Decisiveness may look courageous. We admire leaders who have the instincts to decode complexities and say, “Here’s what we should do. Follow me.” We’re uncomfortable in the neutral zone, unsure and a bit overwhelmed. But, the decisiveness we admire can often be premature. It may lead us astray, even when we convince ourselves that doing something is better than waiting. When we follow decisive leaders, based on fear of missing out, peer pressure, or anxiety waiting until options are weighed, we may not be aware that we’re being risk-averse when we suspend disbelief and jump into action.
Our flagship business strategy simulation serves up uncertainty to high-potential business leaders. It challenges them to optimize success for themselves and their investors in a trading expedition. Some take-charge type-A leaders almost always latch onto obvious answers. With impatience, adrenaline pumping, they say, “Let’s go!” They’re aware that the clock is running, competitors are jumping into the market and investors want to see results, not a team that gets left behind.
After 90 breathless fun minutes of gameplay, we debrief. We see how teams of high-potential leaders handled uncertainty and used data about market conditions, about dangers and pitfalls and about potential alliance partners and helpful hands. The lessons are vivid – about how the courage to lead, not follow, can sharpen decisive instincts, so you avoid risk-averse traps groupthink, summit fever, outlier bias, victim thinking and giving into fear of missing out, rather than looking at triumph, making a difference and optimizing value.
Do your high-performance leaders need to get better at dealing with uncertainty and complexity when they set out on enterprise sales expeditions, product launches or business initiatives that require cross-functional and board support? Do they need to build courage when uncertainty is uncomfortable – and it’s easier to treat what you see, rather than hold back and sharpen your diagnosis? Do they need to manage the clock, rather than let the clock manage them? And sharpen 20/20 foresight, rather than 20/20 hindsight – to prevent mistakes, rather than pivot and fix them or miss out on the best opportunities?
A fun interactive simulation like our Towers Templars Khanim game can equip your leaders to face uncertainty better – and mobilize support when they sharpen the thinking of the decisive leaders they admire. It give them a proven 5-step roadmap to overcome risk-averse traps that are disguised in a decisive action-oriented wrapper. It can jumpstart your strategy deliberations or a new product launch with the courage to make the most of uncertainty. So they optimize the results that are possible, when they seize complex big opportunities. We invite you to ask us how.
Dr Louise Yochee Klein + Dr Merom Klein are business psychologists who equip high-potential business leaders to #MakeCourageCourageous so fear of the unknown leads to better business decisions and dealmaking, rather than risk-averse traps. Check out their decisiveness, urgency and decision-making simulations and other courage-building leadership quests.
