Taking a stand. Is that what individual leadership really is?
Not decision-making. That is a managerial function – indeed, at the very heart of management.
But decisiveness is perhaps another matter altogether. There are two things about it, in this context. First, it is leadership.
It resolves matters and clears the decks for action. When there is nothing but uncertainty in the air – whether simple inertia, a blissful surfeit of good choices, or a desperate confluence of crises – a clear decision on a course of action can have a wonderfully liberating effect on an organization and its staff. The result is clarity of purpose and action, often given additional force by the sheer relief with which pent-up organizational energy is thus released.
Second, it is individual. There certainly can be a sort of cultural momentum in an organization that lends a decisive bias to otherwise confounding events, pressing decision-makers toward specific decisions and solutions to what might otherwise be dilemmas. Moreover, the best bosses will inform their decisions with the “sense of the organization,” lending a sort of collective cast to the result.
But none of this lessens the fact that, at bottom, an individual must make the final decision – one for which, however culturally homogeneous the firm may be, only he or she will be held ultimately responsible. Thus, a single person – typically, the boss – must step forward and take a stand, one that commits the entire organization to action.
When all is said and done, is that what individual leadership is really all about?
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Today’s tips: Speaking of trying to figure out what leadership really is, please see why Wally Bock, author of Three Star Leadership, says it really doesn’t matter.
And speaking of decisiveness, how much of the elements that drive or constitute your decision should you reveal, and why? Please take a moment to see this piece by Michael Wade, the Execupundit, on revealing and filtering.
Finally, speaking of being revealing, or clarity, or trying to figure out what’s going on and if it matters – well, please just be sure to see what John Phillips, at The Word on Employment, has to say about transparency in the workplace.
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Technorati Tags: leadership, decision-making, management, decisiveness, decision, organization, boss, responsible, Wally Bock, Three Star Leadership, Michael Wade, Execupundit, John Phillips, The Word on Employment
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2 Comments
Hi Jim,
You’re getting soooo close to the essence of leadership! Decisiveness as you eloquently define it is the ability to commit to decisions, not the ability to make decisions.
Commitment – that is a key tenet of leadership.
Hello Joe,
Commitment as a key to organizational leadership – that’s an excellent way to approach the subject. Perhaps that is one of the things managers should pay attention to as they manage the leadership in their organizations.
Outstanding – thanks!
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