
“If we think about some of the failed leaders of the past decade,” added Bazerman, “whether it’s Adam Neumann or Elizabeth Holmes or Travis Kalanick, we see people who dramatically influenced the behavior of others.” Such leaders caused harm in part “because their leadership was so devoid of the ethical dimension,” Bazerman said. “Effective leadership must consider the wider consequences of any decision,” which is by definition an ethical consideration. “To pretend that business decisions don’t have ethical implications ignores a key dimension on which decisions will be evaluated,” he said.
#Great leaders make tough decisions download#
If you aspire to be a great leader, not just a boss, start here: Download our FREE Special Report, Real Leaders Negotiate: Understanding the Difference between Leadership and Management, from Harvard Law School.Īccording to Moore, leaders who ignore the ethical implications of their decisions face profound moral, legal, financial, and other risks. “Is there such a thing as being a great leader when you’re not thinking about maximizing collective benefit or value creation?” Malhotra asked.Ĭlaim your FREE copy: Real Leaders Negotiate He asked if effective leadership thus must embody a certain type of leadership, such as moral leadership or ethical leadership. They emphasize the importance of “setting the stage”-creating environments in which people can make good decisions.Īs a result, the leadership and decision-making book focuses a great deal on ethics, noted Malhotra during the book talk. “Great leaders create the norms, structures, incentives, and systems that allow their direct reports, organizations, and the broader stakeholders to make decisions that maximize collective benefit through value creation,” Moore and Bazerman write in Decision Leadership. “The thing that leaders can most affect are the decisions of the people they lead,” said Bazerman consequently, “we’re interested in the decisions not just of the leader but of all of those people who are influenced by the leader.” Don’t Neglect Ethics

Moore and Harvard Business School professor Max Bazerman in their new book, Decision Leadership: Empowering Others to Make Better Choices.ĭuring a virtual event moderated by Harvard Business School professor Deepak Malhotra, Moore and Bazerman shared principles on leadership and decision-making from their book. What is the role of leadership in an organization? Contrary to the traditional image of a sole individual steering the ship, leaders have an obligation to empower everyone in their organization to make sound and ethical decisions in negotiations and other contexts, write University of California, Berkeley, professor Don A.
