“Look me in the eye. You and I know we are both great decision makers, it’s everyone else that has the problem.”

I have led so many workshops with this line when educating about our biases and gaps in our critical thinking. I explain that while we may feel perfectly comfortable making certain decisions, there are times when group deliberation is essential, for example an Executive Team considering options for a strategic challenge. This is when things become much more complex.

Effectively influencing others, and being open to their influence, requires real skill. These skills are best developed, not through theory or training, but through experience. Gaining experience takes time – sometimes a lot of time – and along the way there can be good and bad outcomes.

Business simulations give people experience through real-world success and failure, without real-world consequences. Business Simulations or Sims for short, are an incredibly effective way to understand how others approach decisions, to learn from them and to learn about working within a group coming from diverse backgrounds. For example, an executive team includes people from finance, operations, HR, and sales and marketing — each bringing a different perspective to the same strategic challenge. While occasionally a single person may be the “smartest in the room” and should make the call, this is rarely the case in complex situations. Thinking critically, engaging in robust debate, and listening for what is both said (and unsaid) are essential skills for your people to thrive as leaders.

In business simulation workshops, emerging leaders build awareness of team decision-making dynamics and practice the skills they’ll need for future success. And they get to do so without real-world consequences. As a result, Executive Team members gain the capability to have richer strategic conversations with their teams, which will allow for better preparation for when the criticality of their decisions requires executive team debate and buy-in.

When have your emerging senior leaders had the opportunity to learn these skills other than on the job as they grapple with their team’s cultural dynamics?

Lastly, a small gift. Here is Chapter 1: Not ‘me’, but ‘we’, is the problem from my book Team Think: How Teams Make Great Decisions. Enjoy! 😊