“To argue with a person who renounces reason...

...is like administering medicine to the dead.”

As we begin a new year, leaders continue to face off against influences and challenges to their businesses requiring level-headed thinking and courage to navigate effectively. One only has to gain access to a technology screen to see what is happening (mostly negative) in the world having some impact on people’s perceptions and thinking. While we have written extensively about critical thinking, most recently in July of last year, we are taking a slightly different approach this time and focusing on the use of reason. Reason is defined as the power of the mind to think, understand, and form judgments by a process of logic (dictionary.com). What inspired the focus on reason was the title quote by Thomas Paine, an English American political activist, author, and political theorist whose writings influenced American thinking at the beginning of the revolutionary war.

We will break down the definition of reason stated above to shed some light on how effective leaders can approach these events that, while not directly impacting the business itself, is certainly having an impact on the people who work in the business and, by extension, are the business. Let’s break it down:

• The power of the mind to think ~ Thinking requires the leader to consciously resist the urge to react, possibly overreact, to any given situation. Thinking requires a period of time to gather all the facts of the situation. We consider this the content phase of reasoning as the leader is collecting all available information regarding any given situation. The challenges we see are leaders who react emotionally so strongly that they compromise their ability to pause and gather the relative facts. The other key issue is fighting confirmation bias such that the leader is gathering facts that are not predetermined to support an already formed opinion.
• The power of the mind to understand ~ Once the facts have been gathered, they need to be organized in a way that helps the leader understand the impact of the situation. We consider this the context phase of reasoning as the leader must now give meaning to the information they have available to them. The challenges we see are leaders who do not have depth of experience or knowledge to see the meaning of the situation. How well have they kept up with market changes and industries shifts? How well have they educated themselves on the driving forces that impact their business using tools such as the PESTEL (Political, Economic, Sociocultural, Technological, Environmental, Legal) Analysis we referenced in last month’s post. Effectively using reasoning requires the logic be grounded in the right context.
• Form judgements by a process of logic ~ Simply knowing the facts and their meaning does provide success in and by themselves. Leaders make considered decisions and conclusions acting decisively with the results of their thinking and understanding. We consider this the action phase of reason in that success can only come from conclusive and decisive action. The challenges we see are leaders being afraid to make decisions in light of high emotional reactions to the situation. We know this from most any change initiatives any business goes through. The other fear is that the conditions will change, causing them to also change their decision and thus looking indecisive in the eyes of their organization.

In a previous article, we wrote about how feelings neither prove nor disprove facts. However, leaders now lead in an environment that challenges that principle each and every day. That is why leaders must be able to act and decide with reason such that logic prevails over theater in the final decision. To be completely transparent, Thomas Paine’s full quote was, “To argue with a man who has renounced the use and authority of reason, and whose philosophy consists in holding humanity in contempt, is like administering medicine to the dead, or endeavoring to convert an atheist by scripture.”

What is your process to lead with logic in today’s uncertain world? If you’re not sure, we can help.

Lead Well!