The Rising Intel

**Hey, Leader, Your Job Isn’t to Be The Decision Maker!**

In leadership circles, there’s a common assumption: the leader’s job is to make decisions, drive strategy, and guide the team to the “right” answer. But here’s a radical thought: your job isn’t to be the decision maker. In fact, thinking that leadership is about making every decision yourself could be holding your team back more than you realize.

True leadership, especially in today’s complex and fast-paced world, isn’t about dictating decisions. It’s about facilitating them. It’s about creating an environment where your team feels empowered, engaged, and confident enough to bring their best ideas forward. The strongest leaders aren’t the ones who have all the answers but the ones who create the conditions for those answers to emerge.

The Power of Tone and Subtle Cues

Let’s start with a simple but profound truth: how you communicate matters just as much as what you say. The tone you use in meetings can shape the entire dynamic of a discussion. If your tone suggests that you’ve already made up your mind, no matter how open you claim to be, your team will sense it.

Think about it—if every time a new idea comes up, your voice hints at skepticism or impatience, how likely is it that your team will keep offering ideas? Even casual comments or jokes can carry a weight you might not intend. For example, lightly teasing a team member about being cautious might seem harmless, but over time, it can subtly pigeonhole that person, limiting their confidence to offer bold ideas.

Pro tip:

Use an open, inclusive tone that shows you’re genuinely interested in hearing different viewpoints. Ask questions like, “How else might we approach this?” or “What are we missing here?” This invites participation.
Watch your humor: While jokes can lighten the mood, ensure they aren’t reinforcing hierarchies or undermining someone’s contribution.

**The Risks of Being The Decision Maker**

Here’s where it gets tricky. Many leaders believe that if they aren’t making decisions, they’re not leading. But focusing too much on being the decision maker exposes your leadership—and your team—to a range of issues:

1. Missed Opportunities

Innovation Suffers: When a leader dominates decision-making, it often stifles creativity. New ideas, fresh perspectives, and innovative approaches can be easily overlooked if they don’t align with your preconceived direction.
Unseen Potential: Your team has valuable insights that come from diverse experiences. If they feel like their input won’t change the outcome, they might hold back their most valuable contributions.

2. Groupthink

If your team senses that you’re driving toward a specific decision, they’re less likely to offer dissenting opinions. This leads to groupthink, where everyone falls into line with what they think the leader wants to hear, rather than what’s best for the project.

3. Disengagement

Lack of Ownership: If decisions feel predetermined, your team might disengage. Why bring new ideas to the table if the decision has already been made? This lack of engagement can erode the overall quality of the team’s work, as members become less invested in outcomes they didn’t help shape.

Strategic Insights from King Arthur’s Round Table

David Perkins, in his book King Arthur’s Round Table, provides a compelling analogy for modern leadership. King Arthur didn’t sit at the head of a long table, issuing commands to his knights. Instead, he sat at a roundtable—where every seat was equal, and every voice had weight. Arthur’s leadership didn’t hinge on making every decision himself but on fostering a space where the best ideas could emerge from the group.

Lessons from the Roundtable:

Equal Contribution: The roundtable model encourages shared responsibility. Every team member’s input is valued, fostering a culture of trust and collaboration.
Facilitation Over Control: Arthur wasn’t a dictator. He created an environment where his knights—his experts—could contribute their insights and make the best possible decisions as a team. This is what modern leadership should aspire to.
Trust in Expertise: Like Arthur trusting his knights, leaders today must trust their teams to bring expertise to the table. You don’t need to have all the answers. Your role is to bring out the best in others and trust their contributions.

Trust in Expertise—Even in Early Careers? Absolutely.

Now, some might ask, "But what about early-career professionals? Should we trust them with major decisions?" The answer is: Yes. Expertise isn’t always about years of experience—it’s about insights, perspectives, and knowledge. Early-career professionals often bring fresh, innovative ideas that seasoned team members might overlook.

Fresh Perspectives: Early-career individuals often have up-to-date knowledge and fresh perspectives that can lead to innovation. They’re less bogged down by "how things have always been done" and are more open to new possibilities.
Mastery of New Tools: Many early-career professionals are digital natives, mastering cutting-edge tools and technologies that can streamline decision-making.
Building Confidence and Ownership: When you trust early-career professionals with decisions, you empower them. This builds their confidence, deepens their engagement, and prepares them to take on larger leadership roles in the future.

Facilitating vs. Controlling: How to Shift Your Leadership Approach

If your job isn’t to be the decision maker, what is it? It’s to facilitate decision-making—to guide the process in a way that brings out the best from your team. Here’s how:

1. Create a Culture of Openness

Encourage Divergent Thinking: Don’t just accept the first idea that comes up. Push your team to think broadly, to consider alternative perspectives, and to challenge assumptions. Use phrases like, “What haven’t we considered yet?” or “Is there a different way to approach this?”
Value Constructive Dissent: Encourage your team to respectfully challenge ideas—even your own. This builds a culture where people feel safe to offer different perspectives, leading to more robust, well-rounded decisions.

2. Guide, Don’t Direct

Ask More, Tell Less: Instead of always providing the answer, ask guiding questions. For example, “How do you think we should approach this?” or “What’s another angle we can explore?” This invites creative thinking and allows the team to take ownership of solutions.
Trust the Process: If you’ve created a team of capable, smart individuals, trust them to make decisions. It’s your job to clear obstacles, not to micromanage every step of the way.

3. Foster Accountability and Ownership

Delegate Meaningful Work: Don’t just delegate small tasks—delegate decision-making authority. Trust your team to handle decisions within their expertise, and hold them accountable for their results.
Celebrate Successes and Learn from Failures: When your team makes great decisions, celebrate their success. When they stumble, use it as a learning opportunity without reverting to top-down control.

Responding to Ideas—Especially Ones You Don’t Agree With

Leaders often fall into the trap of shutting down ideas they don’t initially agree with. But here’s a powerful approach: lean into those ideas. Ask questions. Explore the reasoning behind them. Sometimes the best insights come from ideas that challenge your initial thinking.

Pause Before You React: When an idea challenges your assumptions, take a moment before you respond. Reflect on whether the resistance is based on the merit of the idea or your own biases.
Ask Follow-Up Questions: Dive deeper into the suggestion. Ask the team member to explain their reasoning, and explore how their idea could enhance the final decision.

From Decision Maker to Decision Facilitator

Leadership isn’t about controlling the outcome; it’s about creating the environment where the right decisions can emerge. Facilitating good decision-making takes humility, patience, and trust—but it leads to far better outcomes.

As a leader, your job isn’t to be the decision maker. It’s to ensure the best decisions are made—and that your team feels empowered to contribute to those decisions. So next time you’re in the meeting room, pay attention. Are you listening more than speaking? Are you guiding the process or controlling it? The best leaders know when to step back and let the collective intelligence of their team take the lead.