critical thinking leadership skills

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By Colin Baker Leaders Staff

Colin Baker

Leadership and Business Writer

Colin Baker is a business writer for Leaders Media. He has a background in as a television journalism, working as...

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Updated Apr 29, 2022

6 Critical Thinking Skills That Create Great Leaders

5 steps to becoming a good critical thinker, a list of critical thinking skills, the impact of changed critical thinking.

“Thinking is hard work; that’s why so few do it.” Those words from Albert Einstein ring true in so many areas of life. In the business world, a lack of thinking often leads to disappointment and disaster. As important as it is to think in the first place, it’s also crucial for leaders to change  how  they think. In Thinking for a Change , John Maxwell states, “One of the reasons people don’t achieve their dreams is that they desire to change their results without changing their thinking. ” To do so, people need to adopt critical thinking skills.

When someone uses critical thinking skills, they begin to transform into the best version of themselves. Doing so is no small feat, though. Your level of critical thought is tied to your beliefs and your expectations.   Because the critical thinking process requires growth and introspection, there are few critical thinkers out there.

However, if you’re reading this article, you’re likely interested in developing the mindset of a critical thinker—someone who is capable of solving the world’s greatest problems. 

Take the next five minutes to learn how to become an effective critical thinker who can successfully tackle any challenge. 

Determining how to think critically can be a challenge, but  John Maxwell  provides a helpful guide to transforming how you think. By adopting this process, you’ll be able to solve problems and embrace an  entrepreneurial spirit  that will change you and your business. Here are the five steps to gaining critical thinking skills as Maxwell describes.

1.  Expose yourself to good input.  Read as much as you can from reputable sources and other good thinkers. When you come across a great idea, record and save it. Use the idea in the future as a way to stimulate more thinking.

2.  Expose yourself to good thinkers.  Don’t just sit at your desk and read a book or article from a critical thinker. Seek out other people (in person) who will challenge your thinking as well. These should be people who are also trying to grow and learn. One way to do this is by joining a mastermind group full of high-performers and entrepreneurs like yourself. 

3.  Choose to think good thoughts.  Be intentional about your thinking process. Focus on the positive. If you dwell on the negative, it should come as no surprise when adverse outcomes happen.

4.  Act on your good thoughts.  It’s not enough to simply think good thoughts. Act on them as well. More importantly, act on them quickly. Ideas end up having a short shelf life, so you must work on them before they hit their expiration date.

5.  Allow your emotions to create another good thought.  Use the momentum of good thinking as a tool to fuel more good ideas. Allowing your emotions to feed that process continually creates a self-feeding system you can capitalize on.

So, what are critical thinking skills?  Maxwell provides a helpful list in  Thinking for a Change . After all, critical thinking is the ability to think rationally and put together logical connections. These skills can help in all aspects of your life as they cultivate  innovative leadership . To become a skillful critical thinker, master the following critical thinking skills from Maxwell’s book.

1. Big Picture Thinking

Someone who looks beyond the immediate moment and considers the ramifications of their actions is a person who engages in big picture thinking. They understand that others think and see the world differently.

To practice big picture thinking, actively listen to others and set aside any agendas. All of this is in service to greater goals. As Maxwell puts it, “The person who forgets the ultimate, is a slave to the immediate.”

To practice big picture thinking:

• Have a vision for the future.
• Think like a leader.
• Account for all the variables you may encounter.
• Note what obstacles you may find.
• Draw a road map of where your team is going.
• Connect the past with the future to show a meaningful journey.

2. Realistic Thinking

Though leaders may have far-reaching dreams, they must also be realistic in their thinking. That includes developing a deep appreciation for the truth, which can be challenging for some. 

Winston Churchill famously said, “Men occasionally stumble over the truth, but most pick themselves up and hurry off as if nothing has happened.” To be a realistic thinker, you need to become comfortable with facing the truth, even if it’s difficult.

To become a realistic thinker:

• Show appreciation for the truth.
• Do your homework, including making sure you collect concrete facts.
• Consider the pros and cons of each solution.
• Imagine the worst case scenario just to be ready for it.
• Align your thinking with the truth to promote the right solution.

3. Strategic Thinking

Every solution and goal requires having a plan. Without a plan, you can’t expect to make much progress in achieving your top objectives. 

Planning means developing strategic thinking. While some challenges may feel insurmountable, strategic thinking helps to break the journey down into more manageable “bite-size” parts. When you do this, you can focus on each step more effectively. 

Which parts can you tackle yourself, and which can involve  delegation  to others? Strategic thinking shows that it’s not just what you hope to accomplish that matters, it’s  how  you do it.

4. Focused Thinking

As much as you might like, you can’t devote all of your thinking to every topic under the sun. While you might feel tempted to engage in exhaustive thinking, you must be more selective. 

In other words, practice focused thinking. 

Understand that it’s impossible to know everything and everyone. If you focus your energies, you can concentrate on the most important things you want to learn.

To get more focused:

• Remove all distractions.
• Set aside time dedicated to focused thinking.
• Establish specific goals.
• Monitor your progress toward your goals.
• Keep items of focus in sight when you work.
• Identify your strengths and areas of expertise.

5. Unselfish Thinking

John Maxwell describes unselfish thinking the best when he wrote, “There is no life as empty as the self-centered life. There is no life as centered as the self-empty life.”

Unselfish thinking means not thinking of yourself all the time. Think of others and what their needs are first, and identify how you can provide value to their lives.

To practice unselfish thinking, you must examine your motives carefully. Is what you’re doing for your benefit or the benefit of others? If you’re not careful, you could slowly, but surely, slide back into selfish motives.

6. Bottom-Line Thinking

When referencing bottom-line thinking, John Maxwell doesn’t mean thinking of the bottom line in financial terms. Instead, it means setting standards that you have to meet if you want to succeed. 

Bottom-line thinking involves thinking about what has to occur to reach the most important goal in various areas of your life. Once you set aside any emotions and wants, you can determine what accomplishments really matter to you. 

Take a moment to think of what your bottom line is in the following areas:

• Life Purpose

As you develop your critical thinking skills and become a critical thinker, you’ll understand the power of change. Any significant change has to come from within, and that all starts with how you think.

As a leader, you can not only change the way you think, but you can inspire others to think differently as well. From there, the impact of critical thinking spreads to touch all parts of your life, leading to beneficial results.

For those wanting to change the world, it begins with what’s in your head.

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Article • 8 min read

Critical Thinking

Developing the right mindset and skills.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

We make hundreds of decisions every day and, whether we realize it or not, we're all critical thinkers.

We use critical thinking each time we weigh up our options, prioritize our responsibilities, or think about the likely effects of our actions. It's a crucial skill that helps us to cut out misinformation and make wise decisions. The trouble is, we're not always very good at it!

In this article, we'll explore the key skills that you need to develop your critical thinking skills, and how to adopt a critical thinking mindset, so that you can make well-informed decisions.

What Is Critical Thinking?

Critical thinking is the discipline of rigorously and skillfully using information, experience, observation, and reasoning to guide your decisions, actions, and beliefs. You'll need to actively question every step of your thinking process to do it well.

Collecting, analyzing and evaluating information is an important skill in life, and a highly valued asset in the workplace. People who score highly in critical thinking assessments are also rated by their managers as having good problem-solving skills, creativity, strong decision-making skills, and good overall performance. [1]

Key Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinkers possess a set of key characteristics which help them to question information and their own thinking. Focus on the following areas to develop your critical thinking skills:

Being willing and able to explore alternative approaches and experimental ideas is crucial. Can you think through "what if" scenarios, create plausible options, and test out your theories? If not, you'll tend to write off ideas and options too soon, so you may miss the best answer to your situation.

To nurture your curiosity, stay up to date with facts and trends. You'll overlook important information if you allow yourself to become "blinkered," so always be open to new information.

But don't stop there! Look for opposing views or evidence to challenge your information, and seek clarification when things are unclear. This will help you to reassess your beliefs and make a well-informed decision later. Read our article, Opening Closed Minds , for more ways to stay receptive.

Logical Thinking

You must be skilled at reasoning and extending logic to come up with plausible options or outcomes.

It's also important to emphasize logic over emotion. Emotion can be motivating but it can also lead you to take hasty and unwise action, so control your emotions and be cautious in your judgments. Know when a conclusion is "fact" and when it is not. "Could-be-true" conclusions are based on assumptions and must be tested further. Read our article, Logical Fallacies , for help with this.

Use creative problem solving to balance cold logic. By thinking outside of the box you can identify new possible outcomes by using pieces of information that you already have.

Self-Awareness

Many of the decisions we make in life are subtly informed by our values and beliefs. These influences are called cognitive biases and it can be difficult to identify them in ourselves because they're often subconscious.

Practicing self-awareness will allow you to reflect on the beliefs you have and the choices you make. You'll then be better equipped to challenge your own thinking and make improved, unbiased decisions.

One particularly useful tool for critical thinking is the Ladder of Inference . It allows you to test and validate your thinking process, rather than jumping to poorly supported conclusions.

Developing a Critical Thinking Mindset

Combine the above skills with the right mindset so that you can make better decisions and adopt more effective courses of action. You can develop your critical thinking mindset by following this process:

Gather Information

First, collect data, opinions and facts on the issue that you need to solve. Draw on what you already know, and turn to new sources of information to help inform your understanding. Consider what gaps there are in your knowledge and seek to fill them. And look for information that challenges your assumptions and beliefs.

Be sure to verify the authority and authenticity of your sources. Not everything you read is true! Use this checklist to ensure that your information is valid:

• Are your information sources trustworthy ? (For example, well-respected authors, trusted colleagues or peers, recognized industry publications, websites, blogs, etc.)
• Is the information you have gathered up to date ?
• Has the information received any direct criticism ?
• Does the information have any errors or inaccuracies ?
• Is there any evidence to support or corroborate the information you have gathered?
• Is the information you have gathered subjective or biased in any way? (For example, is it based on opinion, rather than fact? Is any of the information you have gathered designed to promote a particular service or organization?)

If any information appears to be irrelevant or invalid, don't include it in your decision making. But don't omit information just because you disagree with it, or your final decision will be flawed and bias.

Now observe the information you have gathered, and interpret it. What are the key findings and main takeaways? What does the evidence point to? Start to build one or two possible arguments based on what you have found.

You'll need to look for the details within the mass of information, so use your powers of observation to identify any patterns or similarities. You can then analyze and extend these trends to make sensible predictions about the future.

To help you to sift through the multiple ideas and theories, it can be useful to group and order items according to their characteristics. From here, you can compare and contrast the different items. And once you've determined how similar or different things are from one another, Paired Comparison Analysis can help you to analyze them.

The final step involves challenging the information and rationalizing its arguments.

Apply the laws of reason (induction, deduction, analogy) to judge an argument and determine its merits. To do this, it's essential that you can determine the significance and validity of an argument to put it in the correct perspective. Take a look at our article, Rational Thinking , for more information about how to do this.

Once you have considered all of the arguments and options rationally, you can finally make an informed decision.

Afterward, take time to reflect on what you have learned and what you found challenging. Step back from the detail of your decision or problem, and look at the bigger picture. Record what you've learned from your observations and experience.

Critical thinking involves rigorously and skilfully using information, experience, observation, and reasoning to guide your decisions, actions and beliefs. It's a useful skill in the workplace and in life.

You'll need to be curious and creative to explore alternative possibilities, but rational to apply logic, and self-aware to identify when your beliefs could affect your decisions or actions.

You can demonstrate a high level of critical thinking by validating your information, analyzing its meaning, and finally evaluating the argument.

Critical Thinking Infographic

See Critical Thinking represented in our infographic: An Elementary Guide to Critical Thinking .

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THE WORLD’S #1 EXECUTIVE COACHING AND BUSINESS COACHING BLOG SINCE 2017.

How Critical Thinking Helps Leaders Work Through Problems

March 10, 2022 | Category: Blog , Critical Thinking

When it comes to drawing the right conclusions and making the right decisions to benefit an organization, critical thinking is a vital leadership skill, indeed.   Critical thinking allows leaders to rise above the noise, assumptions, and biases that sabotage decision-making. Leadership coaching can help develop and train critical thinking skills in many ways.  

Critical thinking is an analytic approach to problem-solving and decision-making. By developing their critical thinking skills, leaders take direct action to improve their decision-making and their organization’s position. Leadership coaching can help leaders develop critical thinking, training their minds to think instead of merely learning facts.

Critical thinking helps you differentiate facts from assumptions.

Why Critical Thinking is Vital for Leadership

Critical thinking optimizes decision-making. But in the context of intelligent leadership, it does more. Critical thinking makes desirable outcomes more likely.

Like intelligent leadership itself, it is reasoned, purposeful, and goal-focused. It allows leaders to formulate informed and relevant inferences, solve problems, calculate probabilities, and make better decisions.

In my book,  Wheel of Intelligent Leadership , I have  defined   critical thinking as an essential outer-core leadership competency. Since the quality of leadership depends on the leader’s quality of thoughts, critical thinking skills define one’s effectiveness as a leader. Critical thinking is the core component of strategic thinking, a less abstract measure of one’s ability to lead. In addition to strategic thinking, critical thinking allows leaders to:

• Embrace change
• Inspire others
• Create a vision and rally the “troops’ around it
• Understand how the different parts of the organization work together as a whole

Shallow thinking on the part of the leader is costly. It hurts the organization, the employees, and the clients.  Critical thinking  enables leaders to apply their knowledge to the everyday challenges of their work. Thus, instead of walking-talking encyclopedias, they become valuable decision-making assets for their organizations and employees.

Leaders with good critical thinking skills can model this behavior for their peers and reports, further improving the company’s talent pool.

Can Critical Thinking Skills Be Trained? 

As a leadership coaching expert, I firmly believe that it is possible to learn and practice all inner and outer-core leadership competencies. That includes critical thinking.

In my executive coaching books and blog posts, I have deconstructed critical thinking into three components.

• The ability to recognize assumptions .  An assumption  is a conclusion one reaches through the filter of one’s biases, desires, and views. Facts are observable. They exist without the need for validation. Basing decisions on assumptions instead of facts is risky and ill-advised.
• The ability to evaluate arguments.  Leaders capable of critical thinking look to break problems down to basic principles, consider alternatives, and challenge or test assumptions.
• The ability to draw conclusions.  Having gathered plenty of quality data and putting it through the filter of their critical thinking skills, intelligent leaders can draw better, more relevant conclusions that lead to better decisions.

Executive coaching  can improve  critical thinking by improving the sub-skills that contribute to it.

How Leadership Coaching Can Help Develop Critical Thinking Skills

Leadership coaching, at least the way I understand it, views critical thinking as one of the fundamental levers through which it can effect meaningful, sustainable positive change.

Leadership coaching can make you a better critical thinker. 

Business coaching and executive coaching professionals work with leaders, helping them gain a measure of their existing critical thinking skills, providing them practical solutions to improve their skills, and helping them measure the progress they make.

• A leadership coach can give you an objective assessment of your critical thinking skills.
• Executive coaches know how to ask the right questions to steer their coachees onto the path of improvement.
• Leadership coaching considers self-awareness and emotional intelligence the cornerstones of intelligent leadership. Self-aware and emotionally intelligent leaders understand the value of different perspectives.
• Business coaching encourages leaders to understand the strategic drivers of success for their organization in practical, financial terms.
• Coaches can provide valuable input, critique, and opinions, introducing alternative views and improving the decision-making skills of their clients.

Critical thinking is the leader’s best friend when it comes to decision-making. This outer-core leadership competency allows you to rise above the fray, eliminate distractions, and draw the correct conclusions.

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Critical Thinking in leadership: Is it necessary?

October 23, 2020 by Lauren Dunleavy

Critical thinking in leadership;Is it Necessary?

Is critical thinking an important component of leadership? One would think it is a useful tool to have in your thinking toolbox. So, what exactly is critical thinking? It was easy to find many similar definitions but; Critical thinking is defined as “ the objective analysis and evaluation of an issue in order to form a judgement” (Merriam-Webster, 2020). Critical thinking has been around for at least 2500 years. Mr. Socrates himself supposedly established a method of questioning that was able to shut down claims of knowledge back in the BC era that was very similar to critical thinking as we know it today(Paul et al., 1997). So what is critical thinking used for? It should be used for many things, but mainly we use critical thinking when we want to analyze options in making decisions(Paul et al., 1997). 

How and why is critical thinking applied in the workplace? Critical thinking in the workplace comes in many forms. We see critical thinking being used in teams to help effectively resolve problems. We even see critical thinking being used in the workplace to help teams figure out what issues exist, and then we see teams come up with possible answers for those issues. Why is critical thinking applied to research theories? Lets evaluate this question! 

One place where critical thinking has become a necessity is in leadership. Leadership is defined as a process where a person influences a group of people to achieve a set of common goals (Northouse, 2016). Leadership in theory has dated back to over 5000 years ago, where it was found to have been written in ancient Hieroglyphics (Paul et al. 1997). In ancient times, leadership was suggested that those who appeared powerful were to be followed. The need for critical thinking in leadership has always been around. A model was developed in 1925, called the watson-glaser critical thinking model which helps organizations identify factors in people that are important for critical thinking and judgement making, which explains why critical thinking needs to be a part of leadership approaches (Cox, 2011). 

Critical thinking is applied to leadership approaches because it’s important for leaders to have critical thinking skills, be able to understand logical relationships between ideas, recognize the importance and the relationship of an argument, as well as recognize mistakes in reasoning and then be able to make the right decisions (Sanscartier, 2013). 

There are many different leadership approaches to look at in applying critical thinking. Let’s evaluate critical thinking within the transformational approach of leadership. Transformational leadership theory suggests that it is a process that changes people(PSU WC L10 P2).  It is a leadership approach that is able to get leaders to motivate followers to do more than what is expected (PSU WC L10 P2). A leadership approach that enables a leader to generate and build an empire. It is part of the “new leadership paradigm” which focuses more attention on charisma and affect in leadership (Northouse, 2016). There is a lot of evidence that Transformational leadership focus is highly successful (Northouse, 2016). One factor affects another, in that a leader must appeal to the followers by appealing to their principals and higher cause (PSU WC L10 P4). Critical thinking is a larger component of the transformational theory because, in order to go through a process and be able to transform a person would need to make real, sometimes hard decisions. 

What if a person is not a good critical thinker? Can they still be a good leader? Having poor critical thinking skills can lead a person to make bad decisions, errors, repeated mistakes and even make bad assumptions. Weak critical thinking skills can cause a person to be unable to evaluate and prepare for situations (Sanscartier, 2013). So it looks like being a leader may require some critical thinking skills. So, are leaders that lack critical thinking skills doomed forever? WIll they be able to lead in a productive way? Apparently, there are still ways to develop and master critical thinking skills. 

So what does this all mean? Catherine Rezak from the International Institute of Directors and Managers suggests that leaders should take control of their critical thinking processes, evaluate them and then take action on them (Rezak,2020). So critical thinking skills could be learned, it just depends on a person’s discipline and drive to follow through with the learning process as well as adaptations to understanding it. Whether or not a person has critical thinking skills, the implications of the research suggest that critical thinking skills can be learned, or they can be innate and either way, they are useful in leadership. This is significant because although not everyone may have these skills, they still have an opportunity to learn them. 

       So what’s next? Being able to attain critical thinking skills means that possibly anyone could be a leader because the skills are transferable as long as the person is able to take control and use discipline to learn.  All of this information suggests that a less than good leader, who lacks critical thinking skills may make bad decisions, misjudge an issue, and ultimately fail the leader systems in place. One example of this is when I first started working in wraparound as a family support worker. WHen i first started I had no idea what I was doing. The job was really a fly by the seat of your pants kind of job, until you can learn the skill sets. There was a lot of critical thinking involved, when I was untrained. I had to be able to understand a full situation that I had never experienced before and know when and what skillset to use with the family member. When I used the wrong skill set, the team was unable to plan with a family, in turn creating turmoil. Being able to understand, evaluate and come to the correct decision is such an important part of leading a team. The good thing is that if we don’t know what we are doing, there is always an opportunity to learn! 

In conclusion, the evidence presented today suggests that leaders who have, or attain good critical thinking skills will be able to evaluate, judge, better understand and resolve issues more efficiently. We need more critical thinkers in this world! Using critical thinking within leadership approaches is an important component and probably should not be overlooked. A leader should have good critical thinking skills. 

Paul, R., Elder,L., Bartell, T. (March 1997). Critical Thinking: Research, findings and policy recommendations. Retrieved from: https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/a-brief-history-of-the-idea-of-critical-thinking/408 

Cox, K. (November 25, 2011). The evolution of leadership. A look at where leadership is heading. Retrieved from: https://cvdl.ben.edu/blog/the-evolution-of-leadership-a-look-at-where-leadership-is-heading/

Rezak, C. (April, 2020). Developing your Critical thinking skills. Retrieved from: https://www.marchfifteen.ca/leadership-the-importance-of-critical-thinking/#:~:text=A%20leader%20with%20critical%20thinking,reasoning%2C%20and%20make%20proper%20decisions .

https://www.iidmglobal.com/expert_talk/expert-talk-categories/leadership/leadership_skill/id45293.html#:~:text=Developed%20in%201925%2C%20the%20model,Inference

Northouse, P.G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 7th Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Pennsylvania State University (2020). Leadership in work. Module 7: Power and influence Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2075467/modules/items/30110461

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3 Skills Every New Leader Needs

• Julia Boorstin

Adaptability, empathy, and contextual problem-solving.

As a new manager looking to grow your skills, you might be tempted to focus on becoming more authoritative or quickly driving results — traits typically associated with and driven by the behaviors of powerful men. But now, leaders are being called to develop skills like adaptability, emotional intelligence, and humility, traits that are particularly valuable to navigating uncertain times and that are more often found in female leaders.

• Adaptability: This is about identifying signals of change, gathering enough data to be able to see when circumstances demand a new and different plan, and being willing to shift direction mid-process. In studies, women leaders are found to rank higher than their male leaders in terms of being adaptable. And women entrepreneurs have a track record of being able to do more with less.
• Contextual Problem-Solving: Women are sometimes criticized for focusing on too many extra details, but their ability to zoom out and integrate wide-ranging data is valuable and impactful in the long term. It is never a waste of time to go down a rabbit hole — especially if that exploration might give you a better look at the landscape when you reemerge.
• Empathy: This skill, which women are more inclined to master, can be a business superpower, especially in uncertain times. It doesn’t make managers overly sympathetic or soft; it allows them to step inside other people’s shoes and better understand them, their needs, and what it will take for them to succeed.

If you’re a new manager looking to grow your leadership skills, you may be thinking that you need to be more authoritative and confident, and to focus on quickly driving results. You’re not wrong, but those aren’t the only skills that will propel your career forward.

• JB Julia Boorstin is CNBC’s senior media & tech correspondent and has been an on-air reporter for the network since 2006. She delivers reporting, analysis, and CEO interviews across the network and created and leads CNBC’s Disruptor 50 and Changemakers: Women Transforming Business franchises.

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Critical Thinking: Three Leadership Skills Examples For Great Decisions

Here are three leadership skills examples you can use to effectively approach problem-solving and make better decisions.

Above all, it’s about critical thinking.

Question: Who is one of the most critical thinkers of all time?

Yup, It’s Albert Einstein. And there he is wearing an up-to-date sweater to compliment his great hairstyle.

Most importantly, he would say that todays’ work world, as we know it, has constant challenges and obstacles.

Further, he would ask you the following question. Do you find the previous statement exhilarating or exhausting?

Moreover, most leaders respond by saying, it’s a combination of both. However, the majority of business executives claim to be more exhausted than exhilarated.

Therefore, it’s important to decide which area to focus on. Exhilarating will keep you wide awake and on your toes. Exhausting makes you close your eyes for an early bedtime.

The mindset for critial thinking is curiosity.

In either case, there will be stress, so pick the way that will yield the best long-term results.

Above all, what can make you love unknown challenges more than resolving familiar conflicts? What can make you think like Einstein?

The answer is to deepen your critical thinking.

In other words, the most effective leaders are those who become adept at critical thinking. This leadership skill is definitely vital right now. It’s the way to prepare today’s leaders for tomorrow’s challenges.

What is at the core of critical thinking?

Most importantly, what is critical thinking?

For example, here are the leadership skills examples seen as prized attributes of high-quality leaders:

1. It requires the ability to question assumptions.

2. It means you need to look from multiple perspectives.

3. It also requires the ability to weigh options and analyze alternatives.

To clarify, a 2020 survey conducted by Dale Carnegie Training across 20 countries. It confirmed that critical thinking is among the top skills we need to succeed in a complex work environment.

In addition, critical thinking is an essential skill that activates team collaboration and speeds innovation. It’s important now more than ever.

Critical thinking: Do you solve puzzles or problems?

The difference between solving a puzzle and solving a problem is vast.

For example, solving a puzzle usually comes with a picture of the finished product. You get a snapshot of the successful completion to get to your goal.

To clarify, you may have hundreds of small pieces to put together that will end up as The Sistine Chapel in Rome. You hunt and find what fits in place knowing what you will get as an outcome. It will be the Chapel. Certainly not a herd of animals roaming in the forest.

You follow the design and you get a win.

In other words, good concentration and a solid memory, assure you of what you get.

Therefore, puzzles can only end up with one result. All the pieces fit into their specific slots.

Solving a problem is more complex than completing a puzzle.

Most importantly, the solution to problems may be very different from what you anticipate. The route to problem-solving can be ambiguous and frustrating.

Problems often have multiple solutions. Thus, the question is: how do you pick the best way to move forward?

Use what you learned from doing puzzles — good concentration and good memory.

Next, you take the time to weigh options and analyze alternatives.

As a result, a leader with critical thinking skills understands logical connections between ideas, their relevance, and the inconsistencies in reasoning. It is only then that you can make the best decisions possible.

Here are three major leadership skills examples to build a strong foundation for making effective decisions..

1. Gather the data first

During the past few decades, the focus for leadership skills has been on quantitative over qualitative. Thus, the art and craft of questioning assumptions have become weak.

It appears that the easy path to problem-solving has been based solely on numbers.

Numbers are at the foundation of making good decisions. There is more to include here.

For instance, we know that access to information and statistics is easier to gather than ever before. However, evaluating the reliability of the information is more difficult.

Thus, critical thinking means including both history and trends along with the numbers. You need to go back as far as possible and get the raw information.

2. Dont let anxiety derail critical thinking

Too often there is pressure to just make a decision, any decision. This is the emotional trap that causes most leaders to say yes to a solution before all the research is completed.

Any decision will do to alleviate stress and anxiety.

Moreover, while this will feel good momentarily, it is often the death knell for the right results.

Critical thinkers learn how to sustain the pressure until the desired solution is clear.

3. Check your assumptions

You know the old saying “If you don’t check your assumptions it will make an ass out of you and me.”

Therefore, ask and then ask and then, if you must ask once again. Left unchecked, assumptions lead to the blame game, finger-pointing, and dreadful decisions.

The big leadership skill needed here is good communication and how to ask without causing defensiveness.

Remember to think critically

Here’s an idea. Put some posters that say “THINK CRITICALLY” around your office (or on your computer) that are reminders to look beyond the first and easiest decision. Critical thinking is what will separate the winners from the losers in the world of work moving forward.

In conclusion, a big part of critical thinking is how to think systemically and then communicate effectively. In Chapter two of my book, Don’t Bring It To Work t here is a full description of how to connect the parts of a situation to see the larger picture.

This is not as easy as seeing the end result of doing a puzzle even before you begin. However, the best leaders are those who can think beyond the obvious and beyond short-term gains.

Along with my book may I suggest one written by anthropologist and social scientist, Gregory Bateson. In this book, Steps to an Ecology of Mind. He has a series of ‘metalogues’ that take the form of conversations with his daughter and renowned psychologist, Mary Catherine Bateson. It is a primer for critical thinking. And know that as you think deeper and have a strong vision, even obstacles will turn into pathways for success.

Keep going and keep growing,

Sylvia Lafair

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Advertisement: register for newsletter, advertisement: cpd small top, developing your critical thinking leadership skills.

Critical thinking enables leaders at every level to understand the impact of their decisions on the business as a whole and ensures both alignment with organisational goals and accountability for results.  

The "new normal" is a different kind of competitive landscape, buffeted by geopolitics and global instability, rapid technological change, unique financial pressures, a rising tide of data and information to filter through, and the proliferation of new corporate business models.

The mind-set that made leaders successful in the past probably won't ensure success in the future. In fact, several recent studies and surveys have identified critical thinking as the number one requirement for successful leadership in the 21st century. Yet there is mounting evidence that many current and emerging leaders lack this quality. And it is this competency gap that is shaking up and reshaping leadership as we have come to know it.

Leadership in the "new normal"

In the wake of the economic crisis, we all know what a failure of leadership looks like. The companies that folded in the GFC serve as stark examples of what happens when decisions are based upon erroneous, partially false or incomplete information and when management fails to think clearly and strategically about the full implications of its actions. The resulting fall-out put an end to business as usual and created a "new normal" that looks markedly different from anything anyone has seen before.

Business organisations must be prepared to do things differently if they expect different results. In this demanding, dynamic landscape, it is only natural that they also require a different mind-set from those in charge.

The equation works like this: Thinking drives behaviour; behaviour drives results. So enterprises that want to change the results - and, indeed, change the organisation itself - can achieve the highest leverage by changing the thinking of leaders and managers throughout the organisation.

But what kind of thinking - or rather rethinking - will be required of leaders if they want to succeed in the "new normal"?

Why critical thinking is critical

Critical thinking appears to be exactly what is needed from leaders who are navigating the volatility of the "new normal". Diane Halpern, an award-winning professor of psychology at Claremont McKenna College and a widely read author on the subject, offers this definition in her seminal book, Thought and Knowledge :

"Critical thinking is the use of those cognitive skills or strategies that increase the probability of a desirable outcome. It is used to describe thinking that is purposeful, reasoned, and goal-directed - the kind of thinking involved in solving problems, formulating inferences, calculating likelihoods, and making decisions ... it's the kind of thinking that makes desirable outcomes more likely."

If ever there was a time for clear, discerning, solution-centric thinking, this is it.

Every two years since 1983, Executive Development Associates (EDA) has conducted an extensive survey on trends, growth and the evolution of executive development. The 2009/2010 EDA Trends in Executive Development: A Benchmark Report revealed trouble on the horizon for corporations seeking future business leaders.

To gauge the readiness of the next generation of leadership talent, EDA asked senior executive development professionals to share their views on the strengths and weaknesses of the incoming leadership group - the people who are most likely to fill executive-level positions in the next three to five years - and the subsequent impact on executive development.

The survey identified "hot topics" in executive development for the next two to three years. At the top of the list was leadership, followed by "business acumen, honing skills in strategy execution, leading / managing change, and talent management."

But when asked "What competencies are your leaders lacking?" their responses indicated little confidence that leaders had what it takes to execute in these critical areas successfully. Here's what they said was missing:

• Strategic thinking
• Leading change
• Ability to create a vision and engage others around it
• Ability to inspire
• Understanding the total enterprise and how the parts work together

What critical thinking looks like

Having established the need for a mind-set shift to more critical thinking, we need to be clear on what that means in the workplace.

In general, critical thinking is the ability to deal with the contradictions and problems of a tumultuous environment in a reasoned, purposeful, productive way. Decisions are made using an approach that is fair, objective, accurate and based on information that is relevant to the situation.

Critical thinking is also reflective and focused, constantly evaluating the thinking process itself. It is thinking with a purpose. Critical thinking requires a healthy dose of skepticism and an equal measure of good judgement.

For decades, companies have relied on the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal , a widely used assessment tool for evaluating the cognitive ability of current and future leaders. Developed in 1925, the model identifies factors that are key to critical thinking and decision making and predicts judgment, problem solving, creativity, openness to experience and other leadership behaviours.

Five sub-tests measure critical thinking as a composite of attitudes, knowledge and skills:

• Recognition of assumptions
• Interpretation
• Evaluation of arguments

Professionals with high scores in these sub-tests are able to identify and examine the assumptions, influences and biases that might sway them. They stand back from the fray and strategically assess the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems. They make business decisions that answer the right questions, solve the right problems, mitigate risk and improve productivity. They also lead from a position of strength, being able to motivate and move people both inspirationally and intellectually by providing solid reasons for actions.

Whether they lead teams, departments or entire enterprises, leaders who apply the skills of critical thinking to their roles perform at a higher level and offer their organisations a distinct competitive advantage.

Critical thinkers think differently about their impact on the organisation - understanding how their decisions and actions influence business both inside and outside their narrow functional silos. These leaders are able to balance department or team issues with broader company issues and embrace a larger responsibility for the success of the organisation. This keen sense of accountability is what enables them to execute for results now while fulfilling their obligations to positively impact the future.

Leaders who engage in critical thinking also understand the total organisation and how the individual parts work together. Context is key. Now more than ever, business acumen is foundational to effective leadership. It is impossible to apply critical thinking skills to the business of making money without an understanding of the business drivers that connect day-to-day decisions and actions to key financial and strategic performance goals of the organisation. It is one thing to understand one's role as a leader. It is altogether another thing to understand how to set direction and directly affect the outcomes.

Critical thinking is big-picture thinking too. As Hagemann describes it, "Leaders need to be able to comfortably climb to the 30,000-foot view and analyse a dynamic system, while simultaneously and adeptly analysing information to quickly make decisions across levels." Critical thinkers operate from a broad perspective in order to make sure the correct problems are addressed and they are taking acceptable risk. They recognise the difference between short-term gains and sustainable, long-term results and lead accordingly.

The advantages of this kind of leadership behavior are readily apparent. Critical thinking enables leaders at every level to understand the impact of their decisions on the business as a whole and ensures both alignment with organisational goals and accountability for results. It's exactly the type of leadership behaviour demanded by the "new normal" - and exactly what's missing. And this disconnect is likely to intensify over time.

Given the critical-thinking competency gap exposed by the EDA survey and other research, the obvious assumption is that the traditional development process that businesses have relied upon in the past to prepare leaders simply hasn't kept up. So, what's the solution? To accelerate development and raise leadership accountability to a whole new level of awareness and action, there needs to be a new emphasis on critical thinking in leadership development.

Learning to think like a leader

The good news is critical thinking is a skill that can be taught. According to Halpern, "There is a large body of evidence showing that people can learn to think better. Of course, education makes us all more intelligent, but critical thinking is more focused. Everyone can learn to recognise and use the skills of critical thinking, and we can always get better."

New competencies, however, may require a deeper, more analytical approach. The challenge today is not to discard what has been learned in the past, but to build upon traditional competencies with a whole new and more complex set of skills, tools and sensitivities.

Leaders in the new normal need to learn how to be discerning, how to think clearly and wisely, and how to be accountable for their impact on the business.

Discovery learning in leadership courses

Critical thinking can be impacted by the right leadership courses. However, the process can be more challenging than improving a behavioural skill, because you can't easily measure it. Success is demonstrated in results.

As with any skill, intellectual or otherwise, the key to building critical thinking - and achieving successful results - is practice. Research has demonstrated that people learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process and engaging in the behaviours they want to learn. But what's vital in developing critical thinking skills is framing the concept of practice within a relevant, job-related context.

Acquiring critical thinking skills requires participating in learning experiences that force you to consider new ways of thinking about and acting within complex situations that are directly related to the work you do. You need the opportunity to respond to issues, reflect on and reframe your experiences, develop new thinking, and, in turn, engage in new behaviours and actions that are relevant to your position and objectives.

Developing your critical thinking skills

In addition to participating in these types of leadership courses, leaders can take charge of their own critical thinking development by taking these actions:

• Get some feedback about your critical thinking skills from a trusted boss, colleague or coach Are you jumping to conclusions or using a reasoned, analytic process as you work toward a goal? Are you able to put aside biases and assumptions during analysis and decision-making? What kind of "thinker" are you perceived to be and why?
• Challenge yourself to develop a deeper understanding of your company's business, especially its financial and strategic drivers of success Are you clear about what drives the organisation's decisions, how financial success is achieved and how you impact both strategy and the bottom line? Are you making decisions that are aligned with this understanding?Is your knowledge of the business strong enough to drive behaviour and to engage teams and employees?
• Use multiple sources of data to form an "information web" before making a decision or forming a conclusion Are you asking a lot of questions? Identifying stakeholders and their issues and opinions? Separating facts from assumptions?Are you using the Internet as "one" source of information rather than "the" source? Can you analyse information from different perspectives and viewpoints?
• Take time to think Are you rising above the fray when it's important to make a decision, take action or form an opinion? Are you aware of the distractions getting in the way of your thinking time and taking action to minimize these distractions? Are you finding time and space to let your mind focus and reflect on important issues?
• Ask for input, critique and opinions from others as you analyse alternatives Are you checking tentative conclusions with others? Using peers, coaches or mentors to critique your thinking process? Are you willing to open your mind to other ideas or alternatives?

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Why Problem-Solving Skills Are Essential for Leaders in Any Industry

• 17 Jan 2023

Any organization offering a product or service is in the business of solving problems.

Whether providing medical care to address health issues or quick convenience to those hungry for dinner, a business’s purpose is to satisfy customer needs .

In addition to solving customers’ problems, you’ll undoubtedly encounter challenges within your organization as it evolves to meet customer needs. You’re likely to experience growing pains in the form of missed targets, unattained goals, and team disagreements.

Yet, the ubiquity of problems doesn’t have to be discouraging; with the right frameworks and tools, you can build the skills to solve consumers' and your organization’s most challenging issues.

Here’s a primer on problem-solving in business, why it’s important, the skills you need, and how to build them.

Access your free e-book today.

What Is Problem-Solving in Business?

Problem-solving is the process of systematically removing barriers that prevent you or others from reaching goals.

Your business removes obstacles in customers’ lives through its products or services, just as you can remove obstacles that keep your team from achieving business goals.

Design Thinking

Design thinking , as described by Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar in the online course Design Thinking and Innovation , is a human-centered , solutions-based approach to problem-solving and innovation. Originally created for product design, design thinking’s use case has evolved . It’s now used to solve internal business problems, too.

The design thinking process has four stages :

• Clarify: Clarify a problem through research and feedback from those impacted.
• Ideate: Armed with new insights, generate as many solutions as possible.
• Develop: Combine and cull your ideas into a short list of viable, feasible, and desirable options before building prototypes (if making physical products) and creating a plan of action (if solving an intangible problem).
• Implement: Execute the strongest idea, ensuring clear communication with all stakeholders about its potential value and deliberate reasoning.

Using this framework, you can generate innovative ideas that wouldn’t have surfaced otherwise.

Creative Problem-Solving

Another, less structured approach to challenges is creative problem-solving , which employs a series of exercises to explore open-ended solutions and develop new perspectives. This is especially useful when a problem’s root cause has yet to be defined.

You can use creative problem-solving tools in design thinking’s “ideate” stage, which include:

• Brainstorming: Instruct everyone to develop as many ideas as possible in an allotted time frame without passing judgment.
• Divergent thinking exercises: Rather than arriving at the same conclusion (convergent thinking), instruct everyone to come up with a unique idea for a given prompt (divergent thinking). This type of exercise helps avoid the tendency to agree with others’ ideas without considering alternatives.
• Alternate worlds: Ask your team to consider how various personas would manage the problem. For instance, how would a pilot approach it? What about a young child? What about a seasoned engineer?

It can be tempting to fall back on how problems have been solved before, especially if they worked well. However, if you’re striving for innovation, relying on existing systems can stunt your company’s growth.

Related: How to Be a More Creative Problem-Solver at Work: 8 Tips

Why Is Problem-Solving Important for Leaders?

While obstacles’ specifics vary between industries, strong problem-solving skills are crucial for leaders in any field.

Whether building a new product or dealing with internal issues, you’re bound to come up against challenges. Having frameworks and tools at your disposal when they arise can turn issues into opportunities.

As a leader, it’s rarely your responsibility to solve a problem single-handedly, so it’s crucial to know how to empower employees to work together to find the best solution.

Your job is to guide them through each step of the framework and set the parameters and prompts within which they can be creative. Then, you can develop a list of ideas together, test the best ones, and implement the chosen solution.

Related: 5 Design Thinking Skills for Business Professionals

4 Problem-Solving Skills All Leaders Need

1. problem framing.

One key skill for any leader is framing problems in a way that makes sense for their organization. Problem framing is defined in Design Thinking and Innovation as determining the scope, context, and perspective of the problem you’re trying to solve.

“Before you begin to generate solutions for your problem, you must always think hard about how you’re going to frame that problem,” Datar says in the course.

For instance, imagine you work for a company that sells children’s sneakers, and sales have plummeted. When framing the problem, consider:

• What is the children’s sneaker market like right now?
• Should we improve the quality of our sneakers?
• Should we assess all children’s footwear?
• Is this a marketing issue for children’s sneakers specifically?
• Is this a bigger issue that impacts how we should market or produce all footwear?

While there’s no one right way to frame a problem, how you do can impact the solutions you generate. It’s imperative to accurately frame problems to align with organizational priorities and ensure your team generates useful ideas for your firm.

To solve a problem, you need to empathize with those impacted by it. Empathy is the ability to understand others’ emotions and experiences. While many believe empathy is a fixed trait, it’s a skill you can strengthen through practice.

When confronted with a problem, consider whom it impacts. Returning to the children’s sneaker example, think of who’s affected:

• Your organization’s employees, because sales are down
• The customers who typically buy your sneakers
• The children who typically wear your sneakers

Empathy is required to get to the problem’s root and consider each group’s perspective. Assuming someone’s perspective often isn’t accurate, so the best way to get that information is by collecting user feedback.

For instance, if you asked customers who typically buy your children’s sneakers why they’ve stopped, they could say, “A new brand of children’s sneakers came onto the market that have soles with more traction. I want my child to be as safe as possible, so I bought those instead.”

When someone shares their feelings and experiences, you have an opportunity to empathize with them. This can yield solutions to their problem that directly address its root and shows you care. In this case, you may design a new line of children’s sneakers with extremely grippy soles for added safety, knowing that’s what your customers care most about.

Related: 3 Effective Methods for Assessing Customer Needs

3. Breaking Cognitive Fixedness

Cognitive fixedness is a state of mind in which you examine situations through the lens of past experiences. This locks you into one mindset rather than allowing you to consider alternative possibilities.

For instance, your cognitive fixedness may make you think rubber is the only material for sneaker treads. What else could you use? Is there a grippier alternative you haven’t considered?

Problem-solving is all about overcoming cognitive fixedness. You not only need to foster this skill in yourself but among your team.

4. Creating a Psychologically Safe Environment

As a leader, it’s your job to create an environment conducive to problem-solving. In a psychologically safe environment, all team members feel comfortable bringing ideas to the table, which are likely influenced by their personal opinions and experiences.

If employees are penalized for “bad” ideas or chastised for questioning long-held procedures and systems, innovation has no place to take root.

By employing the design thinking framework and creative problem-solving exercises, you can foster a setting in which your team feels comfortable sharing ideas and new, innovative solutions can grow.

How to Build Problem-Solving Skills

The most obvious answer to how to build your problem-solving skills is perhaps the most intimidating: You must practice.

Again and again, you’ll encounter challenges, use creative problem-solving tools and design thinking frameworks, and assess results to learn what to do differently next time.

While most of your practice will occur within your organization, you can learn in a lower-stakes setting by taking an online course, such as Design Thinking and Innovation . Datar guides you through each tool and framework, presenting real-world business examples to help you envision how you would approach the same types of problems in your organization.

Are you interested in uncovering innovative solutions for your organization’s business problems? Explore Design Thinking and Innovation —one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses —to learn how to leverage proven frameworks and tools to solve challenges. Not sure which course is right for you? Download our free flowchart .

About the Author

44 episodes

Welcome to ”Next-Gen People Strategies,” the podcast that explores the evolving landscape of HR and leadership in the modern workplace. In each episode, we dive deep into the trends, challenges, and opportunities that shape the future of people management. We bring you insightful interviews with thought leaders, industry experts, and successful practitioners who are at the forefront of driving organizational success through effective people management strategies. Together, we explore topics such as employee engagement, talent acquisition and retention, diversity and inclusion, performance management, leadership development, and much more. We discuss how these areas are being reimagined and transformed to meet the demands of the ever-changing work environment. Through thought-provoking discussions and practical advice, we aim to empower HR professionals, leaders, and aspiring managers to navigate the complexities of people management in the 21st century. Whether you’re looking to enhance your leadership skills, optimize your HR practices, or stay ahead of the curve in the world of work, ”Next-Gen People Strategies” is your go-to resource. So, join us on this journey as we uncover the latest insights, strategies, and best practices that will shape the future of HR and leadership. Subscribe to ”Next-Gen People Strategies” podcast today and unlock the potential of your people and organization. Remember, the future of people management starts here.

Next-Gen People Strategies HCI Podcast Network

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• MAR 12, 2024

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