, and society—that you must balance your obligations to when making decisions.

For example, you have the following responsibilities to customers and employees:

• Well-being: What’s ultimately good for the person
• Rights: Entitlement to receive certain treatment
• Duties: A moral obligation to behave in a specific way
• Best practices: Aspirational standards not required by law or cultural norms

“Many of the decisions you face will not have a single right answer,” Hsieh says in the course. “Sometimes, the most viable answer may come with negative effects. In such cases, the decision is not black and white. As a result, many call them ‘gray-area decisions.’”

As a starting point for tackling gray-area decisions, identify your stakeholders and your responsibilities to each.

Related: How to Choose Your CLIMB Electives

3. Consider Value-Based Strategy

If you make decisions that impact your organization’s strategy, consider how to create value. Often, the best decision provides the most value to the most stakeholders.

The online course Business Strategy —one of seven courses comprising CLIMB's New Leaders learning path—presents the value stick as a visual representation of a value-based strategy's components.

By toggling each, you can envision how strategic decisions impact the value you provide to different shareholders.

For instance, if you choose to lower price, customer delight increases. If you lower the cost of goods, you increase value for your firm but decrease it for suppliers.

This kind of framework enables you to consider strategic decisions’ impact and pursue the most favorable outcome.

4. Familiarize Yourself with Financial Statements

Any organizational leadership decision you make is bound to have financial implications. Building your decision-making skills to become familiar and comfortable with your firm’s finances is crucial.

The three financial statements you should know are:

• The balance sheet , which provides a snapshot of your company’s financial health for a given period
• The income statement , which gives an overview of income and expenses during a set period and is useful for comparing metrics over time
• The cash flow statement , which details cash inflows and outflows for a specific period and demonstrates your business’s ability to operate in the short and long term

In addition to gauging your organization’s financial health, learn how to create and adhere to your team or department’s budget to ensure decisions align with resource availability and help your team stay on track toward goals.

By sharpening your finance skills , you can gain confidence and back your decisions with financial information.

5. Leverage Data

Beyond financial information, consider other types of data when making decisions. That data can come in the form of progress toward goals or marketing key performance indicators (KPIs) , such as time spent on your website or number of repeat purchases. Whatever the decision, find metrics that provide insight into it.

For instance, if you need to prioritize your team’s initiatives, you can use existing data about projects’ outcomes and timelines to estimate return on investment .

By leveraging available data, you can support your decisions with facts and forecast their impact.

Related: The Advantages of Data-Driven Decision-Making

6. Learn from Other Leaders

Finally, don’t underestimate the power of learning from other leaders. You can do so by networking within your field or industry and creating a group of peers to bounce ideas off of.

One way to build that group is by taking an online course. Some programs, including CLIMB , have peer learning teams built into them. Each term, you’re sorted into a new team based on your time zone, availability, and gender. Throughout your educational experience, you collaborate with your peers to synthesize learnings and work toward a capstone project—helping you gain new perspectives on how to approach problem-solving and decision-making.

In addition to learning from peers during your program, you can network before and after it. The HBS Online Community is open to all business professionals and a resource where you can give and receive support, connect over topics you care about, and collaborate toward a greater cause.

When searching for courses, prioritize those featuring real-world examples . For instance, HBS Online’s courses feature business leaders explaining situations they’ve encountered in their careers. After learning the details of their dilemmas, you’re prompted to consider how you’d handle them. Afterward, the leaders explain what they did and the insights they gained.

By listening to, connecting with, and learning from other leaders, you can discover new ways to approach your decisions.

Gaining Confidence as a Leader

Taking an online leadership course can help you gain confidence in your decision-making skills. In a 2022 City Square Associates survey , 84 percent of HBS Online learners said they have more confidence making business decisions, and 90 percent report feeling more self-assured at work.

If you want to improve your skills, consider a comprehensive business program like CLIMB .

It features three courses on foundational topics:

• Finance and accounting

And three courses on cutting-edge leadership skills:

• Dynamic Teaming
• Personal Branding
• Leading in the Digital World

Additionally, you select an open elective of your choice from HBS Online’s course catalog .

Through education and practice, you can build your skills and boost your confidence in making winning decisions for your organization.

Are you ready to level up your leadership skills? Explore our yearlong Credential of Leadership, Impact, and Management in Business (CLIMB) program , which comprises seven courses for leading in the modern business world. Download the CLIMB brochure to learn about its curriculum, admissions requirements, and benefits.

About the Author

The Crucial Role of Critical Thinking in Leadership

Leadership is more than just guiding a team; it's about making decisions that shape the future of an organization. Critical thinking plays a pivotal role in effective leadership. Here are five key reasons why it's essential for a leader to have critical thinking skills:

1. Informed Decision-Making

Leaders are constantly faced with complex challenges. Critical thinking empowers them to gather information, assess options, and make well-informed decisions. It ensures decisions are based on facts and analysis rather than assumptions.

2. Problem-Solving Abilities: 

Leaders encounter obstacles and problems regularly. Critical thinking enables them to identify root causes, analyze potential solutions, and implement effective problem-solving strategies. It encourages a proactive approach to challenges.

3. Adaptation to Change

In today's dynamic business environment, change is inevitable. Critical thinking allows leaders to adapt to new circumstances, evaluate the impact of change, and make adjustments swiftly. It fosters resilience and flexibility.

4. Effective Communication

 Leaders must convey their vision and ideas clearly. Critical thinking helps them structure their thoughts logically, present ideas persuasively, and engage in constructive dialogues with their team, fostering collaboration.

5. Innovation and Creativity

To stay competitive, leaders need to foster innovation. Critical thinking encourages creative problem-solving and the exploration of new ideas. It allows leaders to identify opportunities for growth and adapt to evolving trends.

In conclusion, critical thinking is the cornerstone of effective leadership. It equips leaders to make informed decisions, navigate challenges, adapt to change, communicate effectively, and drive innovation. Leaders with strong critical thinking skills not only steer their organizations to success but also inspire their teams to reach new heights.

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How to build critical thinking skills for better decision-making

It’s simple in theory, but tougher in practice – here are five tips to get you started.

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Have you heard the riddle about two coins that equal thirty cents, but one of them is not a nickel? What about the one where a surgeon says they can’t operate on their own son?

Those brain teasers tap into your critical thinking skills. But your ability to think critically isn’t just helpful for solving those random puzzles – it plays a big role in your career. 

An impressive 81% of employers say critical thinking carries a lot of weight when they’re evaluating job candidates. It ranks as the top competency companies consider when hiring recent graduates (even ahead of communication ). Plus, once you’re hired, several studies show that critical thinking skills are highly correlated with better job performance.

So what exactly are critical thinking skills? And even more importantly, how do you build and improve them? 

What is critical thinking?

Critical thinking is the ability to evaluate facts and information, remain objective, and make a sound decision about how to move forward.

Does that sound like how you approach every decision or problem? Not so fast. Critical thinking seems simple in theory but is much tougher in practice, which helps explain why 65% of employers say their organization has a need for more critical thinking. 

In reality, critical thinking doesn’t come naturally to a lot of us. In order to do it well, you need to:

• Remain open-minded and inquisitive, rather than relying on assumptions or jumping to conclusions
• Ask questions and dig deep, rather than accepting information at face value
• Keep your own biases and perceptions in check to stay as objective as possible
• Rely on your emotional intelligence to fill in the blanks and gain a more well-rounded understanding of a situation

So, critical thinking isn’t just being intelligent or analytical. In many ways, it requires you to step outside of yourself, let go of your own preconceived notions, and approach a problem or situation with curiosity and fairness.

It’s a challenge, but it’s well worth it. Critical thinking skills will help you connect ideas, make reasonable decisions, and solve complex problems.

7 critical thinking skills to help you dig deeper

Critical thinking is often labeled as a skill itself (you’ll see it bulleted as a desired trait in a variety of job descriptions). But it’s better to think of critical thinking less as a distinct skill and more as a collection or category of skills. 

To think critically, you’ll need to tap into a bunch of your other soft skills. Here are seven of the most important. 

Open-mindedness

It’s important to kick off the critical thinking process with the idea that anything is possible. The more you’re able to set aside your own suspicions, beliefs, and agenda, the better prepared you are to approach the situation with the level of inquisitiveness you need. 

That means not closing yourself off to any possibilities and allowing yourself the space to pull on every thread – yes, even the ones that seem totally implausible.

As Christopher Dwyer, Ph.D. writes in a piece for Psychology Today , “Even if an idea appears foolish, sometimes its consideration can lead to an intelligent, critically considered conclusion.” He goes on to compare the critical thinking process to brainstorming . Sometimes the “bad” ideas are what lay the foundation for the good ones. 

Open-mindedness is challenging because it requires more effort and mental bandwidth than sticking with your own perceptions. Approaching problems or situations with true impartiality often means:

• Practicing self-regulation : Giving yourself a pause between when you feel something and when you actually react or take action.
• Challenging your own biases: Acknowledging your biases and seeking feedback are two powerful ways to get a broader understanding. 

Critical thinking example

In a team meeting, your boss mentioned that your company newsletter signups have been decreasing and she wants to figure out why.

At first, you feel offended and defensive – it feels like she’s blaming you for the dip in subscribers. You recognize and rationalize that emotion before thinking about potential causes. You have a hunch about what’s happening, but you will explore all possibilities and contributions from your team members.

Observation

Observation is, of course, your ability to notice and process the details all around you (even the subtle or seemingly inconsequential ones). Critical thinking demands that you’re flexible and willing to go beyond surface-level information, and solid observation skills help you do that.

Your observations help you pick up on clues from a variety of sources and experiences, all of which help you draw a final conclusion. After all, sometimes it’s the most minuscule realization that leads you to the strongest conclusion.

Over the next week or so, you keep a close eye on your company’s website and newsletter analytics to see if numbers are in fact declining or if your boss’s concerns were just a fluke. 

Critical thinking hinges on objectivity. And, to be objective, you need to base your judgments on the facts – which you collect through research. You’ll lean on your research skills to gather as much information as possible that’s relevant to your problem or situation. 

Keep in mind that this isn’t just about the quantity of information – quality matters too. You want to find data and details from a variety of trusted sources to drill past the surface and build a deeper understanding of what’s happening. 

You dig into your email and website analytics to identify trends in bounce rates, time on page, conversions, and more. You also review recent newsletters and email promotions to understand what customers have received, look through current customer feedback, and connect with your customer support team to learn what they’re hearing in their conversations with customers.

The critical thinking process is sort of like a treasure hunt – you’ll find some nuggets that are fundamental for your final conclusion and some that might be interesting but aren’t pertinent to the problem at hand.

That’s why you need analytical skills. They’re what help you separate the wheat from the chaff, prioritize information, identify trends or themes, and draw conclusions based on the most relevant and influential facts. 

It’s easy to confuse analytical thinking with critical thinking itself, and it’s true there is a lot of overlap between the two. But analytical thinking is just a piece of critical thinking. It focuses strictly on the facts and data, while critical thinking incorporates other factors like emotions, opinions, and experiences. 

As you analyze your research, you notice that one specific webpage has contributed to a significant decline in newsletter signups. While all of the other sources have stayed fairly steady with regard to conversions, that one has sharply decreased.

You decide to move on from your other hypotheses about newsletter quality and dig deeper into the analytics. 

One of the traps of critical thinking is that it’s easy to feel like you’re never done. There’s always more information you could collect and more rabbit holes you could fall down.

But at some point, you need to accept that you’ve done your due diligence and make a decision about how to move forward. That’s where inference comes in. It’s your ability to look at the evidence and facts available to you and draw an informed conclusion based on those. 

When you’re so focused on staying objective and pursuing all possibilities, inference can feel like the antithesis of critical thinking. But ultimately, it’s your inference skills that allow you to move out of the thinking process and onto the action steps. 

You dig deeper into the analytics for the page that hasn’t been converting and notice that the sharp drop-off happened around the same time you switched email providers.

After looking more into the backend, you realize that the signup form on that page isn’t correctly connected to your newsletter platform. It seems like anybody who has signed up on that page hasn’t been fed to your email list. 

Communication

3 ways to improve your communication skills at work

If and when you identify a solution or answer, you can’t keep it close to the vest. You’ll need to use your communication skills to share your findings with the relevant stakeholders – like your boss, team members, or anybody who needs to be involved in the next steps.

Your analysis skills will come in handy here too, as they’ll help you determine what information other people need to know so you can avoid bogging them down with unnecessary details. 

In your next team meeting, you pull up the analytics and show your team the sharp drop-off as well as the missing connection between that page and your email platform. You ask the web team to reinstall and double-check that connection and you also ask a member of the marketing team to draft an apology email to the subscribers who were missed. 

Problem-solving

Critical thinking and problem-solving are two more terms that are frequently confused. After all, when you think critically, you’re often doing so with the objective of solving a problem.

The best way to understand how problem-solving and critical thinking differ is to think of problem-solving as much more narrow. You’re focused on finding a solution.

In contrast, you can use critical thinking for a variety of use cases beyond solving a problem – like answering questions or identifying opportunities for improvement. Even so, within the critical thinking process, you’ll flex your problem-solving skills when it comes time to take action. 

Once the fix is implemented, you monitor the analytics to see if subscribers continue to increase. If not (or if they increase at a slower rate than you anticipated), you’ll roll out some other tests like changing the CTA language or the placement of the subscribe form on the page.

5 ways to improve your critical thinking skills

Beyond the buzzwords: Why interpersonal skills matter at work

Think critically about critical thinking and you’ll quickly realize that it’s not as instinctive as you’d like it to be. Fortunately, your critical thinking skills are learned competencies and not inherent gifts – and that means you can improve them. Here’s how:

• Practice active listening: Active listening helps you process and understand what other people share. That’s crucial as you aim to be open-minded and inquisitive.
• Ask open-ended questions: If your critical thinking process involves collecting feedback and opinions from others, ask open-ended questions (meaning, questions that can’t be answered with “yes” or “no”). Doing so will give you more valuable information and also prevent your own biases from influencing people’s input.
• Scrutinize your sources: Figuring out what to trust and prioritize is crucial for critical thinking. Boosting your media literacy and asking more questions will help you be more discerning about what to factor in. It’s hard to strike a balance between skepticism and open-mindedness, but approaching information with questions (rather than unquestioning trust) will help you draw better conclusions. 
• Play a game: Remember those riddles we mentioned at the beginning? As trivial as they might seem, games and exercises like those can help you boost your critical thinking skills. There are plenty of critical thinking exercises you can do individually or as a team . 
• Give yourself time: Research shows that rushed decisions are often regrettable ones. That’s likely because critical thinking takes time – you can’t do it under the wire. So, for big decisions or hairy problems, give yourself enough time and breathing room to work through the process. It’s hard enough to think critically without a countdown ticking in your brain. 

Critical thinking really is critical

The ability to think critically is important, but it doesn’t come naturally to most of us. It’s just easier to stick with biases, assumptions, and surface-level information. 

But that route often leads you to rash judgments, shaky conclusions, and disappointing decisions. So here’s a conclusion we can draw without any more noodling: Even if it is more demanding on your mental resources, critical thinking is well worth the effort.

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Team-Building Strategies: Building a Winning Team for Your Organization

Discover how to build a winning team and boost your business negotiation results in this free special report, Team Building Strategies for Your Organization, from Harvard Law School.

• Leadership and Decision-Making: Empowering Better Decisions

A key task in leadership and decision-making is finding ways to encourage employees at all levels to make better decisions on the organization’s behalf in negotiations and beyond, according to a new book.

By Katie Shonk — on April 29th, 2024 / Leadership Skills

What is the role of leadership in an organization? Contrary to the traditional image of a sole individual steering the ship, leaders have an obligation to empower everyone in their organization to make sound and ethical decisions in negotiations and other contexts, write University of California, Berkeley, professor Don A. Moore and Harvard Business School professor Max Bazerman in their new book, Decision Leadership: Empowering Others to Make Better Choices .

During a virtual event moderated by Harvard Business School professor Deepak Malhotra , Moore and Bazerman shared principles on leadership and decision-making from their book. “The thing that leaders can most affect are the decisions of the people they lead,” said Bazerman; consequently, “we’re interested in the decisions not just of the leader but of all of those people who are influenced by the leader.”

Don’t Neglect Ethics

“Great leaders create the norms, structures, incentives, and systems that allow their direct reports, organizations, and the broader stakeholders to make decisions that maximize collective benefit through value creation,” Moore and Bazerman write in Decision Leadership . They emphasize the importance of “setting the stage”—creating environments in which people can make good decisions.

As a result, the leadership and decision-making book focuses a great deal on ethics, noted Malhotra during the book talk. He asked if effective leadership thus must embody a certain type of leadership, such as moral leadership or ethical leadership . “Is there such a thing as being a great leader when you’re not thinking about maximizing collective benefit or value creation?” Malhotra asked.

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According to Moore, leaders who ignore the ethical implications of their decisions face profound moral, legal, financial, and other risks. “To pretend that business decisions don’t have ethical implications ignores a key dimension on which decisions will be evaluated,” he said. “Effective leadership must consider the wider consequences of any decision,” which is by definition an ethical consideration.

“If we think about some of the failed leaders of the past decade,” added Bazerman, “whether it’s Adam Neumann [of WeWork] or Elizabeth Holmes [of Theranos] or Travis Kalanick [Uber], we see people who dramatically influenced the behavior of others.” Such leaders caused harm in part “because their leadership was so devoid of the ethical dimension,” Bazerman said. In particular, these leaders failed to consider “how to help people make ethical decisions that will make society better off.”

Beyond Changing Hearts and Minds

Decision Leadership offers advice on how leaders can create cultures, environments, norms, and systems that will promote high-quality ethical decisions within their organizations. As such, the authors argue that the real task of leaders is not just to change “hearts and minds”—that is, persuasion—but to fundamentally change what people do. Wise leaders, they argue, design the organization to steer people toward better, more ethical decisions.

“We have nothing against leaders who inspire change by influencing culture, changing how others think and feel,” said Moore. But Decision Leadership offers more useful, less costly tools for prompting better decisions, he said.

Many of these tools draw on the concept of “nudges” offered by Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein in their book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness . Nudges steer people toward better decisions rather than relying on persuasion. Moore and Bazerman gave the example of organizations that make it convenient for employees to get vaccinated against Covid-19, such as offering the vaccine at work, instead of trying to convince the skeptical of the benefits of being vaccinated.

Rather than leaving hearts and minds out of the equation, Bazerman said, he and Moore aimed to add a consideration of “strategies that will get the behavior done, even if people’s hearts and minds aren’t changed at all.” In recent decades, the tech industry and many governments have embraced the world of behavioral economics and nudges. Bazerman predicted that in the next decade, more business will make use of these tools to spur wiser decisions. In so doing, organizations will move in the direction of collective leadership and away from a more autocratic leadership style .

Experiments in Leadership and Decision-Making

During the talk, Moore, Bazerman, and Malhotra discussed several proven strategies for prompting better leadership and decision-making in organizations, including creating a culture in which employees feel empowered to speak up when they see something wrong, finding ways to encourage leaders to be more open to accepting advice, and running experiments to test the likely success of a decision rather than basing it on intuition.

Google runs thousands of experiments every year to test new ideas and initiatives, Bazerman noted, but “a lot of companies are behind the curve on thinking systematically about how to learn over time.” That’s a strategic mistake, he said: “If you have a company, and you have an idea about how to change some behavior at your 22 offices across the globe involving millions of customers, why wouldn’t you want to test a new idea on 10,000 people first so that you can find what works, tweak it, and make it better over time?”

What leadership and decision-making strategies have you found to be effective in prompting better decisions in your organization?

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No Responses to “Leadership and Decision-Making: Empowering Better Decisions”

2 responses to “leadership and decision-making: empowering better decisions”.

A brief and concise article which I think could be easily understood by students in the Public Administration discipline….

This is a great, circumspect article that draws attention to the bigger picture in negotiations: the broader and more diverse field of motives and the interests that drive those involved in decision-making. Also noteworthy is awareness if the ethical factor, so often neglected in business decisions and so often detrimental as a result.

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Understanding how to arrange the meeting space is a key aspect of preparing for negotiation. In this video, Professor Guhan Subramanian discusses a real world example of how seating arrangements can influence a negotiator’s success. This discussion was held at the 3 day executive education workshop for senior executives at the Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

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Helping Leaders Use Critical Thinking Skills in Decision-making

• January 18, 2023

Critical thought should always precede action. Yet, it’s surprising how often business decisions are made without sufficient analysis of the objectives, options, and potential consequences of those decisions. Having enough time for critical thought is a factor, especially when choices need to made quickly. But that doesn’t mean quick decisions will always result in failure. The right kind of preparation and training can help leaders think more critically – even when time is in short supply.

First, what is critical thinking? In our work, we define the critical thinking process as “a leader’s ability and personal discipline to use a cogent, rational, reflective and evidence-based approach when analyzing, synthesizing and evaluating information to reach a conclusion or make a decision.” To put it another way, a leader who displays genuine critical thinking ability keeps an open mind, tests assumptions, and challenges beliefs to make stronger decisions.

How can leadership development and preparation help? Here are two initiatives that can assist leaders in building higher-level, decision-making skills: 

• The development of business acumen – a keen understanding of the “business of the business,” including its key strategic and financial drivers.
• The development of strong leadership accountability – a comprehensive view of the leadership responsibilities demanded by today’s successful organizations and the skills to fulfill those accountabilities.

It’s a combination that generates powerful results.

Leaders who connect business drivers to their daily decisions and actions are more likely to contribute to financial metrics and strategic goals. Business acumen for leaders allows them to think in broad terms, beyond their narrowly-focused silos, and show greater initiative and creativity in reaching their objectives.

By embracing the full range of their responsibilities, and using that view to make decisions, they inspire others and accelerate workforce alignment across all levels and departments. 

Alignment and accountability have been important among the remote workforce. Today’s big-picture thinking is about broadening business acumen and leadership accountabilities to help ensure decisions are made more critically—an approach that aligns organizational goals with personal growth and responsibilities.

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Understanding the Roots of Leadership

“A sense of perspective may be among the most critical leadership qualities.” —Joshua Rothman

Which leadership values are important? To answer this question, we need greater insight into the history and context of leadership in Western society. Josh Rotherman’s leadership article in The New Yorker describes the leading trends in American culture and what we can learn from those trends. Understanding those trends is essential to consider how to assess our leadership development.

Rothman concludes his study of leadership analysis with the thought “a sense of perspective may be among the most critical leadership qualities.” Perhaps the best place to start thinking about today’s leadership trends is how to relate these trends to our work by understanding the context of others’ impressions and conceptions. At the heart of Rothman’s assessment is the belief that leaders need to carefully consider the impact of their leadership in a long-term sense. In this 16-minute video, listen to Conley’s thoughts on how one can best determine what makes life worthwhile and how that relates to our leadership practices. While listening, notice how his thoughts refer to the importance of ethical value determination as a critical influence in conceptualizing aligning one’s life with one’s passion and work.

Legacy Connects to Influence

According to John Maxwell and Jim Dornan, there is inherent value in considering the perspective and legacy to become a person of influence and to develop the core of ethical, visionary thinking to make a difference. In their work Becoming a Person of Influence , they argue that one must develop essential leadership competencies toward better ethical decision-making. Maxwell and Dornan contend that leadership success is directly comparable to the principles of good thinking and strong convictions. They argue that the key to success is the everyday strategies leaders can use, which are based on the ten characteristics listed above. A person becomes influential when they possess integrity, nurture relationships with others, have faith in other people, demonstrate absolute conviction in their words and actions daily, listen to others, understand where others are coming from, mentors others through exceptional care, navigate individuals by centering themselves on those individuals, connect with others by becoming authentic in their approach, empowers others by going out of the way to help and advocate for them and produces/fosters others who follow and make an ethical difference.

The Importance of Credibility

“The center of gravity for business loyalty–whether it be the loyalty of the customers, employees, investors, suppliers, or dealers–is the personal integrity of the senior leadership team and its ability to put its principles into practice.” 

Moral leadership leaves a legacy focusing on ten items (see box above) (Maxwell and Dornan, 2006). They write we don’t know exactly what your life dream is or the legacy you want to leave. But to make an impact, you must be capable of influencing others. There is no other way of effectively touching people’s lives. And if you become a person of influence, then maybe someday, when other people write down the names of those who made a difference in their lives, your name might be on it (Maxwell and Dornan, 2006). At their root, moral principles and ethical decision-making must incorporate the element of humbleness, authenticity, compromise, and legacy; all essential characteristics or factors to consider in assessing the place of leaders in society. Reichheld, in his article “Loyalty Rules: How Today’s Leaders Build Lasting Relationships,” makes this clear by writing it “is the personal integrity of the senior leadership team and its ability to put its principles into practice” (Reichheld, 2008) that determines how these values contribute to the result of credibility.

In watching Martin Luther King’s “I Have a Dream Speech ,” where do you see Maxwell and Dornan’s characteristics at work? Which component seems paramount as King iterates his vision for a more just society? What values does King refer to that we could safely say we are essential in determining effective, ethical leadership as we think about the importance of perspective, legacy, and credibility?

The critical value of credibility can also be seen in the famous text The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner.   This belief is reinforced in the chapter “Credibility is the foundation of leadership.”  Without credibility, they believe, one can not adequately lead any organization. People look for consistency between word and deed. In addition, confusion over what values are most important or character of word and deed can cause stress, leading to several adverse outcomes that influence the ethical climate. Credibility can be most accurately divided into two core moral values central to moral outcomes: honesty and visionary thinking.

Research by Kouzes and Posner confirms that credibility is based on the forward-thinking attitude or visionary projection that a leader reveals and oversees. To accomplish this, leaders must be competent. Fundamentally this is based on one’s honesty which mirrors their credibility. In determining effective leadership, there is no way to escape the connection between results, one’s track record, and the moral value of honesty. Without all of these elements, one’s leadership will suffer.

The Leadership Challenge

Creditability is the root of the five leadership practices central to ethical leadership in the Leadership Challenge.

• Modeling the way,
• Inspiring a shared vision,
• Challenging the process,
• Enabling others to act,
• and Engaging the heart

These competencies require careful ethical thinking, with credibility at the core. They also need perspective and legacy to evolve. The success of this model was determined by indicators which Kouzes, and Posner studied and analyzed. Kouzes and Posner’s findings are revealing. In institutions with robust and credible leadership, they observed:

• employee organizational pride,
• an increasingly poignant sense of team spirit,
• identification with consistent personal values,
• an attachment and loyalty to the organization,
• the widened understanding and identification with the overall structure,
• and process of the collective entity, regardless of the member’s status.

All of these characteristics lead to more ethical and also productive organizations.

While effective leadership built upon credibility has concrete and productive outcomes, some indicators speak to the leadership struggles that might result from honesty and practical visionary thinking. Kouzes and Posner identified five categories in their research and studies.

• Low credibility usually produces situations where people can not be trusted to do their job.
• When credibility is missing, people become increasingly motivated by the most tangible of outcomes–money or the desire to vacate the situation as fast as possible.
• A lack of credibility can also lead to increased severe thinking about “moving on,” usually coupled with conversations that are artificially good but are merely covering an adverse current of private discussion that is not productive or good.
• Kouzes and Posner argue that institutions with low leadership credibility convey diminished levels of support and appreciation for those who are part of the organization, thus causing greater mistrust and indifference on the part of those being led.
• If credibility is not addressed through the lens of perspective and legacy, problems will emerge and destroy the leader’s ability in any other categories or areas. Credibility is significant.

May’s Suggestions for Organizations

Participation

Transparency

Accountability

How do we create an organization that is ethically based on the essential values discussed so far? Steve May (2006) writes in Case Studies in Organizational Communication that leaders and organizations should base their moral evaluations on a six-part strategy to set expectations for better ethical evaluation.

• May argues that people must work to align their personal and professional aspirations and behaviors to reach clarity of values for the individual and organization.
• Organizations should be encouraged to create honest, open, transparent dialogue or communication.
• Ethical values in an institution should work towards a system-wide decision-making model that encourages the participation of as many individuals as possible.
• All policies, regulations, and guidelines should be straightforward and transparent; particular emphasis should be given to fostering clear understanding for all without hidden loopholes or discrepancies.
• Rules, regulations, and guidelines should create and institute a form of accountability for those who are involved.
• People must be courageous in seeking true wisdom and trained to think critically and carefully to identify and resolve ethical problems that will emerge.

Success found in these critical components will move an organization towards proper ethics and tremendous overall success in the long term. All of this works when an atmosphere of trust and thoughtfulness is encouraged by those in charge.

Shaping a Proper Attitude

What if these strategies fail? One of the widely discussed ethical obstacles is the problem of poor attitude which can quickly permeate an institution. John Maxwell (2007) writes in Ultimate Leadership that we need to be willing to evaluate our self-perceptions and the situations in which we might be confronted by being honest about our and others’ attitudes. The importance of being self-aware of our attitude and the situations that foster others’ positive attitudes is essential to determining effective, ethical leadership.

Maxwell analyzed why employers dismissed their employees. Looking at the data, Maxwell hypothesizes that the underlying reason for these problems stemmed from a poor attitudinal, institutional environment. Poor attitudes are often associated with the employee but may be resolved with a greater awareness of what causes such outcomes by leaders. Maxwell asserts that helping others create a more positive or productive attitude represents a leader’s understanding of the perspective, legacy, and credibility factors. Maxwell’s research is close to accurate; 85% of institutional problems, which leads to ineffective workplace outcomes or, in more severe cases, eventual “firings,” can be tied to a lack of productive attitude that more insightful ethical leadership practices could have offset.

Why employees are dismissed:

• Incompetence 30%,
• Inability to get along with others 17%,
• Negative attitude 10%,
• Lack of motivation 7%,
• Refusal to follow instructions 7%

(Maxwell, 1998, p. 347)

The percentages above may not reveal a complete picture of institutional characteristics ultimately at play; the importance of keeping a positive attitude and creating an atmosphere where this approach is contagious can not be ignored. This assessment can be seen in the quotation listed above. Leadership requires that the leader see reality and be capable and willing to “adjust the sails” of the group or institution.

This “adjustment” often comes from the leader’s attitude. Maxwell argues that leaders must carefully gauge their predisposition and, be honest about where they are and what they are ultimately about. This might require an adjustment of perception or feelings. If an “adjustment” is needed, the leader should focus on change through the following four steps.

• The leader must identify the problem feelings or perceptions that are apparent within one’s self and/or the institution.
• The leader must consciously identify the behaviors that create the poor attitude.
• It is the leader’s responsibility to identify the thinking or contextual circumstances that have produced such behaviors.
• The leader is required to identify “better” thinking and then confirm this new path in a public commitment.

A leader’s commitment to “adjusting the sails” is not always easy. It requires self-reflection and self-responsible to move forward with change despite potential obstacles.

Rachels’ Theory of “Morality Without Hubris”

The fact is that ethical leadership is complex and requires a great deal from the leader. What is most frustrating is not having a vision for the required improvement. The organization or the leader does not simply determine the complexity behind this. The factors of leadership strain are increasing worldwide due to external moral issues or issues that do not simply focus on one organization and its internal workings. Such questions abound:

• How will we adequately address the potentially harmful outcomes of global issues that impact all work in any industry?
• How will we address the increasing strain of societal issues that create more difficult pressure on both individuals and institutions that complicate value determined necessary?

Rachels’ theory of Morality without Hubris (MWH) and the following theories can address this issue more precisely and help us realign our thoughts and strategies amid this potential strain. Dr. James Rachels (2019), The Element of Moral Philosophy, wrote a series of articles and texts on thinking critically while weighing the factors at the heart of critical moral philosophical viewpoints.

What I like about his work is that it applies directly to “real-life” scenarios. His work has a sense of sincerity in the belief that employing wisdom and making the right decision is much more complicated than it might initially seem but incredibly worthwhile if we focus on essential components. He highlights many key ethical components and ends his work with a theoretical proposal for good thinkers named the MWH strategy. Rachels suggests that one way to begin to further this conversation can be found in his practical approach. His theory of morality without hubris offers a good starting point.

In any leadership position, effective decision-making must include what Rachels believes to be the crucial element of success; the ability to look beyond oneself. Many years ago, I gave a graduation speech that echoed this viewpoint. I titled it “Getting Out of Our Way.” In it, I argued that our society can do amazing things, but often what keeps us from making better decisions is our inability to put aside aggrandizement, arrogance, and greed. We often cultivate these attributes when we focus on our needs and perspective without adequately giving severe consideration to others or our greater society. Rachels addresses this problem by arguing that the place to start with good, ethical thinking lies in the ability to “put ourselves more aside” and concentrate on five factors to institute the concept of “morality without hubris”.

• We must be willing to cultivate and follow through on a viewpoint more sensitive to human nature. We must find a way to define and connect with those essential elements or ingredients that hold us together as people.
• To be better thinkers, we must be willing to see ourselves in the context of greater values or concepts that transcend our perceptions or existence. To be truly humble, in the sense that Rachel argues, demands that we see ourselves as equals with others and to be motivated by this belief so that it dictates our daily decision-making. This requires respect for others, motivated by understanding the needs of others, and the conviction that our decisions will produce results that are in the best interest of all.
• We must focus on impartiality. This is best defined in terms of justice. A better thinker understands that true justice is upheld by the decisions and actions of those committed to leading through humility. Using better critical thinking skills by balancing reason and emotion, one can move towards a more effective model of good decision-making by becoming more aware of what motivates people.
• Careful thinkers must consider essential social elements of living as the most important. Issues of life and death, severe consequences of physical and emotional violence, and injustice must be addressed. All policies and/or decisions must not violate moral principles, have detrimental effects, or force individuals into compromising situations.
• Rachels incorporates into his theory “morality with hubris,” an element of Nel Noddings’ care philosophy (Stanford University), which leaders must ponder. He argues that good leaders who make solid decisions develop and enhance the natural inclination of all to care on a local, societal, and global level and act per proper moral principles.

Find freedom Gain the awareness of how to be a “responsible moral agent” through the virtues of fair treatment and respect for all promote the interest of all Treat people as they deserve to be treated

John Rawls’ Theory of Justice as Fairness

These factors produce productive results that can help us move along in solving problems. According to Rachels, when we consider these factors, we will find the freedom that overcomes obvious determined factors, regardless of our industry, position, or personal issues.

By consciously weighing essential elements, we become empowered in knowing that we are moving forward with decisions that far outweigh our inclinations or perceptions.

We gain greater awareness of how to become a “responsible moral agent” found in the values of fair treatment and respect for ourselves and others.

Creating greater awareness is the first step to changing ourselves and others. This is a never-ending process and therefore is not based on a result in and of itself. Instead, we must see the gained awareness as correlated with the enhancement of proper thinking skills in cultivating true wisdom.

In the process of greater awareness, experience, and the willingness to learn and be open with others, we also become more in tune with the promotion of the interest of all, whether that is focused on our families, our communities, our company, our industry, our society or our world.

This concept leads us to the underlying equation that is not tied to the “golden rule” but more geared towards true justice or the type of justice discussed by John Rawls of Harvard University. This approach to justice and good leadership dictates that individuals treat others as they deserve to be treated, according to their unique needs, and not merely from the standpoint of reciprocity or as we would like to be treated.

Fairness is not just about equality but the ability to tailor needs with an understanding and expectation of what people deserve. This complexity is a much more complex concept to incorporate into effective leadership as it requires authentic knowledge of those around you and the willingness, at times, to move beyond the simple “fairness as equal” interpretation that many supervisors or leaders employ. Often, in all reality, such an approach is the easiest way to avoid conflict as individuals can be interpreted to have been treated fairly by the equal process.

The Importance of Diminishing Your Ego

Rachels’ assessments have significantly impacted how morality, decision-making, and fairness have been studied and interpreted. Listen to Bob Davids discuss decreasing one’s ego to meet daunting ethical goals. Notice what Davids describes as the essential characteristics or behaviors we need to exhibit to avoid falling into the trap of becoming more and more self-centered.

The Theory of “Moral Sainthood”

A commitment to attitude change is directly connected to reducing arrogance or hubris, as we discussed before, and our ability to be honest with ourselves—failures and successes. Often in discussing morality, leadership, and the process of sound decision-making, we can be galvanized by our values and our plan we know is essential to a more ethical outcome. We can also be “defeated” in our inability to adequately use our plans or live up to “high expectations.” Though we must take the suggestions offered to heart, we must remember that we will not always effectively carry them out. As a result, we might interpret our inability as a failure and decide that moral decision-making theories, like Rachels’ theory, might be impractical or ineffective. Nothing could be more untrue.

Susan Wolf, a professor of philosophy at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, argues that the perspective of failure should not determine our assessment of a dilemma’s moral success. Instead, Wolf writes that society often misinterprets or misjudges the success of such theories as unrealistic because leaders don’t understand the outcomes, judge their successes and failures on intangible indicators, or don’t return immediate results. Instead, imperfection, or the failure to see tangible outcomes or gain instant results, should not determine the assessment of a decision. Wolf argues that we can not judge the morality of decisions based on the perceived result alone because we live in an imperfect world of imperfect people. We are imperfect. Wolf says that we must be willing to fully understand this societal thinking pattern she labels “moral sainthood” or the concept that people who are moral or good decision-makers never make mistakes. The result of all “good” moral decisions does not always result in a productive, transparent, and profitable outcome.

The “moral sainthood” theory states that we must accept and understand that “good” decision-making and leadership require the acceptance of imperfection. In that imperfection, we find the genuine concept of “moral sainthood”; namely, understanding of moral sainthood can be found in the essence of imperfection. Wolf believes that our effectiveness is in adhering to the beliefs of moral ideals and in our failure to attain these moral ideals. Knowing this, we are forced to focus on others and see circumstances and situations for what they are. In short, the concept of the leadership ideal as a “Mother Theresa” figure or perfect “moral saint” is not healthy nor helpful.

Though Mother Theresa was an amazing individual, the untrue concept of success yields disturbing comparative disappointment in many people’s views of their own lives and situation; in this case, Wolf writes, the extraordinary feats of superb individuals and their legacy limits the drive for success of individuals, community, and society. This thinking can leave people feeling powerless and encourage an atmosphere of apathy or indifference; in some cases, this haplessness leads to a lack of responsibility in a world (or apathy). Wolf advocates for a more evident ideal of “moral sainthood.” She writes in her Freedom within Reason that we must find a way to be more realistic about our expectations and use these failures to prompt more significant ethical change.

To do this effectively, honestly, and with the genuineness demanded by proper leadership, we must be seen in the light of our failures and successes as authentic leaders. In those successes and failures, we become devoted to the welfare of others, as they can relate to us. Leaders must reevaluate the definition of proper leadership and decision-making to reflect greater interest than one person or a collective group. In imperfection, we make ourselves vulnerable, and it is through vulnerability that we gain trust and a proper understanding of authentic leadership and sound decision-making. Thus, Wolf’s “moral sainthood” concept incorporates the leader’s commitment to genuine and full-time devotion to this renewed definition. She writes, the moral point of view, we might say, is the point of view one takes up insofar as one takes the recognition of that fact that one is just one person among others–equally honest and deserving of the good things in life as a fact with practical consequences—seen in actions and deliberations (Wolfe, 1982).   Perhaps, as Wolf suggests, it is in genuine awareness of our daily struggle with our imperfections and the development of authentic connections with others that we become most effective in helping ourselves and others to move forward.

In considering the value of Wolf’s theory, we must address the fact that ethical progress and change require us to overcome significant obstacles. To face these obstacles, it is essential to consider the mindset that a strong thinker must have to move on. Aimee Mullins discusses in her powerful story how we can turn obstacles into opportunities for success. She reminds us that adversity prompts us to accomplish incredible things—even when that success is not easily attained.

Creating an Ethical Atmosphere in Any Situation

In thinking through the value of overcoming obstacles and acknowledging that instituting true beneficial, ethical change may be slow, it is also imperative to understand how to compromise when called upon. Combining Rachels’ concept of “morality without hubris,” Maxwell’s conception of “attitude adjustment,” and Wolf’s “authentic conception of moral sainthood,” we can then turn our attention to Derek Parfit’s suggestion of how to best focus on moving the progressive movement forward when the goal has not been grasped.

One essential element of good critical thinking must include finding a “middle ground” between factions or interests. Though it is clear that no decision will be equal in its result or outcome, Parfit’s statements on practical compromise help us understand how to weigh realistic outcomes with theoretical guiding moral principles or ideals. Parfit (1986) argues Reasons and Persons that the ultimate compromise is when thinkers must consider the compromise between desires and interests and those of others or higher ideals. Contrary to other theories that advocate that one must adopt the concept of higher ideals and adhere to them no matter what, Parfit writes that such models are too simplistic and self-defeating. He believes that our very nature, both biologically and psychologically, embeds us with the desire to advocate in some form or fashion for ourselves. This, he argues, is both good and bad.

A skillful thinker must learn to weigh the good elements of what he calls “self-interest” rather than “selfishness” against the concept of higher ideals, values, or virtues. What is most effective is the ability of everyone, including leaders, to weigh the inclination of self-interest against the conceptualization of others’ needs while balancing an element of objective Truth or principle. It is in the compromise of the subjective and objective that Truth can be found, and in that Truth, we can continue to uphold the values required over a long period. What should be most important to any moral leader is the understanding that the pursuit of Truth links itself with wisdom. Wisdom, for Parfit, incorporates the diligent and continual evaluation of compromise found in subjective and objective thinking and the willingness to adjust the process to attain the desired result. Thus, leaders must be able to take a situation and weigh its moral consequences for many different interests, including the interests of themselves.

This leads us to practical suggestions to create the proper atmosphere of expectation and progress with the people we contact.

• First, thinkers must be conscious of others’ feelings and consider their motivations and benefits. This is easier said than done. With limited knowledge, we must continually evaluate people and their interests while determining what is central to who they are and what they believe to be true.
• Second, we must be able to compare and contrast viewpoints clearly and rank various arguments and perspectives in relative terms. True critical thinkers must be able to think comprehensively and weigh the arguments being made carefully.
• Third, one must be “real” with those who are involved. This is not a factor that is focused on practice so that one can “pretend” to be concerned or “pretend” to listen; instead, it requires a leader to be devoted to actually spending the time to cultivate relationships so that trust can be reinforced and lines of communication can be opened for constructive feedback and even criticism.
• Last, to create greater moral awareness and, therefore, more constructive and good outcomes from solid decision-making, a thinker must create an ideal or vision of leadership. Progress is linked directly with “betterment” or moral improvement. Each one of these factors discussed above is critical to creating greater moral awareness, representing the beginning of a conversation that improves the personal, institutional, and societal situations that are so troubling.

Taking the awareness factors to heart, a good thinker can then evaluate how to accomplish the goal best to improve the ethical climate of their organization or circumstances. At the root of this is sound judgment. Sound judgment culminates in the following characteristics listed above:

• the acknowledgment of assumptions,
• the dissection of all moral points,
• balancing of emotion and reason,
• the weighing constructively of others’ interests and
• the willingness on the part of the leader to act on his or her decisions.

All five are the basis of sound ethical judgments.

A couple of deductions can be made about these five suggestions that I think make a difference. They all demand that the leader scrutinizes as many options as possible and balance logic with emotion. There are times to consider emotion’s vital contribution to a particular decision-making process, but allowing emotion, like anger, to dominate or control a decision-making situation is dangerous. Emotion can blind one from essential factual knowledge and detract from the task. Second, there is also the issue of prejudice or bias. Thinkers need to be conscious of the individuals involved in the process. Leaders must attempt to decrease their biases and prejudices and focus on the well-being of all involved. Though it is impossible to do this with complete assuredness, it is a goal that is essential to work towards as it guides leaders to avoid arbitrary and stereotypical assessments.

The last suggestion focuses on sound decision-making and the concept of action. Too often, leaders come up with grand plans or ideas but fail in their ability to carry out the plans they have envisioned. Vision must produce action. This can be self-defeating and demonstrate poor judgment or an inability to accomplish goals. This is particularly true of moral situations. Too many people take the easy way out; they make decisions that they know may not be moral or constructive, as they are swayed by decisions that they think will require less action and/or effort. They opt for the decision of less resistance.

As a leader, one must realize that every decision has moral implications. Actions taken and actions not taken demonstrate what values or virtues one believes are essential. It is an often overlooked important aspect of building solid ethical thinking skills.

In conclusion, as we assess our leadership strengths and weaknesses, it is crucial to tailor leadership theories to “real life” learning and the leadership scenarios one is confronted with in everyday situations. When considering these theories and perspectives, we evaluate the importance of humbleness, authenticity, compromise, and legacy or influence in the context of the essential element that holds all of this together—namely, the character trait of wisdom. Wisdom is not the accumulation of information, as information alone does not equal good decision-making or minimize all tendencies to make a mistake. All of these suggestions have the underlying theme that true wisdom is the core when determining how to uphold best these values, which are important to successful thinking. As a leader in a democratic society where we all shoulder this responsibility, we must acknowledge and refine good critical thinking skills while recommitting ourselves to taking more time to think about important decisions. This will allow us to weigh the possible outcomes of such decisions adequately. We can do this by being more aware of how we learn, evaluating the importance of objective and subjective thinking, and more effectively employing reason and emotion in a balanced framework to further our genuine understanding of ourselves and the world around us. Taking all of these suggestions, whether from the more theoretical or practical realm, a thinker can construct a better ethical viewpoint that incorporates consideration for community and family and the various institutions or workplaces in which they live.

Conley, C. (2010, February). Measuring what makes life worthwhile. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/chip_conley_measuring_what_makes_life_worthwhile?language=en

Gokadze, I. (2013, August 28). Martin Luther King, Jr. I Have A Dream Speech. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vDWWy4CMhE

Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (1987).  The Leadership Challenge . San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Maxwell, J. C. (1998). Ultimate Leadership.

Maxwell, J. C. (2001). The winning attitude, Developing the leaders around you; Becoming a person of influence. Nashville, TN: T. Nelson.

Maxwell, J. Dornan, J. (2006) Becoming a person of influence. New York, NY: HarperCollins.

May, S. (2006). Case studies in organizational communication. California: Sage.

Mullins, A. (2009, October). The opportunity of adversity. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/aimee_mullins_the_opportunity_of_adversity?language=en

Parfit, D. (1986). Reasons and Persons. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press

Rachels, S., & Rachels, J. (2019).  The elements of moral philosophy . New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Rawls, J. (2005). A theory of justice . Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press.

Reichheld, F. F. (2008).  Loyalty rules!: How today’s leaders build lasting relationships . Boston: Harvard Business School.

Rothman, J. (2017, June 19). What Is Leadership, Anyway? Retrieved from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/02/29/our-dangerous-leadership-obsession

Talks, T. (2012, April 10). The rarest commodity is leadership without ego: Bob Davids at TEDxESCP. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQrPVmcgJJk

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Chapter 6--Determining Effective Leadership Copyright © 2018 by Christopher Brooks is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Critical Decision-Making Techniques

An overview of some decision making tools.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Critical thinking is the mental process that individuals go through to reach an answer or a conclusion. The critical thinking process can be a valuable tool in problem-solving and decision-making. Here we look at some of the techniques involved.

Critical thinking is essentially the process of taking information gathered through day-to-day activities such as observation, reflection and reasoning, and, using personal experience and beliefs, analyzing and applying that information to a given situation. Critical thinking tends to be used in conjunction with creative thinking, where the ideas and processes themselves are generated. Critical thinking can then be used to interpret, assess and evaluate these ideas and processes.

Critical Decision-Making Characteristics

When faced with a difficult or complicated decision, there are a number of characteristics found in those who approach the process critically.

• Truth seeking. The process of critical decision-making requires a desire for the best possible knowledge or outcome, even if, as a result, personal preconceptions, beliefs or self-interests are undermined.
• Open-minded. Successful critical decision-makers are tolerant to divergent views, and are aware of possible bias in their thought process.
• Analytical. The decision-making process is necessarily analytical. The application of reason and evidence, remaining alert to problematic situations and being able to anticipate potential consequences are all important.
• Systematic. Organization, focus and diligence when approaching decisions of all levels of complexity are beneficial to the critical decision-maker.
• Self-Confidence. When using critical thinking as a decision-making tool, the user must have a high level of trust in their personal reasoning.
• Inquisitive. A natural curiosity and eagerness to acquire knowledge and seek explanations will help to ensure the decision is made using as much relevant information as can be found.

In addition to these characteristics, critical decision-making requires a certain level of cognitive maturity. The user will be aware of the importance of prudence in making, suspending, or revising their original judgment, and will have an awareness that multiple solutions can be acceptable.

As well as developing the characteristics above, there are a number of techniques which will aid in critical decision-making.

Argument Mapping

Argument mapping is, roughly, making a picture of reasoning. Typically, argument maps are box and arrow diagrams, a bit like flowcharts. Belonging to the same family as mind mapping, argument mapping focuses specifically on the structure of a reason or argument, Argument mapping helps the user to come to a decision by weighing up the evidence for and against specifics, as well as providing a visual picture of where an argument or decision may fail due to an assumption being made.

Positive and negative arguments for potential alternative decisions can then be identified.

A simple decision-making example might look like this.

Should we build more roads in order to reduce traffic congestion in the city?

More information on the uses of argument maps and how to create them can be found using these links.

http://philosophy.hku.hk/think/arg/complex.php https://www.rationaleonline.com/docs/en/tutorials#tvy5fw

Critical Decision-Making Model

The critical decision-making model is a quick and easy tool that can be used by anyone who needs to make a decision. First briefly state the problem or decision to be made. Then identify at least three possible options or courses of action. As a simple example: Decision to be made: Should we employ more staff to answer the phones? Possible courses of action/options:

• Employ more staff.
• Install an automated system.
• Accept that some people may have to be kept on hold until the existing staff can answer the phone.
• Add a frequently asked questions section to the website to reduce the volume of similar calls.

Each course or action/option can then be evaluated to determine the best possible outcome. An argument map or a simple pros and cons list will help here.

Fact or Fiction

Simply write down a list of reasons supporting each possible option for the decision that needs to be made. Then write beside each one whether it is fact or fiction. Only determine something to be fact if the information can be backed up by accepted evidence such as statistics or case studies. For example:

The available options and the accompanying reasons might include:

Build more roads

• more roads will reduce the amount of congestions
• more roads will keep traffic moving faster
• road users are less stressed when more roads are built

Develop public transport instead

• improved public transport will reduce congestion
• improved public transport is better for the environment
• more people will use public transport if the service is more frequent

Some or all of these options may well be fact, however it should be checked that there is available evidence before stating this categorically. The purpose of this exercise is to show where assumptions have been made which may result in making the wrong decision.

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A Framework for Leaders Facing Difficult Decisions

• Eric Pliner

Five sets of questions to help guide you.

Many traditional decision-making tools fall short when it comes to the complex, subjective decisions that today’s leaders face every day. In this piece, the author provides a simple framework to help guide leaders through these difficult decisions. By interrogating the ethics (what is viewed as acceptable in your organization or society), morals (your internal sense of right and wrong), and responsibilities associated with your specific role, you can begin to understand how different courses of action align with these different values, and make informed decisions when they inevitably come into conflict. While there are no easy answers, proactively thinking about your decisions through these three distinct lenses — and recognizing where your past actions may have been inconsistent with these values — is the key to leading with integrity.

Many decision-making frameworks aim to help leaders use objective information to mitigate bias , operate under time pressure , or leverage data . But these frameworks tend to fall short when it comes to decisions based on subjective information sources that suggest conflicting courses of action. And most complex decisions fall into this category.

• EP Eric Pliner is the CEO of YSC Consulting.

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5.3: Using Critical Thinking Skills- Decision Making and Problem Solving

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Introduction

In previous lessons, you learned about characteristics of critical thinkers and information literacy. In this module, you will learn how to put those skills into action through the important processes of decision making and problem solving.

As with the process of developing information literacy, asking questions is an important part of decision making and problem solving. Thinking is born of questions. Questions wake us up. Questions alert us to hidden assumptions. Questions promote curiosity and create new distinctions. Questions open up options that otherwise go unexplored. Besides, teachers love questions.

We make decisions all the time, whether we realize it or not. Even avoiding decisions is a form of decision making. The student who puts off studying for a test until the last minute, for example, might really be saying, “I’ve decided this course is not important” or “I’ve decided not to give this course much time.”

Decisions are specific and lead to focused action. When we decide, we narrow down. We give up actions that are inconsistent with our decision.

In addition to decision making, critical thinking skills are important to solving problems. We encounter problems every single day, and having a solid process in place is important to solving them.

At the end of the lesson, you will learn how to put your critical thinking skills to use by reviewing an example of how critical thinking skills can help with making those everyday decisions.

Using Critical Thinking Skills: Asking Questions

Questions have practical power. Asking for directions can shave hours off a trip. Asking a librarian for help can save hours of research time. Asking how to address an instructor—by first name or formal title—can change your relationship with that person. Asking your academic advisor a question can alter your entire education. Asking people about their career plans can alter your career plans.

You can use the following strategies to develop questions for problem solving and decision making:

Ask questions that create possibilities. At any moment, you can ask a question that opens up a new possibility for someone.

• Suppose a friend walks up to you and says, “People just never listen to me.” You listen carefully. Then you say, “Let me make sure I understand. Who, specifically, doesn’t listen to you? And how do you know they’re not listening?”
• Another friend tells you, “I just lost my job to someone who has less experience. That should never happen.” You respond, “Wow, that’s hard. I’m sorry you lost your job. Who can help you find another job?”
• A relative seeks your advice. “My mother-in-law makes me mad,” she says. “You’re having a hard time with this person,” you say. “What does she say and do when you feel mad at her? And are there times when you don’t get mad at her?”

These kinds of questions—asked with compassion and a sense of timing—can help people move from complaining about problems to solving them.

Discover new questions. Students sometimes say, “I don’t know what questions to ask.” Consider the following ways to create questions about any subject you want to study or about any

area of your life that you want to change:

• Let your pen start moving. Sometimes you can access a deeper level of knowledge by taking out your pen, putting it on a piece of paper, and writing down questions—even before you know what to write. Don’t think. Just watch the pen move across the paper. Notice what appears. The results might be surprising.
• Ask about what’s missing . Another way to invent useful questions is to notice what’s missing from your life and then ask how to supply it. For example, if you want to take better notes, you can write, “What’s missing is skill in note taking. How can I gain more skill in taking notes?” If you always feel rushed, you can write, “What’s missing is time. How do I create enough time in my day to actually do the things that I say I want to do?”
• Pretend to be someone else. Another way to invent questions is first to think of someone you greatly respect. Then pretend you’re that person. Ask the questions you think she would ask.
• What can I do when ... an instructor calls on me in class and I have no idea what to say? When a teacher doesn’t show up for class on time? When I feel overwhelmed with assignments?
• How can I ... take the kind of courses that I want? Expand my career options? Become much more effective as a student, starting today?
• When do I ... decide on a major? Transfer to another school? Meet with an instructor to discuss an upcoming term paper?
• What else do I want to know about ... my academic plan? My career plan? My options for job hunting? My friends? My relatives? My spouse?
• Who can I ask about ... my career options? My major? My love life? My values and purpose in life?

Many times you can quickly generate questions by simply asking yourself, “What else do I want to know?” Ask this question immediately after you read a paragraph in a book or listen to someone speak.

Start from the assumption that you are brilliant. Then ask questions to unlock your brilliance.

Using Critical Thinking Skills in Decision Making

As you develop your critical thinking skills, you can apply them as you make decisions. The following suggestions can help in your decision-making process:

Recognize decisions. Decisions are more than wishes or desires. There’s a world of difference between “I wish I could be a better student” and “I will take more powerful notes, read with greater retention, and review my class notes daily.” Deciding to eat fruit for dessert instead of ice cream rules out the next trip to the ice cream store.

Establish priorities. Some decisions are trivial. No matter what the outcome, your life is not affected much. Other decisions can shape your circumstances for years. Devote more time and energy to the decisions with big outcomes.

Base decisions on a life plan. The benefit of having long-term goals for our lives is that they provide a basis for many of our daily decisions. Being certain about what we want to accomplish this year and this month makes today’s choices more clear.

Balance learning styles in decision making. To make decisions more effectively, use all four modes of learning explained in a previous lesson. The key is to balance reflection with action, and thinking with experience. First, take the time to think creatively, and generate many options. Then think critically about the possible consequences of each option before choosing one. Remember, however, that thinking is no substitute for experience. Act on your chosen option, and notice what happens. If you’re not getting the results you want, then quickly return to creative thinking to invent new options.

Choose an overall strategy. Every time you make a decision, you choose a strategy—even when you’re not aware of it. Effective decision makers can articulate and choose from among several strategies. For example:

• Find all of the available options, and choose one deliberately. Save this strategy for times when you have a relatively small number of options, each of which leads to noticeably different results.
• Find all of the available options, and choose one randomly. This strategy can be risky. Save it for times when your options are basically similar and fairness is the main issue.
• Limit the options, and then choose. When deciding which search engine to use, visit many search sites and then narrow the list down to two or three from which to choose.

Use time as an ally. Sometimes we face dilemmas—situations in which any course of action leads to undesirable consequences. In such cases, consider putting a decision on hold. Wait it out. Do nothing until the circumstances change, making one alternative clearly preferable to another.

Use intuition. Some decisions seem to make themselves. A solution pops into your mind, and you gain newfound clarity. Using intuition is not the same as forgetting about the decision or refusing to make it. Intuitive decisions usually arrive after we’ve gathered the relevant facts and faced a problem for some time.

Evaluate your decision. Hindsight is a source of insight. After you act on a decision, observe the consequences over time. Reflect on how well your decision worked and what you might have done differently.

Think of choices. This final suggestion involves some creative thinking. Consider that the word decide derives from the same roots as suicide and homicide . In the spirit of those words, a decision forever “kills” all other options. That’s kind of heavy. Instead, use the word choice , and see whether it frees up your thinking. When you choose , you express a preference for one option over others. However, those options remain live possibilities for the future. Choose for today, knowing that as you gain more wisdom and experience, you can choose again.

Using Critical Thinking Skills in Problem Solving

Think of problem solving as a process with four Ps : Define the problem , generate possibilities ,

create a plan , and perform your plan.

Step 1: Define the problem. To define a problem effectively, understand what a problem is—a mismatch between what you want and what you have. Problem solving is all about reducing the gap between these two factors.

Tell the truth about what’s present in your life right now, without shame or blame. For example: “I often get sleepy while reading my physics assignments, and after closing the book I cannot remember what I just read.”

Next, describe in detail what you want. Go for specifics: “I want to remain alert as I read about physics. I also want to accurately summarize each chapter I read.”

Remember that when we define a problem in limiting ways, our solutions merely generate new problems. As Albert Einstein said, “The world we have made is a result of the level of thinking we have done thus far. We cannot solve problems at the same level at which we created them” (Calaprice 2000).

This idea has many applications for success in school. An example is the student who struggles with note taking. The problem, she thinks, is that her notes are too sketchy. The logical solution, she decides, is to take more notes; her new goal is to write down almost everything her instructors say. No matter how fast and furiously she writes, she cannot capture all of the instructors’ comments.

Consider what happens when this student defines the problem in a new way. After more thought, she decides that her dilemma is not the quantity of her notes but their quality . She adopts a new format for taking notes, dividing her notepaper into two columns. In the right-hand column, she writes down only the main points of each lecture. In the left-hand column, she notes two or three supporting details for each point.

Over time, this student makes the joyous discovery that there are usually just three or four core ideas to remember from each lecture. She originally thought the solution was to take more notes. What really worked was taking notes in a new way.

Step 2: Generate possibilities. Now put on your creative thinking hat. Open up. Brainstorm as many possible solutions to the problem as you can. At this stage, quantity counts. As you generate possibilities, gather relevant facts. For example, when you’re faced with a dilemma about what courses to take next semester, get information on class times, locations, and instructors. If you haven’t decided which summer job offer to accept, gather information on salary, benefits, and working conditions.

Step 3: Create a plan. After rereading your problem definition and list of possible solutions, choose the solution that seems most workable. Think about specific actions that will reduce the gap between what you have and what you want. Visualize the steps you will take to make this solution a reality, and arrange them in chronological order. To make your plan even more powerful, put it in writing.

Step 4: Perform your plan. This step gets you off your chair and out into the world. Now you actually do what you have planned.

Ultimately, your skill in solving problems lies in how well you perform your plan. Through the quality of your actions, you become the architect of your own success.

When facing problems, experiment with these four Ps, and remember that the order of steps is not absolute. Also remember that any solution has the potential to create new problems. If that happens, cycle through the four Ps of problem solving again.

Critical Thinking Skills in Action: Thinking About Your Major, Part 1

One decision that troubles many students in higher education is the choice of a major. Weighing the benefits, costs, and outcomes of a possible major is an intellectual challenge. This choice is an opportunity to apply your critical thinking, decision-making, and problem-solving skills. The following suggestions will guide you through this seemingly overwhelming process.

The first step is to discover options. You can use the following suggestions to discover options for choosing your major:

Follow the fun. Perhaps you look forward to attending one of your classes and even like completing the assignments. This is a clue to your choice of major.

See whether you can find lasting patterns in the subjects and extracurricular activities that you’ve enjoyed over the years. Look for a major that allows you to continue and expand on these experiences.

Also, sit down with a stack of 3 × 5 cards and brainstorm answers to the following questions:

• What do you enjoy doing most with your unscheduled time?
• Imagine that you’re at a party and having a fascinating conversation. What is this conversation about?
• What kind of problems do you enjoy solving—those that involve people? Products? Ideas?
• What interests are revealed by your choices of reading material, television shows, and other entertainment?
• What would an ideal day look like for you? Describe where you would live, who would be with you, and what you would do throughout the day. Do any of these visions suggest a possible major?

Questions like these can uncover a “fun factor” that energizes you to finish the work of completing a major.

Consider your abilities. In choosing a major, ability counts as much as interest. In addition to considering what you enjoy, think about times and places when you excelled. List the courses that you aced, the work assignments that you mastered, and the hobbies that led to rewards or recognition. Let your choice of a major reflect a discovery of your passions and potentials.

Use formal techniques for self-discovery. Explore questionnaires and inventories that are designed to correlate your interests with specific majors. Examples include the Strong Interest Inventory and the Self-Directed Search. Your academic advisor or someone in your school’s career planning office can give you more details about these and related assessments. For some fun, take several of them and meet with an advisor to interpret the results. Remember inventories can help you gain self-knowledge, and other people can offer valuable perspectives. However, what you do with all this input is entirely up to you.

Critical Thinking Skills in Action: Thinking About Your Major, Part 2

As you review the following additional suggestions of discovering options, think about what strategies you already use in your own decision-making process. Also think about what new strategies you might try in the future.

Link to long-term goals. Your choice of a major can fall into place once you determine what you want in life. Before you choose a major, back up to a bigger picture. List your core values, such as contributing to society, achieving financial security and professional recognition, enjoying good health, or making time for fun. Also write down specific goals that you want to accomplish 5 years, 10 years, or even 50 years from today.

Many students find that the prospect of getting what they want in life justifies all of the time, money, and day-to-day effort invested in going to school. Having a major gives you a powerful incentive for attending classes, taking part in discussions, reading textbooks, writing papers, and completing other assignments. When you see a clear connection between finishing school and creating the life of your dreams, the daily tasks of higher education become charged with meaning.

Ask other people. Key people in your life might have valuable suggestions about your choice of major. Ask for their ideas, and listen with an open mind. At the same time, distance yourself from any pressure to choose a major or career that fails to interest you. If you make a choice solely on the basis of the expectations of other people, you could end up with a major or even a career you don’t enjoy.

Gather information. Check your school’s catalog or website for a list of available majors. Here is a gold mine of information. Take a quick glance, and highlight all the majors that interest you. Then talk to students who have declared these majors. Also read the descriptions of courses required for these majors. Do you get excited about the chance to enroll in them? Pay attention to your gut feelings.

Also chat with instructors who teach courses in a specific major. Ask for copies of their class syllabi. Go to the bookstore and browse the required texts. Based on all of this information, write a list of prospective majors. Discuss them with an academic advisor and someone at your school’s career-planning center.

Invent a major. When choosing a major, you might not need to limit yourself to those listed in your school catalog. Many schools now have flexible programs that allow for independent study. Through such programs, you might be able to combine two existing majors or invent an entirely new one of your own.

Consider a complementary minor. You can add flexibility to your academic program by choosing a minor to complement or contrast with your major. The student who wants to be a minister could opt for a minor in English; all of those courses in composition can help in writing sermons. Or the student with a major in psychology might choose a minor in business administration, with the idea of managing a counseling service some day. An effective choice of a minor can expand your skills and career options.

Think critically about the link between your major and your career. Your career goals might have a significant impact on your choice of major.

You could pursue a rewarding career by choosing among several different majors. Even students planning to apply for law school or medical school have flexibility in their choice of majors. In addition, after graduation, many people tend to be employed in jobs that have little relationship to their major. And you might choose a career in the future that is unrelated to any currently available major.

Critical Thinking Skills in Action: Thinking About Your Major, Part 3

Once you have discovered all of your options, you can move on to the next step in the process— making a trial choice.

Make a Trial Choice

Pretend that you have to choose a major today. Based on the options for a major that you’ve already discovered, write down the first three ideas that come to mind. Review the list for a few minutes, and then choose one.

Evaluate Your Trial Choice

When you’ve made a trial choice of major, take on the role of a scientist. Treat your choice as a hypothesis, and then design a series of experiments to evaluate and test it. For example:

• Schedule office meetings with instructors who teach courses in the major. Ask about required course work and career options in the field.
• Discuss your trial choice with an academic advisor or career counselor.
• Enroll in a course related to your possible major. Remember that introductory courses might not give you a realistic picture of the workload involved in advanced courses. Also, you might not be able to register for certain courses until you’ve actually declared a related major.
• Find a volunteer experience, internship, part-time job, or service-learning experience related to the major.
• Interview students who have declared the same major. Ask them in detail about their experiences and suggestions for success.
• Interview people who work in a field related to the major and “shadow” them—that is, spend time with those people during their workday.
• Think about whether you can complete your major given the amount of time and money that you plan to invest in higher education.
• Consider whether declaring this major would require a transfer to another program or even another school.

If your “experiments” confirm your choice of major, celebrate that fact. If they result in choosing a new major, celebrate that outcome as well.

Also remember that higher education represents a safe place to test your choice of major—and to change your mind. As you sort through your options, help is always available from administrators, instructors, advisors, and peers.

Choose Again

Keep your choice of a major in perspective. There is probably no single “correct” choice. Your unique collection of skills is likely to provide the basis for majoring in several fields.

Odds are that you’ll change your major at least once—and that you’ll change careers several times during your life. One benefit of higher education is mobility. You gain the general skills and knowledge that can help you move into a new major or career field at any time.

Viewing a major as a one-time choice that determines your entire future can raise your stress levels. Instead, look at choosing a major as the start of a continuing path that involves discovery, choice, and passionate action.

As you review this example of how you can use critical thinking to make a decision about choosing your major, think about how you will use your critical thinking to make decisions and solve problems in the future.

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Advertisement: register for newsletter, advertisement: cpd small top, developing your critical thinking leadership skills.

Critical thinking enables leaders at every level to understand the impact of their decisions on the business as a whole and ensures both alignment with organisational goals and accountability for results.  

The "new normal" is a different kind of competitive landscape, buffeted by geopolitics and global instability, rapid technological change, unique financial pressures, a rising tide of data and information to filter through, and the proliferation of new corporate business models.

The mind-set that made leaders successful in the past probably won't ensure success in the future. In fact, several recent studies and surveys have identified critical thinking as the number one requirement for successful leadership in the 21st century. Yet there is mounting evidence that many current and emerging leaders lack this quality. And it is this competency gap that is shaking up and reshaping leadership as we have come to know it.

Leadership in the "new normal"

In the wake of the economic crisis, we all know what a failure of leadership looks like. The companies that folded in the GFC serve as stark examples of what happens when decisions are based upon erroneous, partially false or incomplete information and when management fails to think clearly and strategically about the full implications of its actions. The resulting fall-out put an end to business as usual and created a "new normal" that looks markedly different from anything anyone has seen before.

Business organisations must be prepared to do things differently if they expect different results. In this demanding, dynamic landscape, it is only natural that they also require a different mind-set from those in charge.

The equation works like this: Thinking drives behaviour; behaviour drives results. So enterprises that want to change the results - and, indeed, change the organisation itself - can achieve the highest leverage by changing the thinking of leaders and managers throughout the organisation.

But what kind of thinking - or rather rethinking - will be required of leaders if they want to succeed in the "new normal"?

Why critical thinking is critical

Critical thinking appears to be exactly what is needed from leaders who are navigating the volatility of the "new normal". Diane Halpern, an award-winning professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College and a widely read author on the subject, offers this definition in her seminal book, Thought and Knowledge :

"Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed - the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions ... it's the kind of thinking that makes desirable outcomes more likely."

If ever there was a time for clear, discerning, solution-centric thinking, this is it.

Every two years since 1983, Executive Development Associates (EDA) has conducted an extensive survey on trends, growth and the evolution of executive development. The 2009/2010 EDA Trends in Executive Development: A Benchmark Report revealed trouble on the horizon for corporations seeking future business leaders.

To gauge the readiness of the next generation of leadership talent, EDA asked senior executive development professionals to share their views on the strengths and weaknesses of the incoming leadership group - the people who are most likely to fill executive-level positions in the next three to five years - and the subsequent impact on executive development.

The survey identified "hot topics" in executive development for the next two to three years. At the top of the list was leadership, followed by "business acumen, honing skills in strategy execution, leading / managing change, and talent management."

But when asked "What competencies are your leaders lacking?" their responses indicated little confidence that leaders had what it takes to execute in these critical areas successfully. Here's what they said was missing:

• Strategic thinking
• Leading change
• Ability to create a vision and engage others around it
• Ability to inspire
• Understanding the total enterprise and how the parts work together

What critical thinking looks like

Having established the need for a mind-set shift to more critical thinking, we need to be clear on what that means in the workplace.

In general, critical thinking is the ability to deal with the contradictions and problems of a tumultuous environment in a reasoned, purposeful, productive way. Decisions are made using an approach that is fair, objective, accurate and based on information that is relevant to the situation.

Critical thinking is also reflective and focused, constantly evaluating the thinking process itself. It is thinking with a purpose. Critical thinking requires a healthy dose of skepticism and an equal measure of good judgement.

For decades, companies have relied on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal , a widely used assessment tool for evaluating the cognitive ability of current and future leaders. Developed in 1925, the model identifies factors that are key to critical thinking and decision making and predicts judgment, problem solving, creativity, openness to experience and other leadership behaviours.

Five sub-tests measure critical thinking as a composite of attitudes, knowledge and skills:

• Recognition of assumptions
• Interpretation
• Evaluation of arguments

Professionals with high scores in these sub-tests are able to identify and examine the assumptions, influences and biases that might sway them. They stand back from the fray and strategically assess the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. They make business decisions that answer the right questions, solve the right problems, mitigate risk and improve productivity. They also lead from a position of strength, being able to motivate and move people both inspirationally and intellectually by providing solid reasons for actions.

Whether they lead teams, departments or entire enterprises, leaders who apply the skills of critical thinking to their roles perform at a higher level and offer their organisations a distinct competitive advantage.

Critical thinkers think differently about their impact on the organisation - understanding how their decisions and actions influence business both inside and outside their narrow functional silos. These leaders are able to balance department or team issues with broader company issues and embrace a larger responsibility for the success of the organisation. This keen sense of accountability is what enables them to execute for results now while fulfilling their obligations to positively impact the future.

Leaders who engage in critical thinking also understand the total organisation and how the individual parts work together. Context is key. Now more than ever, business acumen is foundational to effective leadership. It is impossible to apply critical thinking skills to the business of making money without an understanding of the business drivers that connect day-to-day decisions and actions to key financial and strategic performance goals of the organisation. It is one thing to understand one's role as a leader. It is altogether another thing to understand how to set direction and directly affect the outcomes.

Critical thinking is big-picture thinking too. As Hagemann describes it, "Leaders need to be able to comfortably climb to the 30,000-foot view and analyse a dynamic system, while simultaneously and adeptly analysing information to quickly make decisions across levels." Critical thinkers operate from a broad perspective in order to make sure the correct problems are addressed and they are taking acceptable risk. They recognise the difference between short-term gains and sustainable, long-term results and lead accordingly.

The advantages of this kind of leadership behavior are readily apparent. Critical thinking enables leaders at every level to understand the impact of their decisions on the business as a whole and ensures both alignment with organisational goals and accountability for results. It's exactly the type of leadership behaviour demanded by the "new normal" - and exactly what's missing. And this disconnect is likely to intensify over time.

Given the critical-thinking competency gap exposed by the EDA survey and other research, the obvious assumption is that the traditional development process that businesses have relied upon in the past to prepare leaders simply hasn't kept up. So, what's the solution? To accelerate development and raise leadership accountability to a whole new level of awareness and action, there needs to be a new emphasis on critical thinking in leadership development.

Learning to think like a leader

The good news is critical thinking is a skill that can be taught. According to Halpern, "There is a large body of evidence showing that people can learn to think better. Of course, education makes us all more intelligent, but critical thinking is more focused. Everyone can learn to recognise and use the skills of critical thinking, and we can always get better."

New competencies, however, may require a deeper, more analytical approach. The challenge today is not to discard what has been learned in the past, but to build upon traditional competencies with a whole new and more complex set of skills, tools and sensitivities.

Leaders in the new normal need to learn how to be discerning, how to think clearly and wisely, and how to be accountable for their impact on the business.

Discovery learning in leadership courses

Critical thinking can be impacted by the right leadership courses. However, the process can be more challenging than improving a behavioural skill, because you can't easily measure it. Success is demonstrated in results.

As with any skill, intellectual or otherwise, the key to building critical thinking - and achieving successful results - is practice. Research has demonstrated that people learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process and engaging in the behaviours they want to learn. But what's vital in developing critical thinking skills is framing the concept of practice within a relevant, job-related context.

Acquiring critical thinking skills requires participating in learning experiences that force you to consider new ways of thinking about and acting within complex situations that are directly related to the work you do. You need the opportunity to respond to issues, reflect on and reframe your experiences, develop new thinking, and, in turn, engage in new behaviours and actions that are relevant to your position and objectives.

Developing your critical thinking skills

In addition to participating in these types of leadership courses, leaders can take charge of their own critical thinking development by taking these actions:

• Get some feedback about your critical thinking skills from a trusted boss, colleague or coach Are you jumping to conclusions or using a reasoned, analytic process as you work toward a goal? Are you able to put aside biases and assumptions during analysis and decision-making? What kind of "thinker" are you perceived to be and why?
• Challenge yourself to develop a deeper understanding of your company's business, especially its financial and strategic drivers of success Are you clear about what drives the organisation's decisions, how financial success is achieved and how you impact both strategy and the bottom line? Are you making decisions that are aligned with this understanding?Is your knowledge of the business strong enough to drive behaviour and to engage teams and employees?
• Use multiple sources of data to form an "information web" before making a decision or forming a conclusion Are you asking a lot of questions? Identifying stakeholders and their issues and opinions? Separating facts from assumptions?Are you using the Internet as "one" source of information rather than "the" source? Can you analyse information from different perspectives and viewpoints?
• Take time to think Are you rising above the fray when it's important to make a decision, take action or form an opinion? Are you aware of the distractions getting in the way of your thinking time and taking action to minimize these distractions? Are you finding time and space to let your mind focus and reflect on important issues?
• Ask for input, critique and opinions from others as you analyse alternatives Are you checking tentative conclusions with others? Using peers, coaches or mentors to critique your thinking process? Are you willing to open your mind to other ideas or alternatives?

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5 Key Decision-Making Skills for Leaders

A good decision-maker has the ability to analyze ambiguous situations. They avoid making hasty decisions that miss the mark and instead attempt to understand any issue before coming up with an answer. They recognize that many problems might seem simple at first glance but are trickier when examined from different perspectives.

These decision-makers are dedicated to achieving their goals and balancing the rewards and risks. Even in the face of challenges like time constraints, stress, and lack of knowledge, they find a way to control these situations and even convert them into opportunities.

Decision-making skills are abilities that can help you become a leader in the workplace. They instill confidence in your abilities and your decision-making process. In this post, we explore the five crucial decision-making skills that leaders need to know. In addition, we examine some strategies for implementing these skills in the leadership world.

Table of Contents

The Top Five Critical Leadership Decision-Making Skills

Leaders must consider the following five essential leadership decision-making skills to make informed and effective decisions. They offer a framework for taking a cautious and thorough approach to making decisions.

1.       Critical thinking in decision-making

Among the 5 keys of decision-making is critical thinking. Making informed decisions and solving problems require the ability to carefully examine information, project presumptions, and consider different perspectives. This is referred to as critical thinking. It entails applying logic, identifying prejudices, and being self-aware in reasoning. Critical thinking assists leaders in making better choices and not being misled in an era of information overload, where there is a wealth of facts and differing viewpoints.

Decision-making requires critical thinking because it helps decision-makers thoroughly examine facts, weigh their options, and make well-informed decisions. They are able to recognize biases, challenge presumptions, and take into account other viewpoints, resulting in more defensible and sensible conclusions. Leaders are finally able to manage difficult situations with clarity and confidence by using logical reasoning and practicing self-awareness in their thought process. This leads to better outcomes.

2.       Problem-solving in decision-making

Every organization that sells a product or service is essentially solving problems. Whether it is providing medical treatment for health concerns or delivering quick meals for hungry customers, the main goal of a business is to meet customer needs.

Alongside addressing customers’ problems, any organization will inevitably face its own challenges as it grows and adapts. These might include missing targets, unmet goals, and internal disagreements among team members. However, encountering problems shouldn’t be discouraging. With the appropriate frameworks and tools, leaders can develop the abilities to solve both customer and organizational issues effectively.

Because problem-solving capabilities help leaders confront issues and come up with conceivable solutions, they are highly important in decision-making. Leaders make decisions that have a direct or indirect effect on their teams, organizations, and stakeholders. Leaders with problem-solving skills are better capable of understanding issues, conducting in-depth analyses of them, weighing their options, and determining a course of action. Leaders that solve problems are usually capable of making decisions that move their businesses forward, overcome challenges, and achieve their objectives in a short period of time.

3.       Emotional intelligence and its relevance to decision-making

Emotional intelligence includes both understanding and managing your personal feelings as well as influencing the emotions of others. Since it enables them to both understand and affect others’ emotions in addition to comprehending and controlling their own emotions, emotional intelligence is crucial for leaders.

With this knowledge, decision-makers can consider not just the practical consequences of their decisions but also the feelings of those who may be impacted by those decisions. Leaders that possess emotional intelligence are able to collaborate, communicate, and function effectively within their organizations. This results in more efficient decision-making techniques, which in turn produces better outcomes for the team members and stakeholders.

Leaders shape their organization’s atmosphere. Without emotional intelligence, it could lead to less engaged employees and more people leaving their jobs. As a leader, even if you are great at your job, when you struggle to talk to your team or work with others, your skills might not get recognized. By improving your emotional intelligence, you can boost your career and help your organization thrive.

4.       Strategic planning in decision-making

Strategic planning is among the decision-making skills in leadership. Research shows that almost half of leaders spend less than a day per month discussing or considering strategy. This explains why at least half of the strategic goals of nearly half of the organizations are not met. Nonetheless, more than 90% of leaders know the value of strategic planning.

The aim of strategic planning is to develop futuristic thinking, see the short-term and long-term goals, and choose the best course to attain them. It is an ongoing process that involves setting goals, analyzing internal and external variables, creating strategies, implementing them, and frequently reviewing and adjusting them.

Strategic planning is important in a leader’s decision-making process as it offers a direction towards long-term goals and objectives. It supports decision-makers in placing priorities, allocating resources wisely, and foreseeing limitations or opportunities.

Leaders can make decisions that are in line with the organization’s overarching vision and direction by participating in strategic planning. Furthermore, strategic planning enables leaders to maximize the probability of success by building synergy and coordinating the team’s activities toward shared goals.

5.       Risk management in decision-making

Businesses should control and overcome risks from different sources, like economic conditions, technology, the environment, and competition, to keep running in the market. A practical approach to figuring out, assessing, and mitigating these risks or uncertainties that can affect your organization is through risk management. This includes estimating the likelihood and effects of risks, formulating strategies to mitigate their consequences, and comparing the efficacy of those strategies.

Since risk management allows leaders to foresee and minimize possible risks to their organization, it plays an essential part in their decision-making strategies. Leaders may additionally make well-informed decisions that reduce negative consequences and increase the probability of favorable outcomes by recognizing and managing risks. When decision-makers integrate risk management into their system, they are better prepared to assess the viable effects of diverse options and implement effective risk management strategies. Ultimately, this enables leaders to make decisions that are more enduring and consistent with the end goals of their company.

Final Thoughts

As mentioned in this post, the five essential decision-making skills for leaders are critical thinking, problem-solving, emotional intelligence, strategic planning, and risk management. All these skills enable leaders to make well-informed choices that drive their organizations toward success.

It is essential for leaders to practice and improve these decision-making abilities regularly. Leaders need to continually become more adaptive and agile because the business world is constantly changing and becoming more complex. Leaders can efficiently lead their teams into the future by staying ahead of demanding situations and seizing possibilities through continuous improvement of their decision-making abilities.

Making informed decisions is the foundation of high-level leadership. Making smart decisions can affect not only any organization’s overall performance but also its reputation and culture. Effective decision-makers encourage innovation, instill confidence in their teams, and promote sustainable fulfillment. Leaders who understand the value of decision-making and attempt to increase these capabilities can lead their corporations to success and adaptability in a world that is changing all the time.

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