Critical Thinking Skills example essay topic

270 words
In the article Keys to Critical Thinking, business leaders are challenged with making the right decisions by using critical thinking skills. Making the incorrect decision could prove to be detrimental to the organization in many ways, such as decreased profits, negative cultural factors and the loss of top executives to the competition. Successful business leaders must be competent in leadership skills and critical thinking skills. With many businesses now globally located, top management executives need to be able to perceive talented people who are driven and capable of dealing with constant change. The leaders of the future are able to empower their management teams by creating a culture of 'empowerment reciprocity' where all staff members are capable of possessing critical thinking skills. Rick Helliwell writes that the mind is a complex decision making tool, continuously processing thousands of pieces of information simultaneously (Helliwell, 2000).

In order to understand the critical decision process you have to understand a research study conducted by Hunter and Hunter in the 1980's. The study found that intellectual ability as measured by cognitive tasks accounted for approximately 53 percent of the variance in job performance (2000). Helliwell's perception of facts contains many documented research studies which discuss cognitive skills needed for critical thinking. Business leaders take for granted what is involved in critical thinking skills. At times it is a gut feeling and other times analyzing and assessing the situations at hand require more flexibility.

Emotions need to be redefined into terms of dealing with loyalty to the company and cultural influences that effect performance.