A past boss of mine,who was a senior executive within the companies C-suite, used to describe one of his key activities as facilitating decisions.

Given his level within the company the focus of his decision facilitation was focused far more on strategic than tactical topics.  Nether the less , his own view of his functional role coincided with mine.

Actually there was a real synergy and integration among his leadership team, including himself, for that reason.  As the senior leader he focused on the achievement of the highest quality decisions.

Most importantly though, he enabled the decision making utilizing the best resources and sources.

Guide don’t Drive

Decision making is simply the thought process of selecting a logical choice from the available options.  It involves gathering and analzing the pro’s and con’s of the available data.

The process of making decisions can suffer in quality with too much or too little consideration.  This level of attention is a delicate balance.

My former boss recognized his teams success rested on the quality of decisions.   This then, producing high quality decisions,  became a focus.

This is not to say seemless execution is not needed and expected but rather the critical path to success starts with decision quality.

For Example

A quick and simple example of the potential benefits and risks associated with decision making is that of picking a stock.  A good decision can bring you wealth, while a bad pick could be costly.