H2: What Is the Primary Role of a Leader? This question seems simple, yet its answer has the power to transform organizations and accelerate careers. Many leaders—myself included—initially overcomplicate it, focusing on traits, skills, or leadership philosophies rather than the core responsibility that defines leadership itself. H2: A Lesson in Simplicity Early in my career, I had the opportunity to learn from Steve Bennett, former CEO of Symantec and Intuit, who spent 23 years as a direct report to Jack Welch. During one of our conversations, he asked me: “What is the primary role of a leader?” Thinking I had the perfect response, I launched into a detailed explanation—covering everything from vision and communication to motivation and strategy. I believed I had delivered an insightful answer, but I quickly realized I had missed the point. Bennett listened patiently and then replied: “That’s a good answer, but not the right answer. I didn’t ask what makes a good leader—I asked about the primary role of a leader.” Then, he shared a lesson that forever changed my perspective: “The primary role of a leader is to make great decisions and teach others how to make great decisions.” H2: Leadership Is Decision-Making at Scale When we break this idea down, its implications are undeniable: Leaders who make great decisions consistently produce superior outcomes. Teams that make great decisions consistently drive success at scale. At its core, leadership is about decision-making—the choices we make shape business strategy, culture, and results. But that leads to another critical question: H2: Why Do Leaders Make Bad Decisions? Through years of leadership experience, I found the answer: "Leaders make bad decisions when they lack context." It’s not intelligence, expertise, or intention that causes poor decisions. It’s a lack of context—the deep understanding of the situation, people, and data needed to make the right choice. H2: The Context Gap in Leadership We’ve all seen it happen: A senior leader makes a decision, but the frontline team immediately recognizes a flaw. It’s not because the leader isn’t capable—it’s because they lack proximity to the details that matter. Without structured ways to capture and process real-time, relevant information, even the best leaders risk making disconnected or uninformed decisions. H3: The Solution: Building Context Loops The key to consistent, high-quality decision-making is systematically capturing context at scale. We call these Context Loops—structured feedback systems designed to close the gap between decision-makers and real-world insights. These loops ensure leaders always operate with the best available information, leading to more effective, high-impact decisions. H3: Learn More At HASL, we integrate Context Loops into our High Achiever Sales Operating System (HASOS)—a framework designed to elevate leadership decision-making and team performance. 🚀 Want to learn more about our methodology? [Click Here]