Leadership Is a Decision

No decision, no freedom 

Life is a decision. Leadership is a decision. Decision-less life: the one in which you avoid uncomfortable decision-making is not only deprived of leadership; it is deprived of freedom, deprived of choice and of the liberating sense of courage that goes with it. 

Appearance vs essence 

Three weeks ago, our 6-year-old warrior son had heart surgery. A super energetic little boy has never had any symptoms. He was lucky to have been diagnosed with congenital heart defect a few months ago. 

Our boy has always looked fine, but in essence, he was not so. That appearance made it even harder to decide. We could have left the space for millions of doubts. Instead, we chose trust. Trust is a choice. In situations like this one, that becomes crystal clear. 

Our decisions impact other people

As leaders we make decisions that impact other people’s lives. As much as this one came from our parental responsibility, it still was a decision made for somebody else’s life. His, not ours. 

It was the hardest decision we ever had to make in our family and we made that decision with our full commitment to the situation, choosing to trust that it was the right one. 

Perhaps our son could have lived until his 30s perfectly fine. Perhaps not. No one knows what would be the price he could pay for our comfort zone in which we avoided taking a decision. Just as no one was able to predict the final outcome of our courage. 

Expectancy vs expectations 

I’ll never forget waving at him in front of the operating theatre, as I guess no parent ever does in such circumstances. 

And there we were left in a state of expectancy, detached from expectations. Such a paradox, especially when the stake is so high.

This state does not come naturally; it is the result of being conscious and intentional. You choose it. You decide on it. Doing your very best and then surrendering to the presence is a conscious leadership competency.

Control instead 

Too often we choose control instead. But beyond the physical point where you are allowed to accompany your child to before he enters the operating room, you cannot control any of the expectations. It is the point in which the illusionary nature of control comes as a pretty real slap in the face. 

Create vs react 

What also remains real is the responsibility to make decisions in our life and leadership. The responsibility to pause and do the ultrasound scan of your body, your life, your leadership capacity, your company or your team culture – is real. Even when it all looks fine. 

Why so? Because it may not be as fine as it appears. Or simply because it holds an opportunity for meaningful growth. 

It is the opportunity to be intentional, conscious, to feel alive, to initiate and create your next self and your next circumstances, instead of reacting to those that you are trying to avoid as they keep coming at you. 

Welcoming our next level self 

We made the decision for our son. And then we had to re-take it every second in our heads, our hearts and our guts. As we moved forward with our full commitment, we had to keep surrendering to the trust we had chosen. That’s how the leadership game works. 

Truth is, we had some of the most uncomfortable and scary moments and some of the most inspiring and exciting moments along the way. Not only that we are all physically alive now – thank God – but we also feel very much so. We've got this. We all trust so.

In our own time and at our own pace, each one of us is welcoming our own next level self that we've decided to create.