Harried or myopic leadership: an undue bias for action

Not having concrete action items with an immediate execution plan – “what shall be done on Monday morning?” – is sneered at, and easily taken as a sign of lack of leadership. We argue this bias leads to bad leadership. In order to understand this seemingly incessant need for leaders to demonstrate their leadership through immediate action, we examine this bias for action in its organizational context and its consequences. It may well be this prevalent type of leadership is sustained wherever organizational practices prefer faster feedback loops and actions with measurable outcomes are prioritized. It may also be that the true price and opportunity costs of this action biased (bad) leadership are seldom completely accounted for. We ask why so many organizations drive their leaders to make such hasty decisions – why are there so many bad leaders? We posit the following.