We–the noble, effective, and very good-looking leaders that we are–don’t often tell people what to do. We save command-and-control for emergencies. Instead, we give others training, authority, and accountability to make most decisions. We reduce the decisions we make to the key few. When we do decide, we usually seek consensus (i.e. everyone says, “I get it. I may not think it’s the best answer. I’ll support it.”).
We do this for two reasons. First, we know that none of us has or can have a monopoly on truth, the right answer, or the best way. Second, we know our health and the health of the organization will suffer the longer we remain Decider-in-Chief.
In your corner,
Mike
PS: Yes, not making a decision that is clearly ours to make is equally unhealthful.
Today’s photo credit: Wally Gobetz cc