Leaders collaborate, listen, and respect autonomy so that their teams feel heard, valued, and able to do their best work. They also know when to step in and make decisions. Don’t alienate your team by deflecting decisions back to them when you should carry the risk rather than exposing them to potential harm. During breaking news or an urgent business challenge, make the call rather than asking someone else to take time getting up to speed on it. And when there are conflicting solutions, be the tie-breaker. As Stanford professor Bob Sutton said, in response to this tweet, “The best leaders know when to assert authority … and when to delegate, shut-up, and get out of the way. It is a matter of when to do it, not which style is better all the time.”
Advice from Jill Geisler, Bill Plante Chair in Leadership & Media Integrity, Loyola University Chicago, Freedom Forum Fellow in Women’s Leadership
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