Chapter 18 Chapter 18 Decision-making is the core capital of leadership

The ancients said: "The way, the strategy is the first."In today's terms, the main responsibility of leadership lies in decision-making.Decision-making is the direction and basis for action.A person's activities will be at a loss without decision-making. If an organization does not make decisions, everyone will lose their unified thinking and will, and the organization will not be an organization.There are decision-making problems ranging from political, economic, military, cultural, educational, diplomatic and other activities of the country to family and personal life. The functions of leadership are multifaceted.Among the many functions of leaders, the function of decision-making occupies the first and core position.This is because the exercise of other functions of the leader revolves around the realization of decision-making goals.Without decision making, the exercise of other functions loses purpose and direction.

Any leadership is a purposeful activity of people.In this process, decision-making is its starting point.That is to say, all leadership activities must first solve the problems of what to do, how to do it, and how to organize it.And all of this is resolved through decision-making.Once a decision is made, all leadership activities revolve around its implementation. In a certain sense, the leadership process is a continuous process of making decisions and implementing them.Decision-making determines and restricts all activities in the leadership process, and determines and restricts the most important content, organization and methods of the entire leadership process.Therefore, leadership decision-making determines each stage, each aspect, and each link of leadership activities, determines the entire process of leadership activities, and is the core of the entire leadership.It determines the goal of leadership activities - once the decision-making goal is determined, all leadership activities must coordinate actions in accordance with the decision-making goal; it determines the key to the success or failure of the career - the decision is correct, the work goes smoothly, and the career develops; Career setback.

In the world of the 21st century, dazzling and novel changes are taking place in the field of social life all the time, providing various opportunities for people from all walks of life who are eager to change their existing living conditions: on the one hand, it is a great opportunity to ascend to the sky in one step On the other hand, it is a helpless trap like a misstep into an eternal hatred.For the enterprising people who seek fame and the companies and enterprises that seek to grow and grow all the time, how to make successful decisions and avoid wrong decisions has become a lingering "major theme" that many leaders think about day by day and dream about at night. ".

A leader is a person who shoulders important responsibilities such as decision-making, command, organization, coordination and control, supervision and education, and is the embodiment of the subjective ability of the decision-making system.Leaders' ideology, knowledge level, decision-making ability, etc. have a direct impact on the development and destiny of society.The competition between countries and nations is, in the final analysis, the competition of talents.In the era of knowledge economy, more stringent requirements are put forward for the quality of leaders: 1. Leading decision-makers should have excellent political and moral qualities

Leading decision-makers should establish a correct world outlook, be able to use the general laws of social development, stand at the height of history, be good at learning from the experience and lessons in the history of social development, be good at observing new trends in the development of human society today, and scientifically foresee and correctly grasp social development. trend.Only in this way can leading decision makers make scientific decisions that conform to the historical trend and are responsible to the motherland and the people. 2. Leading decision makers should have profound professional knowledge

The knowledge economy is based on knowledge, technology and information. Whoever has modern scientific knowledge can "walk in the garden" in society.Leading decision makers must have a wealth of professional knowledge.The first is basic scientific knowledge, such as basic scientific and cultural knowledge, policy and regulation knowledge, etc.; the second is leadership decision-making professional knowledge, such as leadership scientific knowledge, modern scientific and technological knowledge, socialist market economy knowledge, etc.; the third is other related knowledge, such as historical knowledge, New subject knowledge, sociology knowledge, psychology knowledge, etc.The knowledge mastered by leading decision makers should be a constantly updated and well-structured knowledge system.In addition, in the era of knowledge economy, decision makers not only have more extensive knowledge and updated concepts, but also have the ability to quickly grasp the dynamics of technological innovation.

3. Leading decision makers should have superb ability and quality The ability to lead decision makers is the external manifestation of their internal quality combined with external things, and it is the premise and key for leading decision makers to perform their duties.In the era of knowledge economy, it is especially important to emphasize the following three abilities of leading decision makers: first, decision-making ability, including being good at using expert think tanks, correctly analyzing the situation, and being able to make decisive decisions; Raising talents, using talents, cultivating talents and protecting talents; the third is to create talents.

4. Leading decision makers should have superior psychological quality. Former U.S. President Richard Nixon wrote in the book "Leader" that the most important characteristics of an accomplished leader include "extraordinary intelligence, courage, hard work, tenacity, judgment, and dedication to a great cause." And a certain amount of courage”, here the emphasis is on the psychological quality of leading decision makers.Excellent leadership decision-makers should have strong high-level needs and motivations and achievement desires, open ideas, rich imagination, strong will, stable emotions, excellent self-awareness, moderate personality types, and excellent Personality and Temperamental Quality.

The psychological qualities of leaders have some positive effects on their management work, while others have negative effects, such as indecision, impatience, conformity, silence and self-sufficiency, etc. will reduce the work efficiency of leaders.Being a leader should take full advantage of moral self-awareness to develop psychological positive factors.The research and analysis of many psychologists shows that pioneering leaders with innovative spirits have some similar characteristics in terms of temperament and personality.First, they generally have a decisive temperament.In the processing of daily affairs of the enterprise, some entangled problems are often encountered. At this time, the leader must have the decisive ability to "cut through the mess" in order to improve work efficiency.In addition, enterprises often face some fleeting opportunities, which also require leaders to make quick judgments and decisions, and seize every available opportunity.

Some people say that the best decision is not to make a decision, that is, let whoever can make the right decision make the decision.But I think that statement is biased.Because decision-making is a proper function of leadership and a function that must be performed.But in the actual operation process, there are various decision-making methods.Let us take a look at the various "decision-making states". 1. Resolute and clear, overwhelming The most common and simplest decision-making method is that the leader has a complete solution to the problem, so he directly issues orders for subordinates to directly implement.The advantage of this kind of decision-making is that it is simple and not verbose. The disadvantage is that although the leader enjoys sufficient decision-making power and power to issue orders, the subordinates only execute the order to complete the task, so it is impossible to bring "unexpected surprises" to the leader. .

This method is generally applicable to the military field (even excellent military leaders pay great attention to motivating people through decision-making), but when implemented in enterprises, its effect will be greatly reduced, because this kind of decision-making does not fully satisfy the sense of stage and accomplishment of subordinates Wait for psychological needs. 2. Introduce but not send out, open to all rivers In actual operation, although some leaders have a complete and perfect plan, they don't say it in their own hearts, but ask their subordinates for advice. Take different approaches to deal with the degree of difference from your own plan: One is that when the plan put forward by the subordinate is consistent with his own, he will say with an appreciative attitude and tone: "Okay! This idea is good! I will do it according to your opinion." In this way, the leader is in the process of praising the subordinate "Easy" made their own decisions.After receiving the appreciation and affirmation of the leader, the subordinates will go all out and creatively implement the decision-making plan.Because the hearts of subordinates are full of sense of accomplishment and pride: they are not only direct operators, but also designers.When people are doing what they are willing to do, their thinking must be positive, and the direction of thinking will all point to success and focus on success.When subordinates perform tasks in this state, the results must be excellent. The second is that the plans of the subordinates are generally consistent with their own plans, that is to say, although the opinions of the subordinates and the leaders are not completely consistent, there are many overlapping parts.Although there are some inadequacies in the plan, the leader will encourage and say: "Your opinion is very good, just do it as it is, but there is one thing to pay attention to..." So the leader put forward his opinion in a deliberative tone , the subordinates will easily understand and implement the revised plan.The effect of this will be very good, because the leader first affirms the opinions of the subordinates, even if the revision is made on the basis of affirmation, the process of revision is also a process for the subordinates to understand the intention of the superior.In doing so, subordinates will also complete tasks with a sense of pride and accomplishment, and will also actively open their minds in the process of performing tasks, and work hard towards success. The third is that the subordinate's plan overlaps little with its own plan, and the subordinate's plan is obviously infeasible.Although the leader thinks that the correctness of the subordinate's plan is only a small part, even if it is only one percent, this kind of leader will also say: "Okay! One thing in your plan is very good, that is, it should be done this way." Discuss the deficiencies in the plan with the subordinates on an equal basis, and finally the two sides reached a consensus in the mutual discussion.This is not only a process of communication between subordinates and leaders, but also a process for superiors to listen to subordinates' opinions, and a process for superiors to continuously improve their plans.The introduction of such a plan is based on affirming a certain part of the subordinate's plan. During the process of implementing the plan, the subordinates will think that the plan has their own wisdom, and that they are the original designer of the plan, and at the same time, they are also the operator of the plan. By.Moreover, during the discussion, the leader also listened to or adopted his own opinions, which satisfied his sense of self-esteem.In this way, in the process of implementing the plan, the subordinates will also do their best and conscientiously, complete the task excellently, and head towards success. Fourth, the subordinate plans are completely inconsistent with their own plans.Even if there is nothing worthy of admiration and affirmation in the plan proposed by the subordinates, some leaders will not open their mouths to deny it, but will say in a negotiating tone: "You see, can this work..." During the equal and friendly negotiation process, the new Feasible solutions are produced.The subordinates first understood the plan, and also participated in the process of formulating the plan. The plan has their own wisdom, and at the same time, they feel respected by the leader and have a sense of self-esteem satisfaction.Therefore, subordinates will naturally actively open their minds and move towards success in the process of implementing the plan. Fifth, when the leader has no plan, he will take the initiative to respect the corporals, collect opinions extensively, and follow the path of democratic centralization, so as to make correct decisions.No matter how good a leader is, it is impossible for him to be wise all the time, and sometimes the leader has no idea.A good leader will earnestly solicit the opinions of his subordinates through various means. When subordinates see that the leader is so introverted and democratic, they will do their best to make suggestions for the leader, so that the leader can produce a democratic, complete and high-quality plan.When subordinates implement this plan, they will think that the leader has adopted their own opinions, feel proud and honored, and thus actively and creatively complete the task. 3. Express yourself and ignore subordinates Stupid leaders often forget that they are leaders because they cannot control their desire to show off and compete with their subordinates.When he sees that the opinions of his subordinates are completely consistent with his own, he will say flatly or even dismissively: "Heroes see the same thing, you and I thought about it together"; There are differences, although ninety-nine percent are consistent, but in order to show their high opinions, they will catch the inadequacies in the subordinates' plans, criticize them first, then put forward their own opinions, and order the subordinates to follow suit. Execute; if you find that there are many mistakes or imperfections in the subordinate's plan, you will be very annoyed and criticize the subordinate unceremoniously, and then let the subordinate execute your order after refuting the subordinate's body. Although the original intention of the leader was not malicious, but in order to express himself, he ignored the feelings of the subordinates, which greatly hurt the self-esteem of the subordinates, and the subordinates suddenly developed resistance.Subordinates perform tasks with this mentality, and the results can be imagined.Even if it is completed, the subordinates will think that they are a complete "prompt", a simple execution tool in the eyes of the leader. 4. Pretending to be smart and fooling subordinates Some leaders themselves don't have much wisdom, but they don't recognize the reality, and they often take tricks to fool their subordinates.Let's not say that I have no opinion, but play tricks: first ask the subordinates to talk about their views on this issue in an imperative tone as a test.After the subordinates have finished talking, they think that the subordinate's plan is feasible, so the leader has two ways to perform: one is to blurt out: "I thought so two years ago." Then the subordinate will think: "Two years ago you thought so Yes, why are you still asking me, who knows if you thought about it two years ago?" Second, in order to cover up my own lack of opinion, I am afraid that I will lose face, so I directly criticize my subordinates for their bad opinions, and they will be torn apart. After saving the face of his subordinates, he proposed another plan and ordered his subordinates to implement it according to his own plan.However, if the subordinates think carefully afterwards, they will find that the so-called plan of the leader is just a copy of his own plan, just another way of saying it. "Extremely hateful!" In addition to cursing, some subordinates even think that the leader is an old thief who steals the wisdom of others.Just imagine, under such circumstances, the effect of subordinates' implementation of the plan will definitely be greatly reduced.At the same time, subordinates will hold back their anger and have nowhere to confide.At this time, the villain who is following the trend will take the opportunity to become active, thus breeding an unhealthy cultural atmosphere. There are even subordinates with poor conduct who will try different ways to play tricks on such a smart leader, because the leader has exposed his own weaknesses in many aspects. 5. Irresponsible, delegate power at will Decentralization of decision-making authority is also possible under certain conditions.But some leaders arbitrarily delegate their decision-making power when they have no idea.Because I have no idea for a while, and the subordinates are in a hurry, so regardless of the size and importance of the matter, the leader often says casually: "You can figure it out." In the face of such irresponsible decisions, subordinates generally have two approaches: Responsible and upright subordinates will be very embarrassed at this time, because if they really do it, it is tantamount to exceeding their authority.Originally, the decision-making power rested with the superior leader, but the leader kicked the ball to himself, what should I do?Don't do it, and delay things again.Therefore, under normal circumstances, what subordinates are most afraid of is that the leader says: "You can figure it out." This is equivalent to the leader delegating the decision-making power that belongs to him to the subordinates, which makes the subordinates in a dilemma and delays the opportunity. Of course, facing this situation, not all subordinates are embarrassed, and some subordinates will be secretly happy, that is, selfish people and villains. Work hard in the direction of your own self-interest - really "you can figure it out". Therefore, leaders generally should not arbitrarily delegate their decision-making power, because decision-making is the responsibility of the leadership position, how can they leave their own work to subordinates?Of course, leaders should never take the work that their subordinates should do, and do it themselves. After all, performing their duties is the minimum professional standard.