38 Business Spotlight 6/2019 BUSINESS SKILLS
“IN ANY
MOMENT OF
DECISION, THE
BEST THING
YOU CAN DO
IS THE RIGHT
THING, THE
NEXT BEST
THING IS THE
WRONG THING,
AND THE
WORST THING
YOU CAN DO IS
NOTHING”
Theodore Roosevelt Jr,
US president, 1901–09BUSINESS SKILLS
SERIES: LEADERSHIPReady to decide?
Entscheidungen bestimmen den Verlauf eines Unternehmens. Im sechsten Teil unserer Serie zum Thema
„Führung“ erklärt BOB DIGNEN, welche Faktoren wichtig sind, um eine Entscheidung zu treffen,
den richtigen Zeitpunkt dafür zu finden und sich auf den Prozess zu einigen.ADVANCED AUDIO PLUSL
ook at almost any professional
social media platform and you will
see daily postings about the quali-
ties of great leaders. Empathy, cha-
risma, the ability to build trust and
“digital intelligence” — whatever
that is exactly — appear regularly.
Curiously, the ability to make deci-
sions is seldom mentioned. Yet decisions
are the lifeblood of organizations. They
are needed to formulate a vision and agree
on objectives for achieving that vision.
Whenever we take a decision, we ex-
ercise a form of leadership. We decide
where we want to go, which is a form of
self-leadership. We decide where others
need to follow, which is leading a team.
And we decide how the organization’s
resources should be used, which is or-
ganizational leadership. Leadership and
decision-making are one and the same.
In this article, we will explore the na-
ture of decision-making, and uncover
some of its many complexities and par-
adoxes. The aim is to enable you to take
better decisions.- What is a decision?
The language-teaching industry does an
important job and can empower people
to develop themselves to perform better
in their international roles. Unfortunately,
the industry also creates the illusion that
words have simple and trustable mean-
ings. The reality is very different, with
the word “decision” being a good exam-
ple. Its meanings are varied and complex,
and we need to challenge some of the
normal assumptions about the word as
a starting point for exploring effective
decision-making.
I met a senior leader recently who told
me very openly and authentically that
he didn’t know where his department or
company would be in six months’ time.
The dynamic nature of internal change
processes in his organization and the ex-
ternal market transformation didn’t allow
that. For him, important decisions in his
context were partly impossible, partly
pointless.
My client’s openness provides a num-
ber of key insights into decision-making.
First, the fact that senior leaders’ deci-
sions do not shape reality in a simple way,
despite the frequently made claim that
they do. Those leading organizations —
and all those working in organizations
— are being shaped by multiple forces be-
yond their control. Their (and our) scope
of influence is often severely limited. De-
cisions matter, but they are just one factor
determining our success or failure.
To say this is not to disempower us. It
is simply important to define our scope of
influence, and to act positively within this
scope. Failing to do so can lead to delusion
(we believe we control more than we do),
co-dependence (we believe we control
less than we do) and paranoia (we believe
others control more than they do). Effec-
tive leadership requires an honest under-
standing of the scope of decision-making.
Ask yourself: What is my own scope of
influence? Where can I decide and where
can I not? What is the scope of influence
of my manager? Show your answers to
your manager and see if you agree.assumption
[E(sVmpS&n]
, Annahme
delusion
[diˈluːʒ&n]
, Täuschung, Irrglauben
disempower sb.
[)dɪsɪmˈpaʊə]
, jmdn. entmachten;
hier: jmdm. Einfluss-
möglichkeiten absprechen
empower sb.
[ɪmˈpaʊə]
, jmdn. befähigen
insight [ˈɪnsaɪt]
, Erkenntnis
lifeblood: be the ~ of sth.
[ˈlaɪfblʌd] , die Haupt-
antriebskraft von etw. sein
(lifeblood , Lebensnerv,
Herzblut)
objective
[əbˈdʒektɪv]
, Ziel(setzung)
paranoia
[ˌpærəˈnɔɪə]
, Paranoia; hier auch:
panische Angst
scope of influence
[)skəʊp əv ˈɪnfluəns]
, Einflussbereich