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The essence of leadership.
THE LEADER'S MOST IMPORTANT ROLE is making good judgment calls in three domains: key people, strategy, and crisis. Great leaders have a high percentage of good judgment calls; they are only good if the execution is successful. The second most important role you play is to develop other leaders who can make good judgment calls.
We all make thousands of judgment calls, some trivial and some monumental (whom to marry, what career to pursue). The measure of your life success is the sum of all of these judgment calls-the good ones and bad ones and the cumulative consequence for the quality of life. The importance of making good judgment calls is magnified many times when you take on a leadership role because of the impact on the lives of others.
In your role as a leader, how can you make better judgment calls-and help other leaders to do the same?
Experience is very important in developing judgment. People who exercise good judgment draw on their own experiences for guidance, and good leaders expose others to a variety of experiences for the specific purpose of helping them develop their own judgment. But there is a lot more to it than flying by the seat of your pants.
We often hear, and sometimes even think to ourselves, that judgment is largely about accessing intuition or having a gut feeling. Or you "blink" and have a wondrous epiphany.
These...