Why leaders struggle to make decisions

About this episode

Leeza Browne explores the discomfort leaders face in decision making and how it impacts their effectiveness.

Head vs Heart: Why Leaders Struggle to Make Decisions Is there a decision sitting quietly in the background of your mind right now? In this episode, Leeza unpacks why leaders don’t actually struggle with decisions because they’re unclear, they struggle because they’re uncomfortable. Through the lens of early childhood leadership, we explore: Cognitive dissonance (when your head and heart disagree) Decision fatigue and executive function depletion Loss aversion and fear of regret Emotional avoidance and nervous system regulation Why empathy without structure destabilises teams You’ll learn why unresolved decisions increase cognitive load, drain mental energy, and quietly impact service quality and how to categorise, regulate and move forward with steadiness. This is not about being harsher. It’s about being clearer. If you’re feeling mentally full, circling a conversation, or avoiding a boundary you know needs to be held, this episode will help you understand what’s actually happening beneath the surface. Because if you don’t structure your decisions… they will structure you.

People in this episode

Host: Leeza Browne

Topics covered

• decision making
• leadership
• cognitive dissonance
• emotional regulation
• early childhood education

Keywords

• decision fatigue
• executive function
• loss aversion
• empathy
• cognitive load

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