Leadership characteristics for excellent decision making

You may feel like the world around you is more uncertain than ever. This causes difficulties in making decisions. However, studies by the HSBC showed that there are five characteristics of leaders that equip them for excelling at decision making in the midst of an chaos, radical change and uncertainty.

The study sought to identify world-wide trends by questioning over 17,000 leaders across 12 markets. The five characteristics that predicted superior decision making abilities in the midst of uncertainty are:

1. They view change positively. Instead of resisting change, leaders who made effective decisions during uncertain time reviewed change as an opportunity to improve or cope with change. While it is easier to talk positively about change, when it came to embracing change it took effort to put it into practice. 

2. They frame unexpected challenges as opportunities instead of problems. Confident decision makers share the habit of reframing unexpected changes as a circumstance to exploit or explore. Many of these leaders enjoyed stepping out of their comfort zone to develop new possibilities and opportunities.

3. They train themselves to be tolerant of uncertainty. A normal reaction to uncertainty is to freeze - this served our ancestors who lived in caves well, however, in a fast moving environment this is not the best option. The leaders who made effective decisions during uncertainty felt a need to act inspite of the uncertainty around them. They tended to keep moving even those they didn't have all the information they would have liked, adapting plans as required.

4. They're fluent in failure - and don't fear it. Having a positive view towards past mistakes and learning from them was common in over 80% of the leaders in the study. They often treated decisions as experiments to help overcome the initial reaction to freeze. Organizations that treat failures as a platform for learning helped remove the stigma associated with failures and leaders were move likely to take a leap of faith as a result.

5. They are grounded in optimism. The final characteristic displayed by effective decision makers during uncertainty was a genuine believe that even if things don't turn out as planned, the eventual result will be positive. This attribute was the most important characterist studied. Discouraging this mindset can be detrimental to cognitive function. 

The organization is important to creating leaders who excel at discision making during radical change and uncertainty. The organization must have a culture that accepts failures as a learning opportunity, encourages risk taking, and allows decisions to be made without all the information desired. The organization should also have structures and processes to reward creative thinking, learn from mistakes and take risks.

To read the full article: Five Traits of Leaders Who Handle Uncertainty Well

Want to talk about changing the culture of your organization to support good decision making during uncertainty? Let's talk.