Those who serve in leadership roles (e.g., parent, teacher, manager, coach, captain, CEO, …) know full well that the world is not a black-n-white environment. Most of the decisions leaders make land squarely in the world of grayness. The higher up the leadership food chain we move, the grayer the world gets.
The leaders I value and study subscribe closely to some common principles when making those inevitable and numerous GRAY decisions that come their way:
- They refuse to engage in or condone unethical/illegal behavior.
- They seek counsel from wise others (when time permits).
- They start always from a position of “do no harm.”
- They strive for fundamental fairness.
- They press always for the common good.
One reality of leadership is that most of the easy decisions never come through our door. Those decisions get made in the customer service division, or in Room 174, or out in the field, or at the worksite, or… The gray ones, however, have a persistent way of landing on our desk or in our inbox.
Happy deciding…
*If you’d like to read more of nc’s blatherings, go to nc’s Recursive Learning.