Best Of | How Leadership Teams Make Better Decisions

Best Of | How Leadership Teams Make Better Decisions

From Thriving Leaders Podcast by Claire Gray

July 13, 2026 · 4 min

About this episode

In this episode, Claire Gray revisits her conversation with David Clutterbuck on how leadership teams can improve their decision-making processes.

Why do leadership teams leave meetings believing they are aligned, only to discover later that little has changed? Often, silence is mistaken for agreement. People may support a decision in the room without feeling heard, committed or clear about what happens next. In this Best Of episode of the Thriving Leaders Podcast, I revisit my conversation with Professor David Clutterbuck, one of the world’s leading thinkers in coaching, leadership and team development. David shares a simple framework that helps teams hear different perspectives before moving into discussion. It can lead to healthier debate, clearer decisions and stronger commitment without requiring everyone to get their own way. In this Best Of, we discuss: – The three questions every leader should ask before team discussions – Why consensus is not the same as agreement – How to encourage healthy debate without creating conflict – Why feeling heard matters more than getting your own way – Practical ideas to improve leadership team decision-making immediately Better decision-making does not mean everyone gets the outcome they wanted. It means people have had a genuine opportunity to contribute, understand the different…

People in this episode

Host: Claire Gray

Guest: David Clutterbuck

Topics covered

  • leadership
  • decision-making
  • team dynamics
  • communication
  • coaching

Keywords

  • leadership teams
  • decision-making
  • healthy debate
  • consensus
  • team discussions

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Thriving Leaders Podcast

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