Before the next hard decision

Articles
Written By Andrae Evans

A decision can follow the rules and still leave important people unheard. It can be supported by a polished presentation and still rest on an incomplete record. It can advance an immediate goal and leave the institution less trustworthy.

Before exercising authority, pause long enough to ask what the decision serves, whose perspective is missing, and what evidence could change your mind. Consider whether you would accept the process if you were the person with the least influence over it.

The SELFLESS Power Model organizes that examination around eight questions: Source, End, Listening, Fairness, Limits, Evidence, Sacrifice, and Stewardship. These questions make room for responsibility before a decision becomes someone else’s consequence.

Choose one decision you are facing. Write down who will carry its costs, what information you still need, and how you will explain your reasoning. If you cannot answer those questions, you have identified work to do before acting.

Andrae Evans

CEO and Founder of Moral Power Leadership

Andrae Evans, Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army (Retired); Founder, Moral Power Leadership International; former Town Supervisor of Irondequoit

Lieutenant Colonel Andrae Evans, U.S. Army (Retired), is a combat veteran, civic leader, and the founder of Moral Power Leadership International, a leadership practice built on a moral principle: Those who hold power are not proven by what they can control. They are judged by the lines they refuse to cross.

Across thirty-five years of military service, he led in field artillery, military intelligence, psychological operations, and information operations, including six years embedded with the Drug Enforcement Administration as a Counterdrug Intelligence Officer. Six months before September 11, 2001, he requested retirement. On September 11, he rescinded it, and went on to serve four combat tours, one in Iraq and three in Afghanistan, earning two Bronze Stars.

In November 2023 he became the first African American elected Town Supervisor of Irondequoit, and the first in any town in Monroe County, leading a historically white suburban municipality. A former member of the Urban League of Rochester's board of directors and a former financial advisor, he has served on the Irondequoit and Monroe County Planning Boards, chaired the board of Keeping Our Promise, and delivered the keynote at Irondequoit's Memorial Day observances. His work turns lived experience in command, intelligence, finance, and governance into practical frameworks for civic courage, institutional accountability, and the moral use of power.