Saturday, January 05, 2008

Judgment... making great calls

by Dale Shumaker
4spirit@gmail.com

Judgment, How winning leaders make great calls. Written by two leadership gurus, Noel M. Tichy, the notable professor, and Warren G. Bennis, known for his leadership authority, they show us how some leaders make great calls and why others don't. Judgment is the essence of effective leadership. It's an informed decision-making process encompassing three domains... people, strategy, and crisis. It involves a three-phase process... preparation, the call, and execution.

Most good calls are made over time within a good process that
produces sound judgment. Harvard Business Review did an excellent job on breaking this down and showing the inter-relating process. Note their summary.
http://harvardbusinessonline.hbsp.harvard.edu/hbsp/hbr/articles/article.jsp?articleID=R0710E&ml_action=get-article&print=true


Time

--Preparation. Sensing and identifying the need for such a call.
Making and aligning the right people
--The Call. Based on the timing for a judgment call and sufficient input with essential involvement, they make the call.
--Execution. When the call is made, resources, people,
capital, information, and technology must be mobilized to support.

During this time you learn and adjust which is a necessary
"redo" part. Here you go back to aligning, mobilizing the right people and if necessary, re-sense, re-identify the need.

The "redo loop" is what insightful leaders master, do well, to
make the call be the right one that works. Thus processing a good judgment call.

This then is applied to three judgment domains... people judgment
calls, strategy judgment calls, crisis judgment calls. Within this to make great judgment calls leaders hone their skills of creating compelling and practical storylines. These connect diverse elements in an unfolding stream of events. They enable leaders to deal with scale, complexity, and uncertainties. They provide a platform for subplots throughout all levels of the organization.

So a judgment call is made in context of the
storyline... making a case for change. How we are going. How we're going to get there. Within this are ideas, values, and emotional energy.

Sustained good judgment includes character and courage,
a moral compass, holding themselves accountable, valuing self-respect while maintaining their standards in face of obstacles.

They then go into detail on making good people judgment calls,
strategy judgments and crisis judgments.

After 248 pages of detailed case studies to illustrate and support their points, an 80 page workbook is provided so you can do it too... Handbook for Leadership Judgments.

This makes it possible for you to complete the process with a structure to reach the final stage... interacting effectively with different constituencies.
The knowledge needed includes
:

Self-knowledge
, personal values and goals

Social network knowledge, those around you daily

Organizational knowledge, people at all levels

Contextual knowledge, stakeholders (customers to special interest groups)
Noel Tichy's website
www.noeltichy.com

It was said of Jesus that He always knew people's thoughts and motives.
Jesus made great calls to perfection. He was was continually ahead of people's thoughts and ambitions.

"Jesus knew what they were thinking, so he asked them,
"Why do you have such evil thoughts in your hearts?"
(Matthew 9:3-4, NLT)
"But Jesus knew what they were planning. So he left that area..."

(Matthew 12: 15-16, NLT)
"But Jesus knew their evil motives. "You hypocrites!" he said.

"Why are you trying to trap me?"
(Matthew 22: 18, NLT)

His answers were so unique because he knew their hearts
and what they were getting at. Even though he knew what others were thinking He would many times ask them questions about their questions. He made them question their own questioning. He in a sense made them go deeper into their thinking.

Some things people ask us are sincere and some are trying to
trap is with our answers. This is so prevalent in the business world. People try to manipulate us with our words. If they can get us to "say" something they then hold us to that. So some questions are insincere for the purpose to trap us into an answer they want. Jesus knew man's hearts and He knew before hand what they were doing, so He was cleaver in how He answered them. We need to do the same.
Note: Snakes in Suits:
http://spiritsavvybiz.blogspot.com/2006/07/snakes-seducing-unsuspecting-suspects.html

His judgments were always sound because everything He did,
He did in consultation with the Father, His Father in Heaven. Jesus refused to do anything without consulting the Father.

This process of
seeking God's will, God's purposes and God's direction is what made him so unique. He was humble in doing this, classified himself as a servant and did everything to serve God and to serve man. He existed to serve God's wishes, His Father in Heaven, His purposes.

"I don't speak on my own authority. The Father who sent me has
commanded me what to say and how to say it. And I know his commands lead to eternal life; so I say whatever the Father tells me to say."
(John 12: 49-50, NLT)


We can carry with us the same judgment abilities. This judgment of
Jesus was Supernatural, because He knew man's Thoughts. He said He will tell us all things and things to come. Spirit gives us insight beyond our natural abilities. All we have to do is seek Him and seek His Thoughts and He will share them with us. In the Psalms it says that God knows the secrets of the heart and He knows the thoughts of man. Which in most cases are futile, inferior to His. They lack good judgment.
(Psalm 44:21, 94:11)


In God's presence He will speak to us and tell us the secrets of the heart, that only He knows. All this He promised in the Scriptures. "Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come."
(Jeremiah 33:3, NLT)


Torrey talks about how we can have Super-insight, the judgment of God.
How do we gain the Supernatural judgment of God, His Wisdom?
James 1:5-7 answers this.
1. We must be conscious of and fully admit our own inability
to decide wisely. Our education and intelligence is inferior to God's.
2. We must sincerely desire to know God's way and be
willing to do God's will.
3. We must definitely ask for guidance.

4. We must confidently expect guidance.

5. We must follow, step-by-step, as the guidance comes.
How it comes we do not always know, but be open to it as we will recognize it as God's guidance when it comes. God's guidance is clear, bold and powerful. (How to Obtain Fullness of Power by R. A. Torrey.)

It is for us to use today. If, and when, we know God's plans, stride in His purposes, we have the assurance of walking within His Power, His Super-intelligence, His Super-Powers, His Confidence of knowing Our God walks with us.

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