The Importance of Patience for Decision-Making
CPD: Leadership for Teachers (by Sam Strickland), topic 5.1.1
The Importance of Patience for Decision-Making
Taking your time is key. Do not rush decisions.
Don't be afraid to decide
- Equally, do not be frightened of making a decision.
- Temptation is your biggest Achilles here. When things are going badly, when you are faced with a difficult, testing or consuming situation, there is always a temptation to go for the quick and easy win.
- Often this is not the smartest or best play and often, this will cause longer-term issues.
- Often, the tempting play has unintended consequences that you probably had not considered.
Waiting is good
- Sitting tight and waiting intelligently can be one of the hardest things to do but this is such a key trait of the best leaders.
- Taking your time over a decision, action or approach is hard. It is unpredictable though and hugely powerful.
Misguided expectation of speed
- People often expect fast decisions, fast actions, for there to be a high-speed impact.
- Human nature is to be busy, to work at speed. Surely if we work at steam, fire out lots of emails and key actions then we have done our job?
- In my opinion, this is wrong, flawed and a sign of a weak or misguided leader.
First obstacle - you
- The first obstacle to overcome when you take your time over a decision is yourself.
- You must fight the inner mental voice that says you are being lazy.
- Worse still, a narrative forms that you are being weak or waiting because you cannot make a decision.
- Repel these thoughts when they form.
Have a plan for waiting
- If you are adopting an approach of intelligent waiting then have a plan, communicate this plan systematically and effectively, train people in how your plan works and their role within it.
- The key is to have the strength of character to sit tight and believe in your plan and your approach.
- Ensure that you hit your key milestones when you intended and stay tactical in your approach.
Test yourself on The Importance of Patience for Decision-Making
Which of these is a key trait of a strong leader?