How Many Direct Reports Is Too Many? Count the Decisions, Not the People
There's no magic number. Seven can be too many, fifteen can be fine. What sets your limit is how many of your reports' decisions turn up alo
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Topic guide · 26 articles
Decision Making
Faster, better decisions with less friction. Frameworks for cutting through analysis paralysis and empowering your team to decide.
Decision bottlenecks are the silent killer of organisational speed. These articles give you frameworks that work.
Faster, better decisions with less friction. Frameworks for cutting through analysis paralysis, empowering your team to decide, and clearing the decision bottlenecks that slow the whole organisation.
Articles on decision making
Why Your Best People Keep Waiting for You to Save the Day
There is a moment that happens in almost every operational business, usually without anyone noticing it happen. A high-stakes deal is on the
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The Trust Problem You Built Without Realising
Everything lands on your desk. Decisions that should have been made two levels below. Escalations from managers who are capable but keep che
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Your Management Layer Is Floating
Your managers are working flat out. Long hours, full meetings, constant emails. And yet the numbers are not where they should be, strategic
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The Discipline Nobody Talks About
Your management layer had a strong quarter. Reviews were happening. Decisions were moving. Escalations were down. Then slowly, without anyon
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The Management Layer Is the Business
Your exec team sets direction. But direction without execution is a slide deck. The management layer is where strategy either becomes daily
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Why Your Last Restructure Did Not Work
Performance is short. The leadership team cannot pinpoint why. So the org chart gets redesigned. It feels decisive. It is announceable. And
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The Escalation Tax
Every time you solve a problem your manager should have solved, you are not helping them. You are training them to bring you the next one.
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Same Headcount, Better Numbers
When performance is short, the instinct is to reach for headcount or a restructure. Both are expensive, both take months, and both assume yo
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Your Managers Do Not Need to Step Up. You Need to Get Out of Their Way.
"I just need my managers to step up." Nearly every senior leader says some version of this. It sounds reasonable. It is almost always the wr
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Leaders Do Not Need More Training. They Need Less Friction.
Escalations rising. Meetings multiplying. Decisions slowing. Your middle leaders look exhausted. The instinct is to invest: another leadersh
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How Decision Bottlenecks Silently Tax Your Execution Speed
Projects stalling, meetings multiplying, teams waiting on sign-off. That is not a capacity problem, it is a decision bottleneck, and it quie
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Escalations Are Not a People Problem. They Are a System Design Problem.
Too many escalations. Senior leaders dragged into decisions that should never reach them. Mid-level managers spending their days answering q
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The Hidden Architecture of Imposter Syndrome in Your Management Layer
Your managers look capable on paper. Promoted. Experienced. Accountable for people, performance, and commercially significant decisions.
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The Trust Check: Why Silence is the Loudest Warning Sign
Your managers look aligned. Meetings are civil. Nobody is openly kicking off. And yet escalations keep climbing, decisions get revisited, an
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The Confidence Gap You Do Not Want to Admit
There is a pattern I see again and again at your level. On paper, you are ready. You’ve been promoted. You have the experience. You are re
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You Don’t Find Time to Lead. You Decide To.
I hear this all the time. "I know I need to be more strategic. I want to focus on my people more. I just don’t have the time."
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The Most Uncomfortable Part of Leadership (That No One Warns You About)
One of the biggest myths in leadership is that, at some point, it gets "easier."
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Why Working Harder and Longer Has Stopped Producing Results
When I was a young Army officer, I trained by running as fast and as far as I could until I dropped. I wore the pain like a badge. It worked
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How Back-to-Back Meetings Are Draining Your Team's Capacity
Let's talk about your calendar this week.
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Why Fixing Everything Yourself Is the Problem Not the Solution
If solving problems were the path to the top, every CEO would be a former help desk manager.
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How to Tell If Your Managers Are Leading or Just Reacting
Picture your most strategic decision from last week.
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How to Stay Sharp Under Pressure When It Counts Most
We all know that feeling before we have to do something important. As a facilitator, I have faced it a couple of times myself in the last co
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During a recent Hybrid Ways of Working session, someone mentioned a colleague in the leadership team of another business
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How to Lead Change That Actually Delivers Results
In the dynamic world of leadership, the only constant we can be certain of is change. Yet, how you navigate this change can mean the differe
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How Kiwibank Fixed Their Leadership Culture from the Inside
Recently, I had an enlightening conversation on The High Performance Leader Podcast with Andrea Duncan from Kiwibank.
Read article →Podcasts and media on decision making
PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Episode 58: The Leadership Reset: Stop Drowning, Start Swimming (Part 3 of 3)
In this final episode of the mini-series, host Jimmy Burroughes covers the piece most leaders never make time for: the reset. Building on mi
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Episode 54: The 3 Biggest Leadership Challenges You Will Face as a Senior Manager, and How to Beat Them
In this episode, host Jimmy Burroughes breaks down the three biggest challenges senior managers face as they move into managing managers, an
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Why Billion-Dollar Decisions Are Made on Emotion with Keith Cronin
Struggling to scale your business in a challenging market? In this episode of The High Performance Leader, discover how managers can harness
Listen to episode →PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Episode 52: Stop Waiting for Clarity: How the Top 1% of Leaders Manage Up
In this episode, host Jimmy Burroughes tackles one of the most common leadership frustrations: managing up when your boss won't give you cle
Listen to episode →PodcastThe High Performance Leader
Why Managers Who Multitask Risk Lower Team Performance
Multitasking reduces manager productivity and team results. Learn how monotasking boosts output and well being for operational leaders.
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How managers lead teams when innovation feels uncertain
Facing uncertainty in innovation leadership? Learn how managers can drive growth and results even when answers are unclear in this expert ep
Listen to episode →Questions leaders ask about decision making
How do I make decisions faster without being reckless?
Decide how big the decision is first, and match the effort to the stakes rather than agonising over everything equally. Most decisions are reversible and cheap, so speed on those frees your energy for the few that truly matter.
How do I stop decisions from getting stuck on my desk?
Push decision rights down to the people closest to the work and be explicit about what they can decide without you. Bottlenecks form when authority is unclear, so make it clear.
How do I overcome analysis paralysis in my team?
Set a decision deadline, agree what good enough looks like, and accept that waiting for perfect information is itself a costly choice. Naming the cost of delay usually breaks the paralysis.
How do I empower my team to make their own decisions?
Give them the context and the boundaries, coach them through a few live decisions, and back their judgement even when it differs from yours. People decide with confidence when they know the guardrails and trust they will be supported.
What is a simple decision making framework for leaders?
Clarify the decision and who owns it, weigh the options against what matters most, commit, then review the result to learn. A repeatable framework such as PACED keeps decisions consistent and fast across the team.
Explore More Topics
Team Performance (80)Culture Change (46)For Senior Leaders (41)Communication (38)Employee Retention (37)Remote Leadership (36)Work-Life Balance (33)Coaching Skills (30)Accountability (28)Building Trust (27)Delegation Skills (24)Leadership (22)Having Hard Conversations (22)Change Management (11)For New Managers (8)Emotional Intelligence (8)Management (7)Dealing with Burnout (5)For HR Leaders (4)Gen Z Workforce (4)Productivity (3)Running Better Meetings (3)Managing Difficult People (3)
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