Written on 04 May 2026. Posted in Decision Making.
The Archer of Decision-Making
In my last article, I described the three characteristics I have consistently seen in great decision makers: principles, humility, and decisiveness.
This article expands on those ideas.
I have spent more than four decades involved in high-stakes decision-making.
It began as a fighter pilot in combat and continued as I led tens of thousands of warfighters as a general officer in Afghanistan. Later, I served in the defense of North America, helping lead the decision-making processes responsible for protecting the continent, from the Arctic Circle to the Mexico-Guatemala border and the approaches from both oceans.
The threats were complex and constant: nuclear deterrence, air defense, cyber threats, counterterrorism, counterdrug operations, and responses to natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, floods, and pandemics.
Over the past decade, I have worked in higher education, helping universities make similarly consequential decisions affecting tens of thousands of students, faculty, and staff across multiple campuses and countries.
While the environments are very different, the nature of the decisions often feels remarkably similar: uncertainty, time pressure, competing priorities, and real consequences.
