Most leaders are smart problem-solvers. Yet few reflect on their experience, or ‘reflect in action’ (think about thinking). When they feel cheated, problem-solving becomes more difficult still. Many are self-confident and optimistic (which is vital for leadership). On the downside, fewer systematically stop or adapt a decision in the face of counter-evidence or risk. Leaders are also missing opportunities to balance self-confidence with decision-making engineering and mechanisms that will help them transcend bias. Often neglected, too, is the involvement of diverse, qualified (and especially confrontational) stakeholders. In human interactions, compassion is fragmented - and so is humor as a way to diffuse tension and pride).

• Leaders are missing their rear-view mirror: only 10% consciously reflect on their experience.
• Few leaders master reflection in action: only 12% always think about thinking.
• Many leaders are speeding without a safety belt: 40% display high self-confidence (which may cause some biases).
• Leaders are under-using a powerful toolkit to transcend bias: 33% will always stop or adapt a decision facing counter-evidence.
• Leaders are failing to systematically involve the right people in decisions: 52% generally or always use stakeholders as allies to validate their opinions.

See the Full Amrop Report for more:

• Why reflecting on experience can lead to wiser decisions.
• 5 ways to exercise reflection in action.
• Ways to underpin confidence and minimize overconfidence biases.
• A Toolkit to help transcend bias, and good news on ambiguity-handling.
• The fragmented nature of compassion, and the why and how of humor.

Leaders place a high premium on ethics. How high they set the moral bar for business. How keenly they scrutinize the ethics of a result. How easily they can describe their own ethical (moral) codes. Their positioning on tensions between profit, planet and people. Still, the majority faced ethical blockages over the past 3 years. Overcoming these is perhaps not helped by the fact that only around half can easily describe their personal mission or strengths and weaknesses, or say that their values and principles help them navigate dilemmas.

• Many leaders are missing their personal True North: 45% can easily describe their personal mission.
• Leaders place a high premium on ethics, but face barriers: 82% believe businesses should operate at the highest moral level, but 71% meet ethical blockages.

See the Full Amrop Report for more:

• A question catalog to kick off a Life Plan and Goals.
• Planet, profit or people? Discover leaders’ position on 5 dilemmas - and test yourself.

Presented with 6 leadership styles and 3 paradoxes which we relate to smart versus wise decision-making, leaders tend towards indicators associated with our concept of wise leadership. They seem moved more by service than by sovereignty, more by virtue than by value, more by entrepreneurship than execution. 

However, driving these tensions into the epicenter of leaders’ lives and presenting 5 hypothetical career moves designed to test their key motivators, 'Need For Power' is strongest. Only a few leaders see as a promotion a position designed to appeal to purely ‘wise’ values and demanding a temporary personal sacrifice.

• Leaders are driven by ‘sustainable entrepreneurship’: 86% strive to fulfill the organization’s objectives, even when it’s not to their own benefit.
• Power is the strongest career motivator: 63% of leaders saw a job description answering the ‘Need for Power’ as a promotion.

See the Full Amrop Report for more:

• 3 paradoxes unpacked, with avenues for leaders to reconcile them
• 5 career moves, and their pull for leaders

Proactive feedback-seeking is vital for self-awareness and development, but far from widespread. ‘Mindfulness’ or ‘reflective’ practices are another hygiene. They help us gain awareness, insight and ‘flow’. In terms of specific activities, walking is the most widely practiced, with a highly positive effect on decision-making. However, its effectiveness is far surpassed by a far less common practice: meditation.

• Leaders are missing vital feedback: 58% actively seek feedback on their attitudes and behavior and take it into account.
• Meditation is the most powerful mindfulness practice: 95% of those engaged in it report a highly positive effect on decision-making.

See the Full Amrop Report for more:

• A Feedback Toolkit with 5 common feedback traps.
• How do different mindfulness practices affect decision-making?