4 Ways For Leaders to Make a Decision

The article 4 Ways For Leaders to Make a Decision by Brent Gleeson narrates how business leaders are faced with loads of decision-making in their position. As the company expands, the decision-making becomes more periodic, hard and interesting. Manager and business leaders are sometimes left to make decisions on behalf.

Command: Command decision-making is where leaders make decisions without consulting their teams. This is an effective style, especially when things are moving quickly and the team is looking for immediate guidance. In an uncaptioned business setting, leaders use this style the most effectively on large financial decisions and in crisis situations.

Collaborative: Collaborative decision-making is just what it sounds like. Leaders gather their teams and request feedback and insight. The leader still makes the final call, but is armed with the proper data to make a more informed decision. This can also be referred to as evidence-based decision-making. With this style, and really in all business decisions, avoid surrounding yourself with people that always agree with you. You need people who are able to strongly argue the other side. Whether you use their advice or not, it will help clarify your decision.

Consensus: Consensus-based decision-making is done more like a democratic vote. Leaders gather their teams and everyone votes. Majority rules. This process can work well when the outcome of the decision affects the entire team, and generally won’t immediately affect the bottom line. In a quick-moving business environment, this is not the most efficient way to make a decision, but there are still some decisions that can be made this way.

Convenience: When surrounded by trusted peers, sometimes the best decision a leader can make is to not be the one to make a certain decision. Complete delegation (convenience decision-making) has many benefits including measuring the decision-making abilities of your managers, empowering your team, and maintaining your own sanity! By handing over some decision-making responsibilities, leaders are also building a better management team and giving them the confidence they need as their responsibilities increase. And convenience-based decision-making is a great way to avoid the decision trap of “we’ve always done it this way.” New decision-makers take fresh approaches to solving problems.

As my business partner and I grow our rapidly expanding digital marketing organization, we are faced with more tough decisions every day. The key is to remain calm under pressure, trust the team you have built, and use the data available to make the best possible decisions. Having a little faith doesn’t hurt either![1]

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Work Cited

Gleeson, Brent. “4 Ways For Leaders to Make a Decision.” Forbes (2012). https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2012/11/07/4-ways-for-leaders-to-make-a-decision/#73081a174d4a .

[1] 4 Ways For Leaders to Make a Decision

https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2012/11/07/4-ways-for-leaders-to-make-a-decision/#73081a174d4a