Our world is in perpetual motion, constantly changing and ever evolving. For leaders, this momentum is relentless and brings an infinite number of challenges and opportunities. By understanding how to harness this momentum; how to adapt in ambiguity and complexity whilst simultaneously preparing for what future challenges lie ahead is the very essence of leadership. The following article explores leadership decision making and the power of observation as a distinction in making better decisions. When we discuss our decision-making processes we generally believe we are objective in our approach and that somehow we are without preconceptions. The reality, however, is that we make a decision based upon well-trodden behavioral patterns, through learned behavioral outcomes and well-established neural pathways built through repetitious triggers throughout our lives, creating our own standard process of decision making. As leaders when we are faced with ambiguous challenges, we use our own standards based upon our past experiences to formulate our future responses. By building reflective meta cognitive learning processes in our decision making we can become better at understanding ourselves and our biases and thus how we make decisions. This is a deep topic and this article in a humble manner only explores the surface... Read, enjoy, observe, reflect and learn.

1. EXPLORING LEADERSHIP
Leadership Decision Making
And The
Power of Observation
Written by Fuwad Beg
International Leadership Coach, Mentor & Advisor
Founder of Senior Leaders
www.senior-leaders.com fuwad@senior-leaders.com
I wanted to explore this topic after coaching a Group CEO around the subject of decision
making. The following short article is based around some of the topics we discussed.
Read, enjoy, observe, reflect and learn.

2. Decision Making:
Did you make a decision today?
As humans we make approximately 35,000 decisions on a daily basis (Sahakian and Labuzetta 2013) and
we make approximately 200 decisions on food alone, according to (Wansink and Sobal, 2007, Cornell
University).
So, the obvious answer to that question is a resounding, yes.
But have you ever asked yourself the question, how do I make decisions?
I’m sure the answer to that would probably be a no.
When we discuss our decision making processes we generally believe we are objective in our approach
and that somehow we are without preconception. The reality however, is that we make a decision based
upon well-trodden behavioural patterns, through learned behavioural outcomes and well established
neural pathways built through repetitious triggers throughout our lives, creating our own standard
process of decision making.
As leaders when we are faced with ambiguous challenges we use our own standard based upon our past
experiences to formulate our future responses.
So, our decisions are our own, based upon how we listen, learn and interpretate the world and not really
objective at all.
The key to better decision making however, is based upon building awareness and understanding of,
your way of being and the lens by which you are making those decisions.
Leaders that are able to learn this self-awareness are able to use it to make much better decisions.
Although we don’t have enough time to go deep in this article… this subject is deep.
The Human Leader:
The complexity of who we are as human beings and the way in which we process our thoughts to
formulate choices and thus action our decisions is profound.
The process of making sense of the world is dynamic and constantly changing.
From our cognition (past and current); somatic movements (how we move through time & space,
our posture and biology); language (from the narrative and stories that we assume or theories we create
to what we actually say); as well as the moods and emotions that we feel, attach and generate; our
senses are alive with formulations of creating and perceiving opinions of the world around us and how
we can make sense of it.
These perceived opinions create instincts, habits and triggers; building our very own specific library of
context. Our decisions are therefore based upon these libraries of context which create actions and in
turn shape and govern our lives.

3. Patterns of Failure:
We all use our libraries of context and action, and for leaders the use of previous patterns of success to
develop patterns of behaviour for current or future horizons doesn’t always work.
With the multiple incoming flows of complex information that require multiple levels of decision
making and action, leaders often rely on common leadership approaches.
Arguably, in these circumstances leaders use natural linear chains of decision actions which often do
not provide the intended result. “…linear thinking feels like the most intuitive way to solve a problem.
But it’s often not the right way.” (https://nesslabs.com/cobra-effect). Linear decision making may work
well in one set of circumstances but not so well in others.
Leaders therefore need to possess a growth mindset and display a diversity of competencies to be able
to deal with crisis or complex situations.
Observation the Key to Possibilities:
Beyond the traditional approaches to learning; the pre-disposed patterns of action and beyond the noise
of assumptions; lies the realm of observation.
To describe observation as just perspective, is to understate the depth of relevance that it has within
our lives. In reality it is much, much deeper than that. Through a growth mindset constantly open to
learning, through reflection and self-awareness and understanding why we make decisions in a
particular manner, allows leaders to see challenges and possibilities in different and generative ways.
“We do not see things as they are, we see them according to how we are.” (Alan Sieler Volume 1.)
The individuality of us all is as astounding as the differing perspectives we hold. Leaders are humans
too! Yet traditional models of leadership ignore this fundamental understanding.
The very essence of who we are, (our way of being), is an interplay between our body, emotions and
language. Thus, by understanding our way of being and moving our observation we shift the way we
participate in the world and for leaders this allows a new realm of possibilities.
Although our world today presents us with an exhausting number of choices. How we reflect on our
thinking, observe how we observe and engage with the perceived world around us at any one given
point in time allows us to construct the choices we believe we have, to the decisions we actually make,
actions we create and their subsequent consequences.
Meta Cognition and Deep Self Awareness:
The Greek word ‘meta’, means beyond, or can be described to mean, ‘more comprehensive.’ Meta
Cognition is described as thinking about thinking and when we try to understand this better, we can
view it as a higher level of thinking which monitors and controls our on-going mental processes and in
context allows us to reflect on the way that we are thinking.
For me, Meta Cognition is the same as observing the observer you are, i.e., thinking about how you
think, learning about how you learn and so on; and one of the tools that leaders can use to develop
better decision making processes is deep self-awareness.

4. Without a deep understanding of themselves leaders cannot move away from the engrained
predispositions and cognitive biases that surround them. The very fabric that governs the decision
making process is based upon emotions, habits, instincts, dispositions, rituals, probability, predictions,
time and many other factors. As a leader if you only operate in the world as you recognise it; rather than
the world that it can be, then your decision making will be as underdeveloped as your thinking.
Beyond the MBA, PhD and the long list of Fortune 500 companies worked for; leaders need to
demonstrate their ability to successfully adapt in ambiguous situations, to act against their intuition
and be masters of learning and drivers of change.
Final Thoughts:
Leaders that learn, reflect and harness observation and understand the observer that they are, begin a
journey of discovery and enter a world of exponential possibilities.
The ability and resolve to face new challenges and create effective generative impact doesn’t come from
authority or control, but by being able to look inward; to understand how to lead in the context of
uncompromising market forces and constant change.
Learning how to harness and direct this change through personal growth will produce the generative
ground for enhanced observation, renewed insight and agility of action; creating progressive results,
inclusive leadership and the ability to better guide and support individuals, teams and the organisation
as a whole.
About the Author:
Fuwad works with CEO’s, Senior Leadership and their teams as well as start-up Founders on an
international basis and has nearly 3 decades of facilitating human capital empowerment and growth; by
building successful organisations through leadership and team development; CEO advisory,
international headhunting and talent advisory.
He has worked in the UK, across Europe; lived in Dubai and worked across the Middle East as well as in
Asia, where he has been responsible for building successful & diverse international teams and enhancing
organisational capability.
Fuwad has provided leadership development; international headhunting; talent advisory and
consultative services to start-ups and Fortune 500’s alike; within industries ranging from Media &
Entertainment, Technology, Semiconductor, Investment Banking, Finance Houses, Consulting
Companies, Government Central Bank entities & Financial Regulatory Institutions, Education
Institutions and Transportation.
Every leader, team and organisation have their own complexity of challenges and Fuwad enjoys to see
them grow, develop and flourish.
Fuwad has been trained by Newfield Network and completed their 9 month, International Coaching
Federation accredited course, Coaching for Personal & Professional Mastery Program and is a Newfield
Certified Coach and a Member of the ICF.
Fuwad has a Bachelor’s Degree in Politics from South Bank University, London; a Master’s Degree in
Human Resource Management from the University of West London and a second Master’s Degree in
International Finance from Kingston Business School, Kingston University, London.
Fuwad can be contacted via email at: fuwad@senior-leaders.com