The Decision-Making Paradox: Why the Best Leaders Don’t “Decide” (1/2)

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How can we make better decisions? How do you make good decisions, or how do you approach decision-making in general?
Why is it so important to make good decisions?

As an athlete, for example, it is crucial to know which competitions to compete in and which are better to skip.
As a leader, making good decisions is one of the most important tasks (at least, that is what I thought for a long time).
When you are going through a crisis, decision-making becomes even more critical.

One good decision can lead you out of the darkness; a bad one can make it even darker.

While participating in the Senior Sales Leadership Academy, I took on an extra task: I interviewed over 30 Senior Executives. I simply reached out and asked if they would share their leadership journeys with me. (You can find my template at the end—feel free to use it!)
During these conversations, I asked various questions, including how they make decisions. Interestingly, many of the responses were quite similar, but two stood out. One Senior Executive told me, “I don’t make decisions.” That surprised me and caught me totally off-guard.
He explained that his team has such a unified vision that every team member knows the direction and can make decisions themselves. This impressed and influenced me because it highlighted the importance of having a clear vision. With a clear vision, there is little need for constant oversight. It makes total sense!
In a different session with another Senior Executive, I learned that knowing your values is just as important—if not more so. She made a powerful point: “Have you ever experienced a person making decisions that are totally inconsistent? This is often because they are not aware of their values.”
I have certainly had that experience, and I assume I’m not alone.
A lack of clarity regarding values can lead to decisions that don’t align with your company’s goals or your own integrity. Therefore, it is essential to identify your core values. Knowing them helps streamline future decision-making and ensures consistency—especially for leaders who need to be seen as decisive and reliable rather than inconsistent.
One thing I constantly repeat is that the best leaders are those with the highest self-awareness. An advantage of being self-aware is that you understand your values and your vision.
What can we take away from this?
Know your values and have a vision. But how can we establish them? In this week’s article, we look at how to find your values. Next week, I will follow up and show you how to find your vision.

How to Identify Your Values
In Austria, you are only allowed to provide one-on-one coaching if you are a certified psychosocial coach. The education required to become one is rigorous, taking two to three years. A major part of the curriculum involves 100 hours of group and self-reflection sessions. In one of these sessions, I worked on my values with my coach. He showed me a simple but powerful exercise:
The Setup:

Write 32 different values, each on a single piece of paper (use the template provided here).

Print them out.

Turn each paper over so you cannot see the words.

Pick up two papers.

Decide which one you want to keep and discard the other.

Continue this until you have gone through all the papers.

Now, start again with the remaining 16.

Repeat the procedure until you have only two values left.

In my case, the final two were Authenticity and Inspiration. To make it a “top three,” I was allowed to choose one additional value that is deeply important to me: Family. Once you are finished, you will have your three main values. These are your guiding stars.

Now, take the time to write down what each of these three values means to you. Be as specific as possible. This definition doesn’t need to make sense to the world—it only needs to be clear to you.
Once you have finished, you will have your core guiding stars. Whenever a difficult decision arises, you can use these values as a filter. By aligning your choices with your inner compass, you ensure consistency in your leadership. You will no longer be seen as someone who jumps from one direction to another, but as a leader who acts with integrity and purpose.
Next week, we will talk about how to create your vision.

All the best,
Bernhard

The Template
Dear [Name],
To prepare myself for the next step in my career, I would like to learn as much as possible from great leaders. Would you be willing to spare 30–60 minutes in the coming weeks to chat with me?
I would love to discuss the following:

How was your leadership journey?

What have been your greatest challenges?

How did you overcome those challenges?

What are your secrets to success?

How have you “planned” your career?

I look forward to your feedback.
Best regards,
[Your Name]

P.S. I’m currently on a multi-year journey to swim The Alpine Seven—339 km across seven iconic lakes—to raise awareness for people living with an illness and to prove that even impossible goals can be achieved with the right system in place. If you want to follow the journey and read my reflections during my time in the water—which is a lot of time—hit the button below.

Subscribe to make 5% your 100%!

P.P.S. I plan to send this out every Friday morning 5 am CET. But as this is a human-to-human connection, please bear with me if life (or my kids) decides to “reorganize” my schedule. I’m a pretty good swimmer, but I haven’t figured out how to swim through a family emergency at a good speed yet! 😉

About me

Bernhard Hengl

@bernhardhengl

Normal dad of 5, manager & cancer survivor swimming 339km across the Alps. I use my hours in the water to reflect on how leaders, athletes & people in crisis can turn impossible goals into side effects. Join The Alpine Seven journey!

The Decision-Making Paradox: Why the Best Leaders Don’t “Decide” (1/2)

The Decision-Making Paradox: Why the Best Leaders Don’t “Decide” (1/2)

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About me

Bernhard Hengl

Bernhard Hengl

Read my other post

The Alpine Seven Letter #1

The Decision-Making Paradox: Why the Best Leaders Don’t “Decide” (2/2)

Beyond Resilience: A Systematic Approach to External Shocks

How to Achieve Goals That 99% Won’t Even Attempt

Why Optimism Isn’t Enough to Survive a Crisis

From High School Dropout to Law Degree to 65km Swim: Why the ‘Address’ Matters More Than the Road.

The Alpine Seven Letter #1

The Decision-Making Paradox: Why the Best Leaders Don’t “Decide” (2/2)

Beyond Resilience: A Systematic Approach to External Shocks

How to Achieve Goals That 99% Won’t Even Attempt

Why Optimism Isn’t Enough to Survive a Crisis

From High School Dropout to Law Degree to 65km Swim: Why the ‘Address’ Matters More Than the Road.

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