Impulsive or Paralysed Decision-Making: 10 Traits of Terrible Leadership
Do you rush into decisions or get stuck overthinking? Great leaders find balance between impulsiveness and paralysis—but how? In this episode, we’ll explore practical strategies to make better decisions under pressure and share a powerful resource to sharpen your thinking. Your next great decision starts here—don’t miss it!
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How confident are you in your ability to make good decisions—especially under pressure or when faced with uncertainty?
Every decision-maker falls somewhere along a spectrum. On one end, we have the ‘impulsive’—those who jump into decisions without much thought, relying heavily on intuition or gut feelings. On the other end, there’s the ‘paralysed’—those who overanalyse and second-guess, often struggling to decide at all. Neither extreme leads to consistently great outcomes, and most of us can lean one way or the other depending on the situation.
The goal is balance. A great decision-maker blends careful thought with decisive action, avoiding both extremes. So, how do we get there?
If you tend to make ‘impulsive decisions’, try slowing down the process by journaling. Write down the decision you’re facing and your reasoning behind it. This simple act can help you spot potential pitfalls, weigh options more clearly, and ensure you’re not just reacting out of habit or emotion. This is often where I sit when feeling anxious about making a decision. I feel like I just need to make a decision and live with it. However, I have learnt that sitting with the decision, writing some notes about both the decision itself, and why I am experiencing urgency help me to make better informed decisions.
On the flip side, if you’re someone who often feels ‘paralysed’ by overthinking, start keeping a ‘success journal’. Document the good decisions you’ve made in the past and the positive outcomes they led to. Reflecting on your successes builds confidence, helping you trust your ability to decide quickly and effectively when it matters most. Note here that it is not about your bad decisions. It is about finding the patterns which led to good decisions, that is what we are trying to find with a success journal.
I was coaching someone recently who was struggling with making an important decision because of the personal connection to the situation. As we thought through and questioned various aspects of the decision, the right thing to do became abundantly clear. So talking to your coach or mentor when struggling to make a decision is also very effective.
The decisions we make—whether big or small—shape our leadership and our lives. By finding balance and learning from both our tendencies and past experiences, we can approach decision-making with clarity, confidence, and impact.
If you want to delve further into making good decisions, I want to point you to an excellent resource called, ‘Thinking Fast and Slow’ by Daniel Kahneman. This book talks through how our cognitive biases affect our decision making and how we can overcome these biases. It is insightful and will help you to understand your natural tendencies.