Leaders and power of good decision

A leader is not only as good as his decision-making skills but his fortune and that of his team is tied to his decision-making ability or lack of it. The heights attained by organizations as well as the nadir they slide to are a function of the decisions of the leader. Whether a business remains a going concern or is being prepared for the undertakers is determined by the quality of the decisions made by those at its helm.

While it has been argued that a bad decision is better than indecision, nothing is as rewarding as a good decision. A good decision has the capacity to change the tide in favour of not just an individual but also his organization or his scope of influence. That was the experience of Rudy Giuliani.

 

Giuliani’s turning point

Rudy Giuliani had spent seven uneventful years as Mayor of New York City and was on his way out of office before the September 11, 2001 terrorists’ attacks on the World Trade Centre in the city. But his decision to step into the scene and coordinate the response of various departments, while also organizing the support of state and federal governments for the affected site changed his rating. His handling of the disaster became the defining moment of his public service career as it revived his sagging popularity among the city’s residents.

Giuliani had arrived the scene a few minutes after the second plane crash and immediately took charge of the rescue operations which resulted in saving no fewer than 20,000 lives. Rather than leaving the people despondent, the Mayor gave them hope. He had said, as his response to the debilitating attack on the

city, “Tomorrow, New York is going to be here. And we’re going to rebuild, and we’re going to be stronger than we were before… I want the people of New York to be an example to the rest of the country, and the rest of the world, that terrorism can’t stop us.”

He was hailed by many for the way he handled the crisis. Six weeks after the attacks, Giuliani’s approval rating among New York City voters stood at 79 per cent, a great leap over the 36 per cent received a year earlier. This was later reinforced as he was named Time Person of the Year 2001 on December 24 of that year by the Time Magazine

Giuliani’s decision to stand with the people during their trying time not only saved lives and gave succor to many hurting people, it also helped his own career. One good decision made all the difference in Giuliani’s public service as he later aspired to the American presidency, albeit unsuccessfully.

 

Cost of wrong decisions

Nigeria has a proven gas reserve of 187 trillion cubic feet (TCF) with a possible value of 600 TCF. According to experts, this is the equivalent of 30 billion and 1032 billion barrels of oil respectively. The 187 TCF is sufficient to power 60,000 MW power plants continuously for 100 years, 40,000MW plants for 150 years and 20,000MW for 301 years. Therefore, the gas resource endowments of Nigeria have the potential of turning Nigeria into a country with uninterrupted electricity supply which can meet the needs of several generations of Nigerians.

However, according to energy experts, the maximum electricity generation from the grid in Nigeria up till November 2016 was about 4.6Gigawatts (GW) from an installed capacity of 12GW. Out of the 12.5GW installed electricity capacity, 68.8 per cent is not being utilized, 30.2 per cent is operational and only 15.2 per cent is distributed to final users. When the technical losses along the value chain of nearly eight per cent is factored in, “then delivered electricity from the grid to a country of about 198 million people is barely the equivalent of what medium-sized cities in advanced countries generate and consume. In fact, this is equivalent of to 25 watts per person per year, barely enough for one electricity bulb per person.”

How did the country get here despite its potential?

As a result of poor government decisions, for over two decades, the power sector was subjected to neglect. The power plants were crippled, especially as the hydro-power plants in Kainji, Jebba and Shiroro had a drop in generation sequel to age and obsolete equipment. This was worsened by the failure of the government to add a single power plant to the existing ones despite the rising population and increased demands for electricity. Demand for electricity has grown at the rate of 8.2 per cent per annum since 1984 against the Gross Domestic Product growth of between three and five per cent. Thus, electricity supply continued to depreciate to the extent that generation level dropped by as low as 1,500 megawatts in 2000. However, despite the resolve of the government to improve power generation through injection of funds since 2001, there has not been any marked improvement principally because of the repeated wrong decisions and wrong investments by the government over the years.

The effect of this is that cost of doing business in Nigeria is so high that Nigerian companies are not competitive with their contemporaries around the world. This has an effect on the ability of the companies to create value as well as their capacity to generate employment opportunities. This, in effect, has had a telling effect on the country as poverty rate is spiraling with many young people unable to secure employment. Even artisans and small and medium size enterprises cannot engage in gainful business activities because of the high cost of energy. This has increased the rate of insecurity in the country.

Rising unemployment, spiraling poverty and seemingly intractable insecurity problems are the price Nigerians are paying for the government’s wrong decisions about energy provision.

 

How leaders insulate themselves from poor decisions

A number of factors can stand between the leader and the ability to make the right decision. Here are some of them.

 

Selfishness

One of the reasons leaders make bad decisions is because they put their personal interests ahead of group interest. Once that is allowed, it becomes difficult, if not impossible, for the leader to make a rational decision because his interest will always becloud his reasoning.  On attaining leadership, you lose the right to put your interest first. The leader does not work for himself but for those he leads. Therefore, at all times, what should determine what he does and the decision he takes is the interest of the people and the organization he leads. If he puts his interest first, he will not be able to take the best decisions and this will impact negatively on both the people he leads and the system he superintends over. To guard against allowing selfish considerations to becloud sound reasoning, a leader should ask himself the question: What would I do if I were not personally involved in this matter? The answer would provide guidance to the right decision.

 

Sentiments

Leaders fail to take the best decisions when they fail to rein in their sentiments. If a leader allows clannish, religious or filial sentiments to take hold of him, not only will he make a shipwreck of his leadership, he will also bring untold catastrophe upon the people and the organization he leads. Leaders must put a lid on their sentiments. Leaders must not allow emotions to rule them. When emotion rules, reason flees. Anyone that is ruled by sentiments will lead his people astray.

 

Desire to be popular

Leadership is not a call to popularity. If a leader is concerned about what people would say about him, he will lose his rationality and the ability to take impersonal decisions. Every policy aids people just as it helps people. What should guide the leader is where the balance tilts. If a decision will help more people than it would hurt then the leader should not hesitate to implement it. Leaders who are unwilling to step on toes will not do what is right and they will end up hurting more people than they help.

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Leaders and decision making

One of the critical functions of a leader is decision making. Really what makes a leader is the decision he makes. The quality of a leader is determined by the quality of his decisions. A company CEO has to decide the direction in which to lead his company. He has to decide whether to introduce new products or run with the current ones. He has to decide whether to expand the business beyond the shores of the country or consolidate on the local operations of the business. The day a leader stops making quality decisions, he stops leading. No matter how long he stays in the office after that time, his leadership has ended. What is left is just the shadow; an undecided leader will merely mark time.

 

Making good decisions

If decision making is so critical to a leader how can he ensure that he makes good decisions all the time?

 

Dispassionate analysis of the situation

To be sure that he makes the right decisions at all times, a leader must get involved in the business of analyzing the situation dispassionately. This means not giving in to other considerations apart from what can guarantee the best decisions. So, the leader must ensure that he looks at the merit of the options without primordial consideration. A leader who wants to go far and hopes to lead his people to the desired end must learn to allow sound reasoning to prevail at all times.

 

Turn to data

In a time of confusion arising from the need to take a decision, the best thing to do is to turn to available data. This is why before many companies embark on a new project they carry out a survey which provides the data they need in making the decision. Data is very useful because it is impersonal and provides empirical information which is not just verifiable but repeatable in any part of the globe.

 

Get a sounding board

Sometimes getting a sounding board, a person by whom the decision could be run, helps to prevent taking a bad decision. This can be among those working directly with you or somebody from outside your immediate scope of influence but it has to be someone who is independent-minded and knowledgeable enough about the matter to give qualitative advice.

Although it is said that two heads are better than one, it is important to underscore the fact that many of the people who work directly with a leader are usually disposed to agreeing with the position of the leader. This is not in any way helpful to the leader. So, it is important to deliberately cultivate those who can voice out their contrary opinions when it is necessary.

However, seeking advice from others should not be used as an alibi for making wrong decisions because in the final analysis, it is your call, it does not matter who gave you the advice.

 

Your gut

Sometimes a leader just feels that a position is right even when the data points in a different direction. One leader who relied greatly on his guts to make great decisions was Jack Welch, former General Electric CEO, and he was hardly wrong. But this is not a ship a leader can just jump into; trusting your guts comes with experience. If for not so critical issues you found that your gut led you right, relying on it to make serious decisions may be the right course to take.

 

Last line

Those who have the best interest of the people and the organization they lead at heart make the best decisions.