I think this is a good link to another article I read recently talking about what makes a good CEO. It is not about whether a CEO makes a decision, but how quickly he can make it despite the lack of all the data and convincing the rest to follow him.

Arguments/discussions are good, but a strong leader is needed in the end to draw a conclusion and figure out an execution plan.

Really loved the way you broke your post into the various key components of the process! Lots of interesting bits to takeaway from the post.