Leadership Decisions That Stand the Test of Time
- 3 hours ago
- 3 min read
By Jarom Webb
Vice chairman, founding executive and chief executive officer, ASEA Global
The leadership decisions that endure are rarely the most comfortable ones.
They’re often made quietly, long before results are visible and without any guarantee of immediate payoff. Over time, I’ve learned that the choices that truly stand the test of time are those grounded in patience, purpose and a genuine belief in people.
When I first joined ASEA, I was drawn to its founding vision. The company’s founder, Verdis Norton, often said, “The easiest thing to do is nothing. But doing nothing doesn’t change the world.” That idea has stayed with me.
Leadership, at its core, is a decision to act—not recklessly but responsibly—in service of something larger than yourself.
One of the most important leadership decisions anyone can make is choosing to play the long game. Early wins can be exciting but they can also be misleading.
Organizations built only for speed often struggle to endure. Leaders who think in decades rather than quarters make different choices. They invest in foundations, not shortcuts. They prioritize clarity over hype and sustainability over spectacle.
That long-term mindset was reinforced for me during a few years I spent away from day-to-day leadership. Stepping back created space to see things from a new vantage point—to recognize strengths, see gaps and envision what the next chapter might require. Time away didn’t weaken my conviction; it sharpened it. Sometimes the most responsible decision a leader can make is to pause, reflect and return with greater clarity.
Another decision that consistently proves its value over time is building systems that empower people rather than control them.
That philosophy guided a multi-year effort at ASEA to develop our new compensation plan, ASEA One. From the beginning, our goal wasn’t short-term acceleration, but long-term durability—a structure designed to empower people at every stage of their journey and reward healthy, sustainable activity over time. There were moments when staying committed to that vision was hard, especially knowing it wouldn’t produce immediate results. But leadership decisions that endure often require the discipline to prioritize what will matter years from now, even when it comes at the expense of short-term gains.
This kind of progress requires intentional leadership. Accidental leadership produces inconsistent results. Enduring leadership is designed. It establishes clear expectations, aligns incentives with values and recognizes progress along the way. When people understand what matters—and why—they don’t just participate; they take ownership.
Equally important is resisting the urge to confuse activity with progress. In uncertain moments, leaders often feel pressure to move faster or louder. But history shows that the most durable organizations are led by those who know when to slow down, simplify and make thoughtful course corrections. Transformation doesn’t come from abandoning core principles; it comes from expressing them more effectively in a changing world.
What gives leadership decisions their weight is not how they feel in the moment but who must live with them afterward. Every choice a leader makes shapes the environment others inherit—the culture they work within, the systems they rely on and the standards they are asked to uphold. Over time, those decisions either expand opportunity or quietly limit it.
Legacy is built through decisions (often unseen) that compound over time. Leaders who choose purpose over convenience, people over shortcuts and vision over complacency leave more than results behind.
At its best, leadership is an act of service, measured not by how indispensable you become but by how many leaders you develop along the way—because when success is shared and replicated, you can gain strength that extends far beyond any title.
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