14/08/2026
The decisions that define leaders are usually the ones nobody wants to make.
The employee everyone likes, but whose standards have slipped.
The client everyone wants to keep, but who is damaging the business.
The strategy everyone supported, but which is clearly no longer working.
The conversation everybody knows needs to happen.
Leadership becomes difficult when the right decision and the comfortable decision stop being the same thing.
During our latest conversation on The Business End podcast, former Premiership referee and businessman Ash Rowden summed it up perfectly:
“If you want to get to the top in anything, you have to make big decisions.”
Ash spent years making those decisions in environments where hesitation was immediately exposed.
Thirty players.
Thousands of supporters.
Coaches scrutinising every call.
And sometimes only seconds to decide.
In this clip, Ash recalls watching a referee faced with what he believed was a clear red card.
Instead of making the decision, the referee searched for reassurance.
The assistant couldn't help.
The red became a yellow.
Ash's point goes far beyond rugby.
Avoiding the difficult decision rarely makes the problem disappear.
It simply transfers the consequences further down the road.
And often, in trying to keep one group happy, you undermine the confidence of everyone else.
As Ash puts it:
“Not making a big call, either in business or in sport, you're just opting out… and you're actually not doing anyone any favours at all.”
The strongest leaders aren't those who make every decision perfectly.
They're the ones prepared to make the decision when the evidence is clear, the stakes are high and the easier option is to avoid it.
Because sometimes the most damaging leadership decision isn't making the wrong call.
It's refusing to make one at all.
🎙️ The Business End | Ashley Rowden
What difficult decision are you avoiding because the easier option is to wait?
