DECISION –MAKING MAKES THE LEADER - Chanukya's Way

[Guest guest]

DECISION –MAKING MAKES THE LEADER - Radhakrishnan Pillai

 

 

 

To become a leader you should think like a leader. Sit down and observe what are

the qualities you find in good leaders. And then start practicing them. One of

the important qualities of a leader is of decision making.

 

 

Kautilya says,

 

 

“He should hear (at once) every urgent matter, (and) not put it off. An (affair)

postponed becomes difficult to settle or even impossible to settle” (1.19.30)

 

There is a lot of work that cannot move forward without the final sanction of a

leader. Thus, here Kautilya suggests that if there is any subordinate who comes

to him with an urgent matter, he should listen to him at once. If he postpones

such a decision, the pressure gets piled up and then the situation gets out of

control.

 

A leader has to be a fast thinker, a fast decision maker and a fast implementer.

He has no time to waste. Analysing is good but moving ahead is important.

 

How to become a good decision maker?

 

1. Do not be afraid to make mistakes

 

In an interview a CEO was asked the secret of his success. “It is by taking

timely decisions”. “How do you know if your decisions are correct?” He snapped,

“By taking wrong decisions”.

 

Every child has to fall before he learns to walk and run. Do not be afraid of

making mistakes. But important is to learn from the mistakes. At the same time

do not to keep making mistakes eternally.

 

2. Think with a deadline

 

While you are planning and thinking over an assignment or a project, give

yourself enough time to think over the various possibilities. But keep a time

frame when you will want to take an action. Only then theory will meet practice.

 

3. Encourage others to take decisions

 

Work gets stuck up, when it is dependent on a single person. Learn to delegate

smaller decisions to your subordinates. Your organisation should become a

self-managed mechanism. Train others to make them responsible. You should only

be dealing with the important matters at the top.

 

The game should be bigger than the player. The organisation should be bigger

than the employees. The purpose should be bigger than you and me.