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Decisiveness

​​​​​​​​​​​​LEADING WITH CHARACTER!
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“Whenever you need to move forward in life, you will always be obliged to make a decision, and embrace decisiveness, whether you like it or not. But, making the right decision is often one of the hardest things to do, because whilst you remain indecisive, life comes to a standstill. Indecision always holds you back, when you soulfully need to move forward. Today, may you remain decisive and accept the wisdom of all your decisions, trusting that each outcome and your success will graciously unfold.” Eleesha 

Listen to Story 1.

Introduction 

Despite popular misconception, leaders are made – not born. But they are self-made. You, me, anyone can be a leader (In fact, we all are.). But, our effectiveness as leaders depends on how much effort we expend to develop our leadership abilities.

The most outstanding quality of leadership may be our willingness to make decisions. Think about it, if we don’t have to make decisions, why should we need leaders? The person who won’t or can’t make decisions – after he/she has sufficient information on which to base them – cannot be an effective leader. 

We can train ourselves to make decisions quickly and with a minimum of fretful worrying. It’s a matter of habit. We can develop the good habit of deciding now, immediately, on a course of action or do nothing, for example: 

Pope Alexander VII asked the celebrated Greek, Leo Allatius, why he did not enter into orders (become a Priest). Leo answered, “Because I desire to have it in my power to marry if I choose.” The Pope then asked, “And why do you not marry?” Leo replied, “Because I desire to have it in my power to enter into orders if I choose.” 

Many people erroneously believe that, if they postpone making decisions, they are incubating better ones. Think about it. If you decide not to decide, you have made a decision! Just not a very good one. Some people are very decisive when it comes to avoiding decisions. Teddy Roosevelt once said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing you can do is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing.” 

Decisiveness 

Simply stated, decisiveness means that we are able to make good decisions in a timely manner. One Marine’s approach to decision making consists of the following four steps: 1. Set a Time Limit for the decision. 2. Gather Pertinent Information and analyze it within the constraints of step one. 3. Make a Sound Decision with the results of step two. 4. Make the Decision Be the Right One. 

Set a Time Limit – Know when a decision must be made so we know the urgency with which we must operate. We must learn to distinguish between big and little decisions – those which have highly important risks or consequences and those where the outcome makes little difference. We make the little decisions as rapidly as possible. We allow more time for the bigger ones to ensure that we have enough time to gather the pertinent data. But we set a definite time limit and, when it expires, we decide immediately, remembering that any decision we make is, almost always, better than no decision. 

Listen to Story 2​.

Gather Pertinent Information – We must be decisive as leaders, but this does not exclude doing our homework. We should form the habit of considering several points of view, leveraging past experiences, and understanding the impact of any options we may have. We must also remember the constraints of time we have placed upon our decision. 

Listen to Story 3. 

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Make a Sound Decision – After weighing all the options and understanding all the impact areas, we should make a solid decision based on the information we have gathered and never based on peer pressure. Our decisions should be based on commitment to character vs popular opinion. We are not right because the crowd agrees with us. We are right because our data and reasoning are right. 

We should make decisions that lead us to the ultimate goal. We should always keep on course toward the ultimate purpose and let the decisions we make bring us to our destiny one decisive step at a time. 

Listen to Story 4. 

Make the Decision Be the Right One – We should keep in mind that, once a decision is made, little value is to be gained by looking back on it and wondering what might have transpired if a different decision had been made. The decision has been made. We should believe, in our own minds, that it was the right one. There is no way of knowing that we would be better off had we chosen a different option. Close the issue and press on! 

Listen to Story 5​. 

Conclusion

One of the primary character traits of an effective leader is decisiveness. We, as leaders, must be decisive. We should make sound decisions, based upon credible information, within the time allotted, and move on. No second guessing. No woulda, coulda, shoulda. It seems so simple, but how many of us get stuck at the crossroads, unable to put the stake in the ground and decide? 

The Latin of the word decision literally means, “to cut off.” Making a decision is about “cutting off” choices – cutting us off from some other courses of action. Now that may sound a little severe and limiting, but it’s not. It’s liberating. 

Thinking of a decision in this way has benefits after the decision is made. You have killed all the other options. They are gone. There is no need to spend  mental bandwidth on them any longer so we can get to the business of making the path we have chosen be the right one. 

Having many choices may appear great, but at some point, if we’re going to get to where we want to go, and if we’re going to attain what we want to attain, then we need to make some decisions. We shouldn’t view making a decision as a debilitating thing. It’s not actually “cutting us off,” as the root of the word may suggest. In fact, making a decision frees us from the shackles of endless choices so that we can get to where we want to go. 

But what if circumstances change? Aren’t we stuck with a less than optimum decision? Maybe. And then we are free to make another decision in the new light. 

Listen to Story 6. 

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“Draw your line in the sand. Make your decision now and start taking action to really live your dream. By not taking bold steps to live your dream, not only are you missing out on fully living, but the world is missing out on the greatness you have to offer. Be bold!”

Les Brown