​Judgment

​​LEADING WITH CHARACTER!
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​“Since the team understands that the leader is de facto in charge, in that respect, a leader has nothing to prove. But in another respect, a leader has everything to prove: Every member of the team must develop the trust and confidence that their leader will exercise good judgment, remain calm, and make the right decisions when it matters most.”

​ Jocko Willink

Listen to Story 1.

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The drivers in the story used their evaluation of such factors as driving conditions, the signs, and the people holding the signs, tempered by their own attitudes, which led them to continue on the road and park their vehicles in the drink. Though much good judgment comes from the experience gained through bad judgment, if the experience is our final one, the acquired good judgment will not be of much benefit to us. The challenge, then, is to live long enough to demonstrate our improved judgment, gained through experience, in making further decisions.

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Introduction

When we judge someone, we apply a label to them (good or bad) that is very difficult for them or us to remove.  Further complicating the issue is that our judgments are often ill informed, or at least under-informed, and we naturally fill in the gaps in the information we have, using our own prejudices (pre-judgments) and beliefs to guide us.

For some reason, as humans, we make snap judgments on others based largely on surface information. Many times, our impressions are wrong. When judging others, we use stereotypes based on our experience.

Is it possible to see in someone else a characteristic or trait we cannot see in ourselves?  Of course, we may not currently be aware of some of our traits. Typically, what can happen is that we were criticized in the past for something and, rather than confront whatever it was that caused us to behave or be that way, we repress it.  We forget it.  But it is still there in our subconscious mind.

If someone has a few positive traits, the “halo effect” kicks in and we see them more positively as a whole. If someone has a few negative traits, our overall impressions tend to be more negative.

Do we sometimes create a negative impression of someone and tell ourselves, “I don’t like that person.”? And then later on, once we get to know that person, he or she becomes one of our best friends.

Once we make up our mind about someone, it becomes difficult to change it. And many times, when we begin to judge others unfairly, we do things that make that person react to us in the very way we are judging them.

For example, we might think someone is a snob. Instead of talking to the person and really getting to know him or her, we don’t say a word. Since we don’t acknowledge this person, the person doesn't acknowledge us, which only validates our judgment that he or she is a snob!

Judgment

Our judgment is the result of evaluating a situation and arriving at a conclusion/decision/course of action based on that evaluation. So, it is the process, primarily thought, we go through in order to make decisions. Many people would agree that good judgment could be equated to “common sense”, which is sound and prudent, but often unsophisticated judgment.

There are four primary factors affecting judgment: 1.  Knowledge, 2.  Experience, 3. Attitude, and 4. Emotions.

                                                       Knowledge

Listen to Story 2.

The more we know, the more informed our decisions will be; we can’t expect to make good decisions if we don’t have the information required. We should study, read, become masters in the field in which we strive to succeed, and seek information from those who have already met challenges similar to those which confront us.

Knowledge will be covered in more detail as we progress through JJ DID TIE BUCKLE.

                                                       Experience

Listen to Story 3​.

​​No one can live life without experiencing something and what we experience can often determine our success or failure in life. Effortful learning combined with real-life, on-the-job experience is a winning formula for success. Our choices and our experiences help create who we are.

Effective learning involves learning experiences that are thought-provoking, challenging, relevant, and meaningful to our lives. Effective means a learning experience that helps solidify our basic knowledge. We learned something and now we KNOW it.

Key Learning Experiences can occur in any setting, formal, or informal. A Key Learning Experience is an experience, event, or time in our lives that had significant impact on us, making it particularly memorable. I'm sure that Plane Captain considered the experience described in Story 3 to be a key experience. 

Experience is as important as knowledge and combining them is the very best way to keep going forward every single day. A day without learning and experiencing something will always be a day wasted.

                                                          Attitude

Recall the drivers at the bridge. Obviously, they did not think very highly of “religious types” and their attitudes toward the Priest and the Rabbi resulted in very unpleasant experiences for those drivers. We can improve our judgment if we avoid making rash decisions based on negative stereotypical attitudes.

We can learn to approach challenges with more positive attitudes and, as has been said before, we can change our attitudes by changing the dominant thoughts that occupy our minds. Perhaps the drivers would have avoided their wet welcome to the bridge area if they had more tolerant attitudes to those different than they were.

​                                                        Emotions

Think about it. Don’t we often use flattery or have flattery used on us in order to elicit a favorable decision? For instance, “You are the best Mom/Dad in the world. Can we use the car tonight?”

So, positive emotions can beget favorable decisions. How about negative emotions? Most assuredly, they beget negative decisions/actions – like putting a fist through the wall when angry. The emotional decision to do that would certainly result in unfavorable outcomes for both the fist and the wall.

We must get the emotions out of our judgments. How many of us would have decided to put our fist through the wall if not under the influence of negative emotions? Conversely, we should not let positive emotions affect our judgment. Perhaps the kids should not have use of the car.

Conclusion

As leaders we have a responsibility to gather the facts and spend time to understand others before making judgments about their character and the choices they make. Becoming a good judge of others is an important part of leadership, but it must be done wisely and patiently.

So, when we negatively judge somebody, we should consider that what we judge might be a flaw we have in our own character. If we think of another as impatient, unreliable, uncaring or just a total idiot, then it is important to look at the times we may have exhibited these traits ourselves. Instead of thinking “Oh, I could never be like that!”, perhaps we should entertain the possibility that it is only too likely we could be.

And, we should not condemn the judgment of others because it differs from our own. We may all be wrong. Judgment keeps us separate from those we judge. In seeing them as wrong, we lose the learning opportunity and the creative opportunity that the relationship offers.

Listen to Story 4.

“There is only one thing for us to do, and that is to do our level best right            where we are every day of our lives; To use our best judgment,            and then to trust the rest to that Power which holds the forces of the universe in his hands.”

Orison Swett Marden

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