Am I A Decision-Maker or a Goal-Achiever

At an executive retreat, a consultant expert asked the assembled leaders, “Why do you get paid?” After listening to a variety of responses, he revealed his answer: “Leaders get paid for making decisions.” He is right, to a point, but the message he sent was a dangerous one for leaders to hear.



Sure, leaders make decisions, but if they think of themselves as decision-makers, that is what they will be. Not leaders. Decision-makers organize their universe around problems. In general, they seek to define a problem, solicit input, create a desired outcome, and then select a strategy.



Exceptional leaders don’t start with the problem. They start with the organization’s goal. Next, they assess the current state of the or View the rest of this article