Judgment Is Key To Good Leadership

It's vital to understand and address your own biases. Research shows that leaders often make cognitive biases such as anchoring, confirmation, risk aversion or excessive risk appetite. People with good judgment ensure they have processes in place to keep them aware of biases.

To improve...

Leaders use their experience when making judgment calls. If they have previous experience, leaders can scope out areas to focus their energy and resources. However, if the experience is narrowly based, the familiarity can be dangerous. Leaders may fall into a rut, make judgments ...

Leaders often rush into bad judgments because they are not sufficiently critical of what they hear and read. They filter out what they don't expect or want to hear.

Leaders with good judgment:

• They give their undivided attention to everyone....

When leaders approach a decision, they should draw on the skills and experiences of others as well as their own.

• CEOs and entrepreneurs should refrain from only bringing people on board who only echo and validate them.
• Instead, leaders should pursue diverse perspe...

In making a decision, a leader is often expected to choose between at least two options. Smart leaders look beyond only two options. Other options almost always exist, such as doing nothing, delaying a decision until more information is available, or conducting a time-limited trial.

You can make all the right strategic choices but lose out if you don’t exercise judgment in how and by whom those choices will be executed. A leader with good judgment anticipates risks after a course has been determined and knows by whom those risks are best managed.