The Decider


"Forget the notion that . . . hierarchies are dead. There must be a leader of every organization . . . Teams sometimes lack the ability to make decisions . . ."

Peter F. Drucker (p)

Renald Hennig

Decisions are not really decisions when there are no options. And the real test is on when the decision is not between the bad, the good and the better, but between the better and the better - which may at times be the same thing as between the bad and the bad. So how about choosing between family and profession (sounds familiar?)?

Then Jesus' mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him.

A crowd was sitting around him, and they told him, "Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you." "Who are my mother and my brothers?' he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, 'Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother." (23)

This was pretty tough language, even for the Semites of that day. The Thorah was rather specific about responsibility for parents and we have no problems to imagine Mary's reaction to that quote from her oldest son. But Jesus had to make a decision, given an unpleasant one.

The question was "What is the priority?"

In the moment of decision the time for preparation is past, and it may be too late to start thinking about what the mission really is. Jesus had decided on that question long before. As he did now.

While it is difficult enough to take a stand when those one cares for are negatively effected, there is another issue at hand when lives are at stake, even one's own.

From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.

Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him.

"Never, Lord!" he said. "This shall never happen to you!" (24)

Here we have the eager associate, understandably concerned about the welfare of the beloved leader.

Anyway, who would ever know that they had decided not to go to Jerusalem? Let's just wait a little until things have sufficiently cooled down.

But a decision had been made, an important one and in direct line with the mission he had come to perform. No one and nothing would deter him.

Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men." (25)

Peter of all the disciples needed to understand the importance of the ability to make decisions when needed, whatever the consequences. He had been groomed by Jesus as the future leader, and was being groomed now.

Birkenbihl (q) mentions the example of kindergarten where even at that young age one or two out of a group of children are dominant and want to decide what to play and with whom. Though it is not valid to deduce that therefore the ability and willingness to decide is of genetic origin - or that all of these children will find themselves in leadership positions, given sufficient time - a leader without that ability usually isn't a leader for very long.

An ever increasing speed of change necessitates new decisions, as Drucker points out (r) . He sees the collapsing birth rate in the third world and the corresponding demographic changes as one of the major shifts leading to totally new assumptions for any business.

When major decisions are made is not quite as obvious as that they are made.

Kotter (s) observed that general managers at least during conversations rarely seemed to make "big" decisions.

Badaracco (t) goes one step beyond: "What is the difference between a tough ethical decision and a defining moment? An ethical decision typically involves choosing between two options: one we know to be right and another we know to be wrong. A defining moment, however, challenges us in a deeper way by asking us to choose between two or more ideals in which we deeply believe."

Covey finally puts it in a nutshell (u), at the same time defining and differentiating management and leadership: "Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall."

It is that determination of what the business is about that marks the leader. And it is after that general decision that other decisions of greater or lesser difficulty follow.

Put in other words: Where no decision is needed, no leader is needed (this may actually be my own brain child!).

Jesus lead in every way looked at. He did not shun defining moments, the tough decisions, didn't neglect the smaller but important ones, and - most important - never lost sight of what he and his mission was about.

Drucker is emphatic about the new paradigms of management (r) which in turn will lead to scores of new decisions, directions, destinies. It is the role and duty of top management, of leadership, to decide on the course of the ship. The helmsman may be excellent, but he's still the helmsman, not the captain.

The captain is the captain, for better or for worse.

Solomon then gave an order: "Cut the living child in two and give half to one woman and half to the other woman." (26)

Next: The Flexible