Resilience begins the moment you decide you will move on in response to an unexpected situation. Decision is the first step of resilience. Nurturing the resilient leader begins with understanding what it takes to make a decision – especially in the moment.

Four factors contribute to effective decision-making: experience, observation, imagination, and confidence to act.

Leaders begin with skills and knowledge about decision-making. When the unexpected occurs, they call on what they know about the situation. But they also bring knowledge gained through previous decisions, including the memory of what happened, and the implications.

For example, consider that you manage a productive, 10-member team. One team member, Terry, was severely injured in a recent accident. As team leader, you recognize that without him, the team would miss his particular set of skills. You knew you........

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