When Is a Decision...Not a Decision?

Clarity on decision authority build trust, autonomy and performance.

When is a Decision...Not a Decision?

“We agreed on the restructure at the last leadership team meeting.” You replay the conversation in your head.

You had walked the team through the rationale—how the proposed changes aligned to strategy, how the impacts had been assessed, and how HR would support the process, especially given the likelihood of up to 10 redundancies. Everyone nodded. There were questions, challenges, even a few tensions—but ultimately, agreement.

So, you moved forward.

Working closely with HR, the reality sharpened: eight roles were affected. Two of the people impacted had been with the organisation for over 15 years. You followed the plan, kept everyone informed, and were ready to implement.

Then came the curveball.

HR said, “You need to go back to the CEO for approval.” You did—and the response floored you.

The CEO halted the restructure. They weren’t comfortable losing the long-standing team members, and just like that, everything stopped.

You’re left asking: What is my actual decision authority? What am I empowered to lead?

This scenario plays out in different forms across many leadership teams. Here’s some of the feedback I’ve heard in coaching conversations:

·       “I’m not sure if I can make this decision, so I take everything to the CEO.”

·       “One of my peers made a decision in their area that affected my team—and didn’t consult anyone.”

·       “The CEO changes decisions we’ve already agreed as a team.”

·       “My direct reports come to me constantly for decisions—I’m the bottleneck.”

In high-performing teams, decision clarity isn’t optional—it’s essential.

When there’s ambiguity around who can decide what, you get a cocktail of hesitation, frustration and inefficiency. Worse, it erodes trust.

So, how can we make decision authority clear?

A Tool I Use Often: The Decision Tree

Susan Scott, in her book Fierce Conversations, offers a simple model called the Decision Tree. I love using it with leadership teams because it creates shared language and clarity.

Here’s how it works. Decisions are categorised into four types:

1. Leaf Decisions – Make the decision. Act on it. Don’t report back.

2. Branch Decisions – Make the decision. Act on it. Just report the outcome.

3. Trunk Decisions – Make the decision, but report before acting.

4. Root Decisions – Do not make the decision alone. These must be brought to leadership for a group decision.

When used consistently, this model does three things:

·       Gives people confidence – they know what they own.

·       Reduces rework and escalation – not everything needs to go “up”.

·       Builds trust – leaders operate with transparency and accountability.

Questions to Take Back to Your Team

Here’s your challenge this month: Bring these questions into your next leadership team meeting:

·       What decisions are currently unclear or often revisited?

·       Where are people over-escalating (just in case)?

·       What’s an example of a “branch” decision in your context? A “root” one?

·       And most importantly: Have we agreed how decision authority works around here—or are we just assuming?

When decision rights are clear, your team moves faster and with more confidence.