The Leadership Decision Dilemma
How Great Marketing Leaders Make the Right Calls.....Even When It’s Hard
“Where there is no vision, the people perish.”
But let’s be honest, where there are too many choices, marketers panic.
When analysing what makes marketing leaders successful, I’ve noticed that behind each success lies a string of hard calls. Not obvious calls. Not “click this button” or “send this campaign” calls. But calls that have shaped careers, redefined brands, and shifted business momentum.
Decisions such as:
Do we fight for the brand budget or stay quiet in the boardroom?
Do we launch the new product fast or slow it down for deeper insight?
Should we stick with the safe agency or take a risk with a new partner?
To leverage their influence, marketing leaders can’t just solely execute; we must decide. And the quality of those decisions is what separates the credible marketers from the replaceable marketers, the trusted ones from the tolerated ones, and the influential ones from the ignored ones.
In this current marketing landscape, where we’re expected to defend long-term value in short-term obsessed cultures, decision-making is our power play.
Let’s explore how you can wield it to your advantage.
The Truth About Decision-Making & Why You’re Probably Underestimating It
Decision-making is a key skill in the workplace, and one that leaders need to master. Now that may seem obvious, but what’s maybe less obvious is why so many marketers struggle with it.
Because decision-making isn’t just about using logic alone, it’s also deeply emotional. (Especially in marketing, where uncertainty is the default setting.)
We’re navigating human behaviour, shifting markets, budget constraints, competing internal agendas, and let’s be honest, colleagues who very often don’t understand what we do.
There are three decision-making types we need to conquer:
Strategic decisions (long-term, high-stakes, like repositioning a brand)
Tactical decisions (medium-term, like choosing between channels or agencies)
Operational decisions (everyday choices, like campaign timings)
Most marketing leaders are fine with the last two. But it’s the strategic decisions - the ones with future-shaping weight - that cause paralysis, procrastination, or political discomfort.
And this is where marketing leaders need to evolve. Because the board doesn’t rate you on how well you deliver tactics. It rates you on how decisively you think, lead, and act when the stakes are ambiguous. And let’s face it - that’s pretty much consistently right now.
One of my clients, a B2B SaaS brand, paused its entire 2024 campaign strategy for a 2-month market reset. The CMO knew she didn’t have all the answers, but she also knew the real cost was launching something misaligned with what buyers now needed. That decision, although painful (and unpopular with some), led to a sharper ICP, increased repositioning success, and a better CAC within six months. It was a brave strategic decision that paid off.
Strategic decisions aren’t just about making bets; they’re also brand-defining. Which is why avoiding them is the most significant risk of all.
The Invisible Interference: Beliefs, Bias, and the Leadership Brain Fog
You can have the best frameworks in the world. You can ask all the right questions. But if you’re unaware of what’s silently shaping your decisions, you’re still leading with your eyes half-closed.
Our beliefs and biases act like invisible filters, shaping what we notice, ignore, trust, and fear. They don’t just influence what we choose; they also influence what we even consider possible.
There are 3 hidden forces behind most marketing decisions: