March 2020 – Page 3

For some, air to air combat (e.g. “dogfighting”) can be a high-speed, high-stress evolution. In flying fighters, our goal is to always keep our cool, “stay frosty” (See my previous blog post), and work the problem before us in an antiseptic, unemotional fashion in order to win every time.

Coming off the Tanker. Copyright by Chris Lofting

As an instructor pilot, I’ve spent a lot of time teaching flight leads and mission commanders about leading in combat. One of the early things I spend time with them thinking about is the need to develop a set of cues that will help them quickly determine if they are winning, equal, or losing against the enemy.

These cues can come from a variety of sources including the radio, our geographical location, our altitude, how many enemy airplanes we have shot down, how many we have lost, how many weapons we have remaining, etc. The sources of information are many.

The key is that we are mentally thinking about these cues and the context in which we are processing this information, which allows us to quickly understand how the fight is going and make adjustments on the fly.

I teach the same approach when I’m talking to young leaders regardless of their industry. I stress to them that regardless of who or what you are leading, whether it’s a flight of F-16s, a Special Forces Team, or a group of Accountants or Consultants, leaders should develop a set of winning, losing, and equal cues to help them be their most effective.

What are yours?

The Author is currently serving as an active-duty military officer. Any comments or recommendations on this post or on this site are solely my personal views and do not represent the position of any branch of the United States Government.

“Do I need to make a decision on this right now?”

This seemingly simple question is one of the most important ones I ask myself and my team every day. “When” we choose to make decisions can have as much impact on the decision itself, yet this timing is an often-overlooked element of decision making.

In reality, few decisions, other than those decisions that could impact lives, need to be made immediately.

Our society has changed. With the advent of mobile email, text messaging, and the 24/7 news cycle, we are constantly being bombarded with information, and along with that oftentimes comes an expectation that we will make quicker decisions in order to “keep things moving”.

In my experience, this is not true. Most times we need to slow down our decision-making timelines and gain as much understanding as possible of the situation before making critical decisions. Smart evaluation of the pro’s and con’s of a decision and the second and third-order consequences is a big part of sound and accurate decision making – and timing is a critical variable.

Timely decision making comes with experience and thoughtfulness and frankly just keeping the timing of a decision on your “radar”. Thinking about the “when”, as well as the “why” is key. A few considerations on when to make a decision include being able to understand the human or situational dynamics of a potential decision while looking at the level of risk associated with a decision, and who owns or shares that risk with you. (More on this in a future piece).

So, be deliberate and thoughtful in the timing of your decisions.

One last note. Delaying the timing of a decision to let the situation develop or learn more about the context is very different than refusing to make a decision or avoiding making one. Be honest with yourself and your team about this and be clear on what you are doing as a leader.

If you want to dig into the academics of decision making, I recommend you check out the work of Dr. Jennifer Lerner up at the Harvard Kennedy School (https://www.hks.harvard.edu/faculty/jennifer-lerner).

Month: March 2020

The Leaders Playbook: Developing winning, losing, and equal cues.

The Leaders Playbook: Decision Timing