Leadership Decision Making Quotes & Sayings

I had discovered long ago the first lesson of political courage: to think anew. I had then learned the second: to be prepared to lead and to decide. I was now studying the third: how to take the calculated risk. I was going to alienate some people, like it or not. The moment you decide, you divide. — Tony Blair

A true leader is not meant to be greeted with unanimous praise by his people. A leader is meant to be questioned, to be suspect, to be hated. If he is not, then one can easily assume that either he has not challenged his abilities as a leader by making a decision that creates a split between the people, or he is forcing his subjects to bow before him. — Evan Meekins

At that moment, in the sunset on Watership Down, there was offered to General Woundwort the opportunity to show whether he was really the leader of vision and genius which he believed himself to be, or whether he was no more than a tyrant with the courage and cunning of a pirate. For one beat of his pulse the lame rabbit's idea shone clearly before him. He grasped it and realized what it meant. The next, he had pushed it away from him. — Richard Adams

Leadership isn't making all the decisions. It is making sure the right decisions are made. — Andy Stanley

He felt everything - pride in his competence and leadership during the Second World War, pride in his noble intransigence during the Cold War, intellectual pleasure in what he called the "technically sweet" conception of the H-bomb, self-disgust that he could feel such pleasure in so monstrous a creation - but could decide on nothing. Brilliance of this scattershot type effectively disqualifies a man from political decision-making. Oppenheimer was simply not the sort of man a nation can entrust with its fate. — Algis Valiunas

You never want one thing at any given moment of life. Your mind always comes up with at least two choices. If your limbic system wins, the choice you make seems to be pleasurable at first but in the long run ends up being the wrong one. And if your prefrontal cortex wins the choice you make may appear rough at first, but in the long run it turns out to be the right one. — Abhijit Naskar

Don't just DO something. Stand there! (and get perspective and understanding) — Scott J. Simmerman Ph.D.

Making a true decision means committing to achieving a result, and then cutting yourself off from any other possibility. — Tony Robbins

Yesterday's decision-making strategies are ill-equipped to deal with petabyte information flows. — Paul Gibbons

The principles that guide your decisions as a leader must not be contradictory to your personal values. Your personal values must lay the strong foundation on which you build your leadership tenets. In becoming a principle-centred leader, these leadership values become your guiding principles and lenses for decision making. — Archibald Marwizi

There are no perfect decisions, only excellent applications. — Todd Stocker

Personally, I like it much better when someone else does the decision making. That way you have legitimate grounds to whine and complain. I tend to find both whining and complaining quite interesting and amusing, though sometimes
unfortunately
it's hard to choose which one of the two I want to do.
Sigh. LIfe can be so tough sometimes. — Brandon Sanderson

Growing a business requires that we look at ourselves and change the way we make decisions. — David J. Greer

Pretending that the locals ran the Western NGOs was a way to entice donors, grassroots was no longer a true goal but a buzzword. Sadly, the goal was not to empower true local leadership, but to find token locals to be token champions with no real decision-making power...
But I always knew true, long-term change cannot happen without involving the community. — Kennedy Odede

Once a man and woman have married, the only thing they should receive from their parents is advice and counsel, and then only when they ask for it. Parents should not offer opinions or advice without being asked. To do so undermines the development of the leadership and self-determination of the couple. When they married, the leadership and decision-making responsibilities transferred from their former homes to the new home they are building together. All leadership now devolves on them. They are responsible for making their own decisions. Part of cultivating companionship is learning how to exercise these responsibilities effectively together. — Myles Munroe

The difficulty was not that of following a moral principle at personal cost; the difficulty was that of knowing what to do when there is more than one principal, and when the principles clash. — Elton Trueblood

The Swedes have coined the term 'management by perkele' to portray the Finnish managerial approach. Instead of collectively pondering all the possible alternatives and letting every member of the staff from the cleaner to the MD voice their views, as the Swedes do, the Finns act swiftly and don't waste time on the decision-making process. If something isn't happening quickly enough, it is necessary for the top managers to slam their fists on the table and yell, 'Perkele!' Repeatedly, if necessary. — Tarja Moles

As I've progressed in my career, I've come to appreciate - and really value - the other attributes that define a company's success beyond the P&L: great leadership, long-term financial strength, ethical business practices, evolving business strategies, sound governance, powerful brands, values-based decision-making. — Ursula Burns

Framing the right problem is equally or even more important than solving it. — Pearl Zhu

Don't let your emotions get in the way of rational decision making. — Roy Bennett

Decision-making is a skill. Wisdom is a leadership trait. — Mark Miller

The wisdom that comes from being conscious of the real threats to you and your mission will sharpen your deliberateness in decision & choice-making, associations and positioning. — Archibald Marwizi

Self-reliance is an America virtue but not a biblical value. Solomon wrote, "The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice." (Proverbs 12:15) The word 'listen' carries with it the meaning of seeking out as well as receiving advice. A lot of pain can be prevented if leaders would just check in with their coach before a making a big decision. — Gary Rohrmayer

Money follows mission, not the reverse. This is a shorthand way of saying that the stronger the congregation's relational characteristics, the easier it is to raise money. The stronger the congregation's mission, visitation, groupings, leadership, and decision making, the stronger the giving. — Kennon Callahan

Many of the cataclysmic leadership failures were failures of rationality. The pendulum of leadership development needs to swing back toward the rational: strategy, creativity, foresight, decision-making, and analytics. — Paul Gibbons

Whenever you see a successful business, someone once made a courageous decision. — Peter F. Drucker

Decision making brings together many of the finest traits of contrarian leadership
thinking gray, thinking free, artful listening, delegating authority while retaining ultimate responsibility,artful procrastination, ignoring sunk costs, taking luck into account, and listening to one's inner voice. Weaving these traits together is an art itself. When it is done well, the result is a thing of beauty and a powerful tool for effective leadership. — Steven B. Sample

I don't think leadership demands 'yes' or 'no' answers; I think leadership is providing the forum for making the right decision, which doesn't demand unanimity. — Arthur Ochs Sulzberger Jr.

Secretary of the treasury Albert Gallatin is accused of treason by war enthusiasts merely for suggesting budget adjustments to pay for war measures. — Donald R. Hickey

The essence of extended rationality is to know when you are being irrational. — Paul Gibbons

The definition of strong leadership is not about making decisions that are popular. Making popular decisions is easy - you don't need to be a leader to do that. The definition of strong leadership is to make decisions that are unpopular, but are nevertheless sound. — Henry Blodget

As a leader, I am there to make the best decisions possible with the evidence at hand and to be able to justify that decision. If it goes wrong, we add to the evidence for making the next decision, but there is no reason for regretting failure, as failure is just the production of evidence. — Michael A. Wood Jr.

Strategy is something that emerges from reality, while tactics might be chosen. — George Friedman

As a vibrant force in civil society, women continue to press for their rights, equal participation in decision-making, and the upholding of the principles of the revolution by the highest levels of leadership in Egypt. — Michelle Bachelet

Gen. Scott saw more through the eyes of his staff officers than through his own. — H.W. Brands

Those who depend fully on another person's knowledge to decide what is possible are easily manipulated. The most effective leaders utilize experts from all fields , but rely on none when it comes to making a decision. — Joelle Charbonneau Independent Study

It is an assumption brought forth countless of times in various contexts that the world would be better, drifting slower towards the ruin, if women had the "power"; if political leadership, decision making, government and economic life was in the hands of women. I think reality, the observation material, supports the assumption. — Pentti Linkola

Inability to make decisions is one of the principal reasons executives fail. Deficiency in decision-making ranks much higher than lack of specific knowledge or technical know-how as an indicator of leadership failure. — John C. Maxwell

The best way to encourage out of the box thinking is to draw the box correctly in the first place. — Paul Gibbons

If we are going to out-innovate, out-compete, out-educate other countries, it's going to be women who make a difference, it's women who are going to lead the way and you know, until women get that rightful place and decision making and leadership and growth, America won't realize all her potential. — Kirsten Gillibrand

That which a team does not want to discuss, it most needs to discuss. — Paul Gibbons

The true meaning of life lies in learning. When you learn, you understand the things better, when you understand the things better, it reflects in your actions, and when your actions are right, according to the process of life, you are bound to receive the desired result. — Roshan Sharma

In the 1960 campaign, Arthur Schlesinger wrote of Adlai Stevenson, who already lost twice as the party's presidential nominee, He has been away from power too long; he gives me an odd sense of unreality, a certain frivolity, distractedness, over-interest in words and phrases. — David Pietrusza

All progress begins with a decision. Effective leadership requires decisive action. Embrace the process of deciding, yet recognize when you have reached a choice point. — Angie Morgan

Instead of looking at leadership as decision making - as a rational process of sifting through data, analyzing trends, and making decisions based on predicting futures - a design framework emphasizes pragmatic experimentation. — Frank J. Barrett

Leadership is making the wise decision even when it's hard. — Todd Stocker

Leaders need to correct for cognitive biases the way a sharpshooter corrects for wind velocity or a yachtsman corrects for the tide. — Paul Gibbons

Free and open expression coupled with visionary leadership generally encourages good decision-making. — M. Russell Ballard

All through your life, you'll be faced with making a decision between two things-choose the one that is right. If they are both right, then choose the one that will make you feel the best about it at the end of the day. — Thomas Jefferson

The company's leadership plays a major role in framing the right questions for decision-making. — Pearl Zhu

Leadership is about making the right decision and the best decision before, sometimes, it becomes entirely popular. — Martin O'Malley