Leadership often involves navigating through complex decisions. Unraveling the intricacies of such choices requires a robust framework. Let's delve into the strategies and tools that can empower leaders to make tough calls with confidence and clarity.
Every complex leadership decision must balance three subjective dimensions
Ethics – context-specific principles around what is acceptable in your organization or society
- Morals – your own internal sense of what is right and wrong, shaped by upbringing, family, community, identity, faith, etc.
- Role responsibilities – your understanding of the responsibilities associated with your role in the organization
- There are no shortcuts, but actively investigating your own values and seeking alignment between at least two of the three corners of the morals-ethics-role triangle will give you the tools you need to make the difficult decisions that all leaders face.
Look at a decision you’ll have to make soon.
If I want to make this decision in a way that is completely aligned with my moral framework, my society’s ethical framework, and my role responsibilities, what should I do?
- What am I willing to compromise?
Develop a plan to communicate the decision
Articulate what you stand for with clarity
- Avoid a defensive focus on your own feelings
- Center your communication around the reasons for the decision and how they align with the morals, ethics, and role responsibilities you have always held.
Clarify your current worldview
How do you want to be perceived as a leader?
- What do you think is the purpose of business in general? What are your obligations to your business and to whom do you hold them? What would you be willing to sacrifice in service of a desired goal? What is your role within your business?
Engage in rigorous self-reflection
Explore your own decision-making framework in the abstract
- Each of these decisions will help you further sharpen your understanding of your underlying morals, the role that you are fulfilling, and the ethical context in which you are operating – just in time to make your next difficult choice.
Evaluate a recent major decision and evaluate it against the observations you just made
How did this decision align with the ethical, moral, and role responsibilities I’ve identified for myself?
- Where was this decision misaligned? What was the reason for the misalignment?
- If I were to make this decision over again, what would I do differently?
