独立写作

　　Independent Writing:

　　Do you agree or disagree with the following statement: One quality that a successful leader must have is to make decision quickly; when a leader takes too much time to make decisions, he will be seen as ineffective to the people he lead. 2014. 8.22 NA

　　Of all the skills that build a leader to great success, such as confidence, tenacity and keen insight, the ability to make wise decisions has always been regarded as an indispensable quality. While there are circumstances in which the excellence is determined by how quickly the leader makes decisions, I do believe that for most of times, taking time to make decisions will not be seen as ineffective since good judgments always required deliberation and full-scale evaluation.

　　Indeed, in few cases a successful leader must make decisions quickly in response to the ever- changing outside environment. Especially in the commercial industry, a top-notch leader ought to capture the most transient economic opportunities before its rivals in order to dominate the market. For instance, the social media in China was not well developed five years ago. My uncle, who was the CEO of a computer software company, keenly realized the great potentials of the development of social media and shifted the company’s focus to this area before any other competitors. As a result, the first SNS network, developed by his company, won tremendous success; his company now ranks top 10 in the nation.

　　However, the success of my uncle belongs to a few exceptions in commercial industry. For the majority of leaders, making decisions require careful weighting of the pros and cons; thus, it’s plausible that it takes time to make up one’s mind. Because most decisions have long-lasting and profound influence on the lives of others, making decisions quickly would consider hasty in most cases. At the end of the World War II, President Truman faced a dilemma – should the US drop the atomic bomb to force Japan to surrender? Being a successful leader, Truman did not settle on the issue rapidly; instead, he organized numerous meetings with his consultants, asked the opinions of allied countries, and considered both the advantages and the downsides of his decision back and forth for days. The dropping of the atomic bombs, though still controversial today, finally brought the bloody and destructive war to an end.

　　Furthermore, a considered leader should not jump to a conclusion to an issue because decisions oftentimes are accompanied with a heavy cost. If the decisions are made in a short period of time, they mostly lack deliberation and ignore the high expenses of such action. For example, the implement of social welfare has been a slow process in the United States History. During President Lyndon B. Johnson’s administration, it took him more than a year to finally carry out the Great Society, a government program conducted by the federal government to provide aids for housing, food and medical care for people struggle on the poverty line. The president realized the high cost of the social welfare and its pressure on the tax payers. Therefore, it took him a lot of time to weigh the true values of this program in comparison to its high price.

　　In brief, I do believe that despite few circumstances, a successful leader should take time to make final decisions and should not be considered ineffective for such deliberation, for careful judgments of the costs and effects are required.