The best leaders aren’t the ones who make the fastest decisions.
They’re the ones who make the right decisions—at the right time, in the right way.
But in high-pressure environments, it’s easy to fall into reactive decision-making. Instead of choosing a response, many leaders default to habit—relying on gut instinct, jumping to conclusions, or making choices based on fear rather than strategy.
This is exactly what we tackled in my workshop today with the Bunnings leadership team (part of a 12-week leadership development program I deliver there each year, which my recent Insights articles are based on).
In the workshop, I guided them through three powerful tools to help them slow down, think clearly, and make better decisions—even under pressure.
These tools are game-changers for any leader who wants to move from reactive to intentional leadership.
Here’s what I taught them—and how you can apply it too:
Metacognition: A Leadership Superpower
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” — Viktor Frankl
I shared this quote with the Bunnings team because it perfectly captures the essence of great decision-making.
Many leaders don’t make clear, responsive decisions—instead, they react to whatever is happening around them.
The ability to pause, reflect, and respond strategically—rather than emotionally—is what separates impulsive leaders from decisive ones.
The secret? Metacognition.
Metacognition is awareness of your thinking process—the ability to step back and observe your own thoughts before acting on them.
This creates the “space” that Viktor Frankl refers to, and unlocks the ability to respond rather than react to what is happening in any given moment.
Leaders who develop metacognition:
- Avoid emotional decision-making (no more knee-jerk reactions).
- Recognise when cognitive biases are driving their choices.
- Stay calm and clear-headed under pressure.
So, how do you train this skill?
Mindfulness.
During the workshop, I guided the Bunnings leaders through the Thought Labelling Meditation—a simple but powerful exercise where you practice observing your thoughts without getting caught up in them.
Each time their minds (inevitably) wandered off, I encouraged them to notice not just that they had become distracted, but to observe what had distracted them. I asked them to mentally name the broad category of distraction (planning, worrying, remembering, judging, daydreaming, etc.)
At the end of the meditation, I asked: “What did you notice?”
One of the leaders in the workshop hesitated, then laughed: “I realised my mind is just constantly planning. The whole time. Even when I’m meant to be focusing.”
I nodded. “That’s common. What were you planning?”
He thought for a moment. “Meetings. Tasks. What I need to do after this session. It’s like my brain is on autopilot, always jumping ahead.”
Another participant chimed in. “For me, it was different. I kept rehashing a conversation from earlier in the week—what I should have said, how they reacted. It just kept looping.”
This is what happens when we don’t train ourselves to step back from our thoughts. They run the show. And without even realising it, we’re making decisions from a place of distraction, bias, or reactivity.
But when we build metacognition, we create space.
We notice our thoughts rather than being ruled by them. We gain clarity. We become intentional about where we place our attention.
By doing this meditation regularly, you build metacognition—the foundation of self awareness and vertical development. This in turn gives you the ability to pause before reacting—which is the foundation of great decision-making.
Want to try it yourself? Here’s the Thought Labelling Meditation I shared with the group.
Accessing System 2 Thinking: Slowing Down For Smarter Decisions
Once the Bunnings leaders learned to step back from their thoughts, I taught them how to recognise and work with cognitive biases, which can seriously distort effective decision-making.
To begin with, I shared the work of Daniel Kahneman, the Nobel Prize-winning psychologist who spent decades studying how we think (and founded what we now call “behavioural economics”).
In the 1970s, Kahneman and his research partner, Amos Tversky, made a startling discovery:
Most of us believe we’re rational decision-makers. We assume we carefully weigh options, analyse risks, and choose the best course of action.
But the truth? Much of our thinking is fast, automatic, and riddled with bias.
Kahneman saw this firsthand during his time in the Israeli military. He was tasked with evaluating officer candidates, trying to predict which ones would succeed in high-pressure combat situations.
At first, he and his colleagues trusted their gut instincts—watching candidates in action and making snap judgments about their leadership potential.
The problem? They were almost always wrong.
Despite their confidence, their predictions failed again and again.
That’s when Kahneman realised: human intuition is deeply flawed.
We rely too much on fast, instinctive thinking, even when making complex, high-stakes choices. And those mental shortcuts (or biases) often lead us astray.
To explain why this happens, Kahneman developed a model of the mind with two distinct thinking systems: System 1 and System 2.
System 1: Fast, instinctive, and emotional
Automatic and effortless, based on past experiences.
Great for quick, everyday decisions (e.g., recognising faces, reacting in conversation, hitting the brakes in traffic).
Prone to biases and errors—because it’s built for speed, not accuracy.
System 2: Slow, logical, and deliberate
Conscious and effortful, requiring focus.
Used for complex, high-stakes decisions (e.g., strategic planning, problem-solving, analysing risks).
More accurate—but harder to engage because it takes mental energy.
The Cognitive Biases That Cloud Decision-Making
Even the best leaders fall into thinking traps that distort decision-making. In our Bunnings workshop, we explored six key cognitive biases—and how to overcome them.
Confirmation Bias: Seeing What You Expect to See
This refers to the ubiquitous habit of seeking evidence that supports existing beliefs while ignoring contradictory facts.
Example: A leader favours a job candidate based on gut feeling and overlooks red flags in their record.
Fix: Actively look for disconfirming evidence and get diverse perspectives before making decisions.
The Availability Heuristic: Mistaking What’s Easy to Recall for What’s True
This refers to assuming something is common or likely because it’s memorable, not because it’s statistically frequent.
A common example of this would be when a few recent customer complaints make it feel like service quality is plummeting, even if overall satisfaction is stable.
Fix: Check the data before reacting—patterns matter more than isolated incidents.
The Planning Fallacy: Underestimating How Long Things Will Take
This common bias leads us to optimistically assume a project will run smoothly—which as you’d know is not always the case!
A frequent example is when teams plan for a project to take three months, but unforeseen challenges stretch it to six.
Fix: Add a 30% time buffer, break tasks into smaller steps, and review past timelines.
The Sunk Cost Fallacy: Sticking With a Failing Decision
This refers to the very human tendency to continue with a bad investment despite evidence that you should cut your losses, just because you’ve already put in time, effort or money.
An example of this would be persisting with underperforming software instead of cutting losses and switching to a better system.
Fix: Ask, “If I were deciding fresh today, would I still proceed?”
Anchoring Bias: Getting Stuck on the First Piece of Information
The trap here is over-relying on the first number, idea, or impression you encounter.
For example, a supplier initially quotes $50k for a project, and even after negotiations, $50k remains the reference point—making $45k seem like a bargain, even if it’s still overpriced.
Fix: Get multiple points of comparison before making decisions. Challenge initial figures rather than taking them at face value.
The Halo Effect: Letting One Strength Overshadow Weaknesses
It’s sometimes easy to assume someone is great at everything because they excel in one area.
For example, a charismatic employee who is great at some specific task might get promoted despite poor follow-through and missed deadlines.
Fix: Assess performance holistically, not just based on standout traits.
Do you want to become more aware of the pernicious, hidden effects of cognitive biases in your own decision-making? Use this worksheet (which I gave to the Bunnings team).
Beyond The Brain: Tapping Into Head, Heart, and Gut Wisdom
Cognitive clarity is a great start—but the best decisions don’t come from logic alone. Leaders who rely only on rational analysis risk overlooking critical emotional and instinctive cues. That’s because decision-making isn’t just a function of the brain—it’s also influenced by the heart and gut, both of which contain vast networks of neurons that process information in powerful ways.
Head (rational thinking)
As I outline above, the roughly 100 billion neurons in the brain allow access to logic and statistical decision-making (when we access System 2 thinking, anyway). The prefrontal cortex is responsible for weighing options, predicting outcomes, and applying learned knowledge.
Heart (Emotional Intelligence)
The human heart contains around 40,000 sensory neurons, forming what researchers call the “heart brain”. This neural network sends emotional and intuitive signals to the brain, influencing decision-making. Studies from the HeartMath Institute show that the heart’s signals precede conscious thought and play a key role in emotional regulation, social connection, and leadership intuition.
Gut (Instinctive Knowing)
The enteric nervous system (ENS), often called the “second brain,” houses over 500 million neurons—more than the spinal cord. This neural network directly communicates with the brain via the vagus nerve and is responsible for “gut feelings.” Research published in Nature Neuroscience found that gut bacteria and the ENS can affect mood, stress responses, and risk perception—all of which shape decision-making.
How “Head Heart Gut Decision-Making” This Helps Leaders Make Better Decisions
Leaders making high-stakes decisions can tune into heart intelligence to assess alignment with core values. The heart’s neural network processes emotional and social information, helping leaders recognise when a choice is right or wrong at a deeper level.
When faced with uncertainty, the gut often detects patterns before the conscious mind does. Leaders who learn to trust their gut instincts can make faster, more confident choices.
In our Bunnings workshop, I guided the group through the Head-Heart-Gut Meditation to help them access all three intelligence centres. The results were striking—leaders who had been overthinking decisions found clarity by accessing not just System 2 thinking but also by tuning into gut instincts and the empathic information being provided by their hearts.
Here is the meditation and the associated worksheet I gave the workshop participants (so they could apply this powerful framework to real-world decisions after the session.
The Shift: From Reactive To Intentional Decision-Making
By the end of the workshop, the Bunnings leaders had a new way of making decisions:
- They stopped reacting impulsively. Instead, they created space to choose their response.
- They recognised when their thinking was biased or flawed. And they knew how to use System 2 thinning to shift into deeper analysis.
- And they learned to make decisions that aren’t just logical—but also emotionally and intuitively aligned.
This is the difference between being a busy leader and a decisive leader.
Want To Try This For Yourself?
If you want to make better decisions under pressure, here are the 3 tools I gave the Bunnings leaders today:
Use this Thought Labelling Meditation to build self-awareness.
Download the System 1 vs. System 2 Worksheet to strengthen critical thinking.
Use my Head-Heart-Gut Meditation (and worksheet) to make more aligned, purpose-driven decisions.
Because leadership isn’t about thinking faster.
It’s about thinking better.
PS, if you’re ready to take your decision-making (and leadership) to the next level, get in touch and I’ll tell you more about my leadership coaching and workshops.
