I recently spoke for an organization where one of the company’s Vice Presidents spoke right after me, so I heard his presentation. He gave his secrets to good leadership. One of his “secrets” was that he made decisions quickly. He explained that he gathers the facts and then makes the decision fast. His rationale was that sitting on a decision can only create stale-ness in the organization–allowing it to languish.

On the other hand, we have Steven Sample’s (President of USC) decision making principles (from the Contrarian’s Guide to Leadership):

  1. Never make a decision yourself that can reasonably be delegated to a lieutenant.
  2. Never make a decision today that can reasonably be put off until tomorrow. 

Hmmm…so is one of these better than the other? Or are they just situational–meaning we use both in different ways?