Decision Making

Good Leaders Follow the Right Instinct

April 4, 2018
Priscilla Archangel
Behavior, Decision Making, Leadership, Relationships

Good Leaders Follow the RIGHT Instinct

Kelley is stressed. He and his team are on a tight deadline to bring a project to market that could significantly boost his company’s revenues for the fiscal year. The hand off from the development team to them was delayed due to technical issues, and the whole project is now backed up. The pressure is intense as the executive committee is now asking for weekly progress reports to ensure their promises to prospective clients and the shareholders will be met.

At the same time Kelley is exasperated with his team for several errors they’ve made, along with their pushback on part of the strategy that was previously agreed upon. It reached the point that this morning he blew up and let them have it. His words in the brief team meeting were partly uncontrolled anger and partly controlled manipulation. He wanted to make a point and motivate them to stay sharp and move quicker, and to understand the pressure he is experiencing. (more…)

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Developing Leadership Perspective: Fact vs. Reality

June 7, 2017
Priscilla Archangel
Decision Making, Leadership, Process, values

Developing Leadership Perspective: Fact vs. Reality

There’s an old fable about three blind men who touched an elephant to find out what it was like. One man touched the leg and declared that the elephant was like a tree trunk. Another touched the elephant’s tail and declared that it was like a snake. The third man touched its side and declared that it was like a wall. A disagreement ensued as they each defended their perspective on the animal. After all, they knew what they felt.

Were each of them right? Yes, and no. They each experienced a part of the elephant, but none experienced the whole. They each described the elephant from their perspective, but due to limitations in their vision and space, none of them could see it in its entirety. Only when they began to compare notes, and to walk around the elephant feeling different parts of it, could they begin to piece together a view of the entire animal. They had to experience it from different angles. Later, a sighted man came along and immediately saw the entire elephant. He quickly walked around the animal, sized it up and fully described it to the men. Their facts were not the same as reality.

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What to Do When You Don’t Know What to Do

January 5, 2017
Priscilla Archangel
Decision Making, Leadership, Priorities

What To Do When You Don’t Know What To Do

As a leader, the “buck” for certain decisions stops with you. You’re responsible for outcomes impacting your team, your organization, your career, your family and friends. Sometimes the choice is clear, but frequently, it’s not. Ambiguities are the norm, and while there is pressure to make fast decisions, you know that it’s more important to make timely decisions. Meanwhile, stakeholders press you because they have their own motivations and need to know how your decision impacts them.

Good decision-making isn’t based on the quantity of information you’re able to review, but on the quality of information you’re able to comprehend and process to the right conclusion. Good decision-making brings together intuition and systems understanding of the many networks impacted by the choices you make. It incorporates intellectual agility to draw conclusions from a broad array of facts and data to reach desired outcomes, with the political savvy to navigate varied perspectives and power dynamics. Thus, decision-making is not only a science but an art.

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