Leadership does not mean eliminating every uncertainty. It means remaining able to make decisions despite uncertainty.
Gregor Ghirmay · Executive Advisory
Germany does not have a knowledge problem. Germany has a decision problem.
We know fairly precisely where the main challenges lie: infrastructure, energy, digitalisation, education, demographics, regulation, capital markets, defence capability and international competitiveness. For almost every topic there are expert reports, commissions, strategy papers and robust analyses.
The problem begins afterwards. Insight is not consistently translated into priority. Priority not into decision. Decision not into accountability. And accountability too rarely into execution.
The rear-view mirror explains. The windscreen decides.
Organisations need analysis. Without understanding the past, bad decisions are made. But those who only look in the rear-view mirror eventually lose sight of the road ahead.
That is exactly one of the central leadership tasks at board level: not passing complexity on, but reducing it. Evaluating alternatives. Naming conflicting goals. Setting a direction. Taking responsibility.
Leadership does not mean eliminating every uncertainty. Leadership means remaining able to decide despite uncertainty.
Perfection is often the enemy of speed
In many companies and institutions, a paradoxical situation arises: the more significant a decision, the greater the desire to rule out every risk completely beforehand.
That rarely works. Strategic decisions concern precisely those situations in which information is incomplete, markets are changing and different interests collide.
The quality of an executive therefore shows not only in how precisely they analyse. It also shows in when they know enough to decide.
Decisiveness is not a plea for blind activism
Speed alone is not a quality. A bad decision does not get better because it was made quickly. But even the best analysis loses its value if it remains without consequence indefinitely.
Good leadership therefore combines three things:
- Clarity: what is actually the problem?
- Priority: what must be decided now – and what can wait?
- Accountability: who owns the decision and ensures it is implemented?
Boards bear a special responsibility here
Supervisory boards and advisory boards are not supposed to replace management. But they have a decisive influence on which leadership culture develops in an organisation.
A body that only examines every decision ex post for mistakes breeds caution. A body that sets clear strategic guardrails, asks critical questions and then leaves responsibility with management strengthens decisiveness.
This is particularly relevant in transformation situations. Companies cannot demand maximum change and at the same time sanction every deviation from the previous path.
The quality of leadership is changing
Many classic selection processes still evaluate executives heavily on experience: which industry? Which function? Which company size? Which positions?
These criteria remain important. But in a volatile environment, experience alone is not enough. What increasingly matters is how someone leads under uncertainty.
- Can the person reduce complexity?
- Can they defend priorities against resistance?
- Do they make decisions with incomplete information?
- Do they take responsibility for consequences?
- Do they build an organisation that remains capable of acting without permanent escalation?
That is exactly why, for me, decisiveness is one of the central criteria in C-level appointments.
More windscreen
Germany will not solve its structural problems through another round of perfect problem descriptions. Nor, incidentally, will companies.
What is needed are more people in positions of responsibility who listen, analyse and weigh up – and then decide.
Not because they are always certain. But because they have understood that not deciding is also a decision – usually just one for which nobody wants to take responsibility later.
Further reading: My advisory fields around leadership, appointments and critical management decisions can be found under Services. For a confidential conversation: Get in touch.