{"id":11271,"date":"2016-09-30T07:01:43","date_gmt":"2016-09-30T07:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/compellingleadership.com.au\/?p=11271"},"modified":"2016-09-30T07:01:43","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T07:01:43","slug":"this-is-what-i-have-learned-and-try-to-practise-making-decisions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/compellingleadership.com.au\/?p=11271","title":{"rendered":"This is what I have learned and try to practise: Making decisions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Leaders make decisions. Those who don\u2019t, aren\u2019t leading. People look to a leader to make the decisions, no matter how hard.<\/p>\n

How a leader makes decisions tends to fall into one of the following four broad categories:<\/p>\n

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  1. The controller: the person who makes the decisions with no consultation or collaborative effort. They fear that if they don\u2019t, they will be seen as impotent.<\/li>\n
  2. The pleaser: the person who makes decisions for the people they want to appease. They are motivated by affirmation from the people they care about the most.<\/li>\n
  3. The procrastinator: the person who struggles to make a decision because they fear they may get it wrong, that their decision will have negative impact on people they care about.<\/li>\n
  4. The consultor: the person who seeks the opinion of a wide range of people before they make a decision.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    We are all the product of our life experiences. In particular, our childhood experiences shape our identity, and consequently, how we approach decision-making.<\/p>\n

    I know I innately fall into the second category, the pleaser. I can\u2019t pin-point what it was in my upbringing, but I know I have a tendency to make decisions that favour the people I want to receive affirmation from. I want to please the people I like and want to like me. This approach feeds my ego, makes me feel valued, a person of worth.<\/p>\n

    I know that being a pleaser is my weakness when it comes to decision making. Being a pleaser ultimately doesn\u2019t benefit the organisation I am employed to serve, it serves only my interests.<\/p>\n

    Research has shown that trust is grown when I make consultative decisions, so I have to work just that little bit harder to ensure I put my ego aside and use processes counter to my nature.<\/p>\n

    Have you ever had the experience of a decision being made that has a significant impact on your work and you weren\u2019t consulted? It leaves you feeling angry, confused, undervalued, and ultimately, it undermines the confidence and trust you have in the leader.<\/p>\n

    Those leaders who engage a consultative or collaborative approach to decision-making build a culture of trust. When a leader promotes a culture of trust and the following tends of occur:<\/p>\n