Great leaders are decisive.
Not in the way that you might think.
Being decisive isn’t just about making fast decisions. It’s about being purposeful.
When you’re clear what’s important and what’s not, deciding what to do in the moment is easy.
Once you’ve set your mission, you need to make decisions. You want to feed your family – which food do you buy? You want to grow revenue, which products to sell? Which clients to engage? Which Project do you spend your time on?
Knowing what’s important is a critical life skill because important things deserve attention and unimportant things don’t. That’s what priorities are about.
What’s important gets faster decisions.
There’s more.
Leaders aren’t just decisive, they’re decisive for the team.
Purpose can be selfish.
When your purpose or mission is solely to advance yourself or meet some personal goals, you’re less effective as a leader. Good leaders make decisions based on the team’s objectives, not personal benefit.
I think we have all met leaders who are driven only by what benefits them, always a bad experience…
Training for leadership can start anytime in life simply by making decisions that don’t benefit you personally.
Think about something that you’d like to achieve that won’t impact your future, but someone else’s. Set a target and make it a priority on your list of things to do.
Then do it.
It might be charitable, to help a neighbor, but it doesn’t have to be. It maybe collaborative like a team sport or a group or family activity.
You might choose to keep your street clean, or join a sporting team. Or just provide for your family.
You’ll know it’s important when you find yourself making decisions to pick up litter or go out in the cold to play a game. Or stay home and make a meal.
What might otherwise be mundane, or a hobby, can double hat as leadership practice when you get into the habit of making decisions to benefit a group.
“..set priorities for things that don’t benefit you personally. …”
What are some of your Missions? (Nobody has just one…)
How many of them are really personal? About financial gain or wealth or health?
How many include others? Charitable, political, collaborative, family?
How often do you choose to do something that’s right for others but not in your immediate interest?
In the last few days?
Did you pick up some trash, meet with a group when you weren’t motivated to, make a meal for the family? Wipe the basin in a public bathroom?
When you did so was it an easy choice or reluctant? Were you decisive?
Are there objectives on your wish list that don’t turn into decisions?
If not, are they really part of your mission?
Does what you choose to do reveal what your real mission is?
If you can’t decide, maybe it’s not really important to you…
What are you decisive about?
.
.
“I might be wrong, but at least I’ve thought about it…”