Seth Godin whom is a ‘god’ in the marketing world has a saying “you don’t need more time, you need to decide.” Great advice! One of the biggest reasons or excuses people give me for not achieving what they would like to is because they have no time. Well I’d like to let you in on a little secret here and now, you will never ‘get’ the time to do anything, you need to make the time.
As part of our recent leadership survey, we asked what people were looking for in leadership today. In the top 5 responses was decisiveness. People are looking for their leaders today to make decisions. Many people spend so much time wondering what the best decision to make is, wondering how people will react, trying to find every reason possible not to make the decision, after all someone may get upset with them. So much time is wasted deciding!
You will have experienced this I am certain. Whether it is people in your personal life or business, you will have experienced someone who has the inability to make a decision and stick to it. It can be infuriating as all you want is clarity in direction or the opportunity to understand what someone is thinking so you too can make a decision.
Business leaders have been faced with relentless business demands over the past few years and are feeling tired and exhausted. A key to effective leadership is decision making. Well-considered and educated decisions are a must in business. You are able to make quick decisions if you are connected to the purpose of your business, understand the values, vision and culture of your business, as these are your guiding lights. These are the fundamentals and the foundations to a high performing business and effective leadership. Connect and know these fundamentals to your business and decisions and judgment will become easier.
"Be willing to make decisions. That's the most important quality in a good leader. Don't fall victim to what I call the 'ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome'. You must be willing to fire." – T. Boone Pickens