How Leaders Make Decisions

In the second chapter of The 5 Paths to Persuasion, Gary and his co-author Robert Miller outline 12 attributes that help determine how a person — a business leader — makes decisions.

• Risk The willingness to make decisions that might have large negative consequences
• Responsibility The desire for authority to make decisions and be held accountable for their outcome
• Competitiveness The drive and ambition to achieve more than others
• Rebellion The desire to move beyond the status quo and generally accepted alternatives
• Impulsiveness The urge to make attention-grabbing and thrilling final decisions, often very quickly
• Persistence The desire for others and onself to continually drive the decision-making process toward a final resolution
• Fear and uncertainty The tendency to become worried or concerned wen making a particular decision
• Self-absorption The habit of becoming unduly concerned with one’s own thoughts, interests, and activities
• Playfulness The desire for lively, spirited interactions with others in the decision-making process
• Education The need to learn and understand from others about the various issues involved in a decision
• Intelligence and facts The need for rational, highly accurate information
• Bargains The willingness to make spur-of-the-moment decisions provided the price is right

Which elements do you find particularly important to you? Less important? And a question for Gary: How did you arrive at these 12 attributes? Which of the five decision-making styles weigh some of these more heavily than others? How does this add up?

HR