This is Module 2, Strategic Decisions and Big Business Risks. Why is this important for leadership? Two roles that leaders play are making choices, sometimes difficult decisions on strategic direction, on workforce management. On top of that, leaders are expected to understand the risks around the business and around the organization. Which means you have to be a systems thinker, a global thinker. Just to remember those six paradoxes of leadership that we saw in the very beginning of this course there are two that come into play here. The first is a globally minded localist and a strategic executer. This idea that seeing the big picture and then its impacts locally is incredibly important in making good decisions. Then being a strategic executer says, when I make that decision, for a good strategic reason I know how to execute it. Here's a graphic on decision-making, and really there's three large areas here, understanding the alternatives long before you make the decision, the uncertainties within those alternatives and the environment, and very specifically, where are their high consequences. Complexity is usually a hallmark of strategic decisions that's why some people shy away from them. This quote, "Great leaders make choices and do it courageously". It is not easy to do, and there are a lot of barriers and we're going to cover those next. You have some readings and a video to watch. The readings hopefully solidified for you why decision-making is such an important part of being a leader and doing it well. Then the other was this paralysis by analysis idea, where you could always have one more piece of data, one more conversation, do one more analysis, and keep pushing the decision out. Sometimes pushing the decision out is actually you're not making a decision. This idea of there's 10 major mistakes we make when we all make decisions is really true. I'm sure you've seen some of these in your own experiences, holding out for the perfect decision, this paralysis by analysis. Failing to face reality. Do you have a good grasp on what the true alternatives are and the true state of the situation, or are you may be listening to others that might have a biased view on the situation. Falling for self-deception, what do you really want to happen versus what is honestly potentially going to happen based on consequences. Following the crowd, group think, rushing, and risking too much in one decision. You know, in a lot of cases you don't have to make the big decision. You can chop it up into little or decisions and stage gates and slowly move towards that bigger decision. Yet, always testing the water, making sure that the environment is still the way you think it is, that the alternatives still have the impact you think they will have. Overvaluing consensus. Isn't that interesting? We want data, we want different perspectives. Yet, going too far in that direction, and looking for consensus when there may not be consensus, and you as a leader, are going to have to break a tie or make an unpopular decision based on the data and the situation that you know. Then finally, not following through. When you make a decision, you do have to ensure that all understand why that decision was made and then their role in the execution of that change. Why is it important again for a leader to be a good decision maker? Well, a couple of big ones come to mind. The quality of your decisions, is it differentiator for you? It's also a reflection of your leadership, it becomes part of your reputation. How do you make decisions? How do you gain the council of others? Then how do you follow through once a decision is made? The other part of decision-making that's interesting, it's a tool for you as a leader to use to empower your team and build trust. Knowing what types of decisions you have to make versus those that you can delegate that give opportunities to your team members, empower them to begin their own decision-making process and thinking about what is important and how to gather data. Whenever you see a successful business, someone made a courageous decision, or probably several. The first thing that we're going to explore here in decision-making is unconscious bias. When you're making important decisions and strategic decisions, you're going to have your team and members of your organization around you. You have your own unconscious bias, the team has theirs, and potentially the culture of the organization you work in has those biases. It is important to understand what they are and their effect on your decision-making ability. Here's a key fact about unconscious bias. You yourself cannot see your unconscious bias. Yet those around you, those that know you can see it very clearly, isn't that interesting? You can imagine part of this deep biasing your decisions and your thinking is going to require calling on others to point it out to you, and you pointed out to them. You've got some readings, I think you're going to enjoy these readings, especially if you haven't really studied unconscious bias in detail. Then there's an interesting video called Think like Sherlock Holmes that I think you will enjoy. You can apply these ideas of understanding unconscious bias in certain situations and learning how to dubious yourself. You can use this idea in much more than just decision-making. It's a key idea in becoming more self-aware. As we said in Course 1, being self-aware, understanding your impact on others, and understanding what drives you and how you self manage yourself is key to be good leader. I hope you enjoy these readings and videos and I will see you when you're done.
