I was conducting coaching with a senior leader in a large multinational organisation, and a leading company in their field, and we were discussing why people are just not making decisions.

As we dug deeper into work related examples, it became clear that the workplace culture of the company for the past 20+ years has been that the CEO makes all the decisions and no one else.

People could suggest, but the CEO had the ultimate control.

This created a culture of fear to make decisions and people only felt safe waiting for direction – Human Robot.

One core human factor in all that we do, whether it be personal or professional is that we must feel safe.

If we do not feel safe, we invest enormous amounts of energy and time into self-preservation, leaving little time or energy for anything else, certainly not making serious decisions or challenging the status quo.

Our role as leaders is to make sure all our people feel safe, trusted and respected and in return they will give us loyalty, cooperation, innovation and growth.

Be mindful, this issue is not unique to this company, and I have seen and experienced the same workplace culture in many companies.

Any workplace that has this culture demonstrates a lack of trust, faith, and commitment to the people in their team.

I know this next statement will be seen as controversial. Leaders who feel they must maintain control shows and proves the insecurities of the Leader. They feel if others make the right decision, it will show them as being vulnerable and they see this as a risk to their own job and personal security.

In fact, it is the opposite. Any senior leader who creates a workplace populated with visionary workers who want to make a difference, add value to the company and feel their voices and opinions matter, elevates the company and all the leaders within, and secures their role.

Some tell-tale signs of this within a workplace is staff turnover under the control of the specific leader, along with the delays in decision making, and the number of emails and meetings it takes before a decision can be made.

Leaders must understand delayed decision-making causes confusion, frustration and ultimately it costs the company in lost productivity and profitability.

I welcome your thoughts and experiences on this topic and how it was managed to ensure the company and the people continued to grow.

If you would like coaching to support your growth as a leader, please feel free to reach out to us.