Leadership and Innovation Characteristics - Transforming Your STEM Career Through Leadership and Innovation - page 80

3. Who needs to be involved with this decision?
Good leaders understand that making decisions goes far beyond being in charge and calling
the shots. Decision making is also one of the best developmental tools at their disposal. In
order to create momentum around decisions the leader must cultivate commitment. Asking for
input, especially from key stakeholders, is critical for momentum and effective
implementation.
The Five Levels of Decision Making
The following are five levels of involvement leaders use when deciding who should be part of
the decision making process:
Level One: Leader makes the decision alone.
This is used especially in emergency situations where immediate action is critical. Input is not
helpful, quick action and immediate compliance is what counts.
Level Two: Leader makes the decision with input from key stakeholders.
The leader seeks input, usually to cover blind spots and enhance their depth of understanding
around the issue to be decided. Stakeholders hold important information and not consulting
them would be foolish.
Level Three: Consensus building - leader gets final say.
Leader solicits input from a variety of sources, builds consensus around a specific direction,
allows the group to make a recommendation of which the leader must finally approve. This
level takes considerable skill and is where developing leaders often make mistakes. Solid
decision makers are well versed in the skill sets of this level.
Level Four: Delegate the decision to someone else.
The authority and responsibility are clearly shifted away from the leader (usually to a direct
report). Both the leader and the direct report live with the consequences - good or bad. The
leader reviews the decision but does not change it and uses it as an opportunity for
development.
Level Five: True consensus.
Leader fully delegates the decision to a group (usually a committee). If the leader is part of
the committee then he/she is just one vote among many. The group processes all the decisions
involved, compromises positions until everyone is in agreement.
Strong leaders understand the process decisions must go through to be effective. As leaders
move higher in organizations the demand upon their time and influence also increases. The
temptation to use the power of position to make things happen is high. Rookie leaders will often
get caught in this trap and learn expensive lessons when decisions go bad. Hopefully you can
avoid these mistakes and make effective decisions by using the three questions.
FIGURE 4.2 Five levels of decision making. J.T. Taylor. Source: www.teambuildingusa.com/
articles/making-effective-decisions/ (accessed July 2, 2012).
of decision-making styles that leaders engage in; it is valuable to understand
when and where you should use a particular style.
Although we know we are not perfect, oftentimes we hesitate in decision
making because of fear: we fear we will make mistakes or we are worried about
the impact of potential negative outcomes. Be sure as a leader; you will have
times when things don't work as well as you'd planned and circumstances may