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BE a Decisive Leader!
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Greetings!
"Many people set rules to keep from making decisions."
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Do you have role models that you admire for their demonstrated decisiveness in making the hard decisions? What is it that you actually admire about those people? Is it the way they make the tough calls seem so easy? Is it because they always seem to be making the good and right decisions? Can you remember times when they made a decision, and it turned out to be the wrong one? What happened then? Were they flexible enough to turn a bad decision around to advantage? If they had made the wrong call and they realized it, did they have the guts to own up, announce that they had made the wrong decision, and then act upon a recovery plan?
What about you, do you think you're a decisive leader? Do you want to be as decisive as the people you admire, but don't seem able to?
Ok, hang on. Before you start jumping on your proverbial horse and gallop away to close your million-dollar deal, I will add right here that deciding to wait is also being decisive. In fact, when the situation so dictates, in our action-oriented culture, deciding to wait is often very difficult, and waiting can seem interminable. So, I will declare right away here that, in some cases, waiting is much more important than simply rushing off to do something which could drain your resources and which may ultimately prove disastrous. So, while it is extremely important to take action, do recognize that deciding to wait, crouched with muscles like a coiled spring, ready to strike at precisely the right time, is deciding to act as well.
Having said all that, how do you become more decisive, and not more rash and impetuous? Here are a couple of handles that you need to become acquainted with beforehand:
Moral high ground.
When deciding on any course of action, make sure that you are approaching it from the moral high ground. Do you need to invest in hiring some expertise for the project because one of your people overlooked
 safety factors and that escaped your attention as well? The costs of the project will go up and your profits will shrink, but if you are well grounded in the qualities of responsibility and benevolence, you will have no difficulty in making that call. Kick yourself for failing to lead well, maybe, but you will not mentally start to explore"cheaper" options that will prove costly in the long run. Do you need to fire someone because that person has become a liability more than an asset? Do it. Your responsible due diligence would have ensured that everything in your power has been done to help make that person a better fit, and that all attempts at rehabilitation, training, etc, have not met with positive reciprocation. Retaining that person would mean that you are not acting responsibly, that you are not having the interests of all stakeholders at heart. In fact, firing that person would actually be good for him or her as well. Are you always on the moral high ground?
Sphere of control.
Is the decision you are about to make within your scope of responsibility? A great deal of vacillation occurs when people try to make decisions for which they actually have no authority. Have you been in that kind of situation? Talk things over with your immediate supervisor. If things do not change for the better, escalate the issue. At worst, you always have the opportunity to work somewhere else, or start your own business. At best, working conditions improve, and you actually become respected for doing what is right. Your supervisor would actually start asking for your opinions on decisions that need to be made, and you would be well placed for future advancement. On the other hand, have YOU placed your people in that kind of predicament? Go to them and sort things out. Remember, you can delegate function, but you can't delegate responsibility.
Scenario planning.
This is one aspect of training that most organizations do not do enough of. Too many are bogged down in the everyday demands of running the business, and pay scant attention to this important part of staying on track and keeping the business strategy fresh. Running these exercises may seem a waste of time, particularly when they don't bring in the visible money. However, these exercises may make all the difference between whether your company lasts, falls by the wayside, or becomes another Mergers & Acquisitions (M & A) statistic.
Decisiveness is a function of many things at the same time. Not only do we need to approach decisions from the moral high ground and ensure that the decisions we are about to make are within our sphere of responsibility, we also have to make those decisions when there are no precedents. Many people are fearful when faced with this situation, fearful of making the wrong decisions. Put away those fears. With your experience tempered with wisdom, and with as much wise counsel as you can get, go ahead and make the call in the integrity of your heart. If it happens that you made the right choice, you have entered ground-breaking territory. If it turns out that you made the wrong choice, bite the bullet, execute damage control, lick your wounds and steer your ship back on course. You will be glad you did. Go well!
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Business associate this week
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 Bill Sai, also known as the "Air Doctor", deals with making fresh, pure air available for everyone. Bill runs System O2 Technology, and is someone who is full of great ideas, fun to work with. If you realize that you breathe in 13 kg of air everyday, and have some idea of what that air looks like, you would want to get in touch with Bill. Particularly if you are in charge of, besides your own abode, a building where your enterprise reposes. Link up with Bill today! |
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Elijah Lim
Principal Consultant
Shining Arrow Consulting Pte Ltd
www.shiningarrow.com
65-97119005
60-19-3385138
Semper Audaces |
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