‘A TIMELESS GUIDE TO MAKING TOUGH CHOICES’
by Greg Bustin
Published by Sourcebooks
ISBN: 9781492667582
eBook ISBN: 9781492667599
Copyright (c) 2019 by Greg Bustin
FROM THE BOOK JACKET:
Can today’s leaders look to history when making tough decisions?
Whether you’re running a small team or an international enterprise, all leaders know the feeling of facing a tough choice. It’s impossible to see into the future to predict how our decisions play out, but we can look to the momentous decisions of the past for insights on how profound choices are made. Each decision made by influential figures, from Alfred Nobel and Marie Curie to Martin Luther King, Jr., and The Beatles, have shaped our world–and now they can help you make the decisions that will determine the direction of your organization.
Guiding you through fifty-two dramatic historical events and decisions that changed the course of our world, How Leaders Decide challenges decision-makers with provocative ideas and leadership lessons that will propel your business forward. Greg Bustin’s well-researched and inspiring stories of high-stakes turning points in history and the leaders that made the final call will help you make sure your next decision is the one that changes everything.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Greg Bustin led the Dallas office of an international consultancy before founding Bustin & Co. Today, Greg advises leaders at some of the world’s most admired companies, and he’s dedicated a career to coaching, inspiring and equipping seasoned and aspiring leaders in a range of industries. He’s facilitated more than 200 strategic planning sessions, and he’s delivered more than 500 keynotes and workshops on five continents.
“PREFACE
“It is the characteristic excellence of the strong man that he can bring momentous issues to the fore and make a decision about them. The weak are always forced to decide between alternatives they have not chosen themselves.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer
Every day, in enterprises large and small, leaders face issues that can make or break their organization and reputation because of a decision they will make—including the decision to do nothing.
Leadership is under the microscope, particularly in today’s divisive, politically charged environment. Leadership has never been more important, and decision-making has rarely mattered more.
Fifteen years ago, I was invited to become a chair for Vistage International, the world’s largest CEO membership organization with more than twenty-one thousand members in seventeen countries. Once a month, I facilitate three group meetings comprising of thirty-two CEOs and eighteen key executives in noncompeting businesses who are committed to improving professionally and personally. I conduct private coaching sessions with these executives. I speak to groups of executives all over the world an average of three times per month and hear directly from them as they wrestle with decision-making. Additionally, the strategic planning sessions I lead expose me to the hopes, fears, and frustrations of leadership teams in numerous industries.
From this unique vantage point as a coach, consultant, and confidant, I see firsthand that even the most successful leaders struggle with decision-making. And once the decision has been made, leaders encounter obstacles that test their commitment and discipline to execute their decision and achieve the outcome they envision. Making the decision is worth nothing without executing it.
LEADERSHIP: WHEN EVENTS AND DECISIONS COLLIDE
“If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.”—Warren Buffett
While every person makes hundreds of decisions every day, leaders distinguish themselves in their decision-making: the stakes are almost always higher, the number of people affected by their decisions greater, and the responsibility to make the decision is theirs alone. To be a leader, you must make decisions.
Colonel John Boyd modeled decision-making in what’s known as the OODA loop: “Observe-Orient-Decide-Act,” where “time is the dominant parameter.” The leader “who goes through the OODA loop in the shortest cycle prevails,” noted F-16 designer Harry Hillaker, “because his opponent is caught responding to situations that have already changed.”
Leaders don’t always make the right decision. At the front end of most choices, it’s impossible to know all of the things that will happen as a result of a single decision. Yet leaders are compelled to decide without fully knowing the consequences of their choices. Decision-making comes with the territory. Successful leaders learn from a bad decision and make a better decision the next time. Exceptional leaders make more good decisions than others when the stakes are the highest.
This book was inspired by responses I received from leaders around the world to blogs I’ve written on leadership lessons drawn from some of history’s greatest triumphs and tragedies. A leader’s character and decision- making ability is revealed during extreme conditions. How leaders respond during these moments is at the absolute heart of their story.
These insightful, stirring stories prompt today’s leaders to reflect on their own situation as they seek to replicate the actions of men and women who made a courageous decision in the face of difficult circumstances and changed history. It’s as if today’s leaders are saying to themselves, If ordinary people placed in extraordinary circumstances can summon the ‘wisdom and courage to make a tough decision, perhaps I can channel their experience and energy to make a tough decision in the circumstances I’m facing.
I also believe it’s just as helpful to read cautionary tales reminding us of the dangers of hubris, false assumptions, and creating a culture where standing up for your beliefs can be a career-limiting move.
Good leaders are students of history and they love a good story. Even better if they can soak up a little history in a story relevant to their business that takes just ten minutes to read. This book provides you with inspiring examples of leadership and decision-making in bite-sized formats that prompt you to internalize your learning and record your thoughts at a pace of one lesson per week.
This week’s selection ‘HOW LEADERS DECIDE: A TIMELESS GUIDE TO MAKING TOUGH CHOICES’ by Greg Bustin appears Monday thru Friday and comes to you courtesy of dearreader.com, and BurlingtonPublicLibrary.ca Business Online Book Club.
PERPETUAL RADAR 
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