How do great leaders seem to consistently make the right decision? Where does this internal compass, this discernment come from? And importantly, how can leaders strengthen their own discernment muscles?
I recently had the opportunity to host a conversation about developing discernment with two leaders I respect a lot, Elizabeth Rolinkski and Rodger Price. We covered significant ground in our conversation, but a few things really stood out as we considered the bulldog and water archetypes highlighted on our blog last month:
6 Observations About Discernment in Leadership
- Great leaders have a highly developed sense of their values and priorities, and can use this understanding to move relatively quickly when a decision needs to be made.
- They leverage both analytics and intuition, and avoid delaying their decision by proactively setting timelines.
- Discerning leaders aren’t shy about seeking feedback, both quantitative and qualitative.
- When confronting a decision, especially around something like a product launch–they’ll often start small with a low(er) stakes pilot program when more caution is required.
- Discerning leaders have the ability to cast a vision for a particular role, and to cast vision for what a person “could be” in that role–it’s a kind of calling forth.
- When it’s clear that a person is not meeting the requirements of a specific role on a team, discerning leaders don’t shirk the tough conversation. As a general rule they hire slow, and fire fast.
How do You Practice Discernment in Leadership?
Strengthening your discernment muscle is a life-long process, to be sure, but how about you? Do you have any heuristic, or short-hands that you use to make decisions as a leader? Have you found that you blend the bulldog and the water archetypes to good effect, or are you lopsided in one direction?
I hope you’ll take some time and dive into the conversation with us. Let me know if you lean bulldog or water, and if something resonates in this video, leave us comment.
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