Despite the rise of machines and robots, the fate of all companies large and small rests on the shoulders of humans. Despite talk of an invasion of machines, humans deploy them. And I believe that until we get to artificial superintelligence, the competitive essence behind the greatest start-ups and the endurance of the world’s most admired companies will align with the pitfalls and greatness of their leaders.
Humans can be eager, learned and principled. They can just as easily be complacent, ignorant and emotional. Specifically, in times of uncertainty and stress, people do not always have the greatest track record for mental agility and resolve. With the average 10-year success rate of small businesses being at about one-third and black swans attempting to plant daggers into our economy every several decades, it is easy to see that humans tend to pass on the waves that they can ride the longest and ride the “good” waves way too long.
Indeed, it is easy to conclude when observing humans that judgment is one of our weakest points. Yet turnaround stories like Apple, Delta and Netflix tell us that good judgment in the face of crisis and risk-taking is a true competitive advantage. It’s something that should be studied and learned by the world’s most ambitious leaders.
So how do you adopt good judgment if you don’t feel you have it? Well, it is less a four-step process than a four-dimension persona that you should attempt to adopt over time.
Risk-Taking
Do you remember the first time you drove a car? You slowly put the key in the ignition until you felt the key snap into its slot so it could be turned. Then you slowly turned it, hearing the starter and waiting carefully to hear the engine come alive. You then shifted into gear. I could go on for pages on the thoughts involved in driving a car for the first time. But today, what do you do? For most of us, we simply start the car, back out of a parking space and go on our way without investing a shred of thought in the activity.
Day-to-day business requires this kind of agility so that when the day-to-day is interrupted, there is sufficient bandwidth to exercise judgment. You can’t break into a new industry or pull a Fortune 500 company out of a tailspin if you are treating each step like you did on that first drive. Luckily, people are very good at habituating repetitive behavior. This is a superpower. So make a daily habit of wandering into the unknown. Do that, and when you are pushed into uncertain waters, you will have the facility to employ judgment with a calm mind.
Patience
Indeed, to exercise judgment one must be centered and measured. Really, what could be more obvious? Well, wait. One thing that might be more obvious is that to exercise good judgment, you must take in enough information to be able to judge. This is the difference between two types of judgers: sound judgers and snap judgers.
You must surveil your environment to collect enough data — maybe deeply considering five key questions for sound decision-making — to know and assess the options available and their consequences. Conversely, being able to see what is going well to be able to do more of that thing is also necessary to beat your competitors. All of this takes time. And taking that time requires patience.
Humility
If things are going well within your areas of responsibility as a leader, it wasn’t only you who got you there. After all, you’re a leader who led other people to achieve the objectives someone else or you created. On the other hand, if things are going badly, you likely have traits that need to be modified, people you trusted whom need to be coached (or even cut loose), and, plainly, decisions you made to which you will have to fess up.
What’s more, you might need to turn to others and admit your current quandary. If you are not able to admit to yourself that you have mistakes, you cannot wipe the slate clean to make the good judgments to get yourself out of the pickle in which you got yourself. And if you are someone so devoid of humility that you can’t admit to your mistakes, allow me to offer the following: The more mistakes you allow yourself to make, I believe the better leader you become.
Core Values
What are your organization’s core values? How about your own? If you don’t know them, engage in a deliberate exercise to find out. Knowing your core values and studying them at least once per day is an incredibly powerful way to exercise the judgment that will automatically get you closer to your goals.
For example, what if you face the unmistakably tough choice of whether to declare bankruptcy? If one of your organization’s (or your) core values is maximizing shareholder value, you might engage in one more round to seek efficiencies or try to work better deals with your suppliers. On the other hand, if your core value is to enhance employees’ lives through the wealth they take home, as tough as it is, bankruptcy might be the proper path after all. These dividing lines make judgments a much easier endeavor than in their absence.
Life requires you to put in the work to harvest the fruit. Stasis is a fine tightrope upon which you can only balance for an instant. In every decision and action, you are either moving forward or backward. Develop and always move forward. Find your core values. Go out of your way to take risks. Have the strength to be humble and be patient. There, you will find the magic of naturally good judgment.
This article originally appeared on Forbes Nov 6, 2019
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