The best entrepreneurs charge forward with confidence in their decision-making ability instead of holding back in fear – ultimately turning times of uncertainty to their advantage. But the chances of success can be compromised by any of the 10 bad decision-making habits, offered by Gino Wickman in the e-book, DECIDE. Avoid them all!
1. Thou Shalt Not Rule by Consensus
Your business will grind to a halt if you try to get total consensus. The problem is decisions are not being made quickly enough, resulting in missed opportunities. With consensus management, leaders and teams typically don’t agree on what should be done, by whom, by when…so nothing gets done.
Good leaders listen to the ideas and opinions of others, but it’s their responsibility to make decisions – or delegate the decision-making to someone else with an agreed upon completion date. When everyone has had their say and a decision is made, it’s time for everyone to get on board and do their part as a unified front.
2. Thou Shalt Not Be a Weenie
Businesses don’t die from a single shot to the head. They die, slowly but surely, from 1,000 uncompleted tasks. It takes a strong will and firm resolve to make tough decisions. So decide!
3. Thou Shalt Be Decisive
In Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill studied over 25,000 people who experienced failure. The primary reason was lack of decision making and procrastination. On the other hand, studies of hundreds of millionaires show that every one of them had a habit of reaching a decision quickly and changing those decisions slowly.
4. Thou Shalt Not Rely on Secondhand Information
Sometimes leaders make decisions involving multiple people without all the involved parties. Making decisions based on second hand information is dangerous, leaving those who are affected by the decision feeling frustrated with lack of buy-in.
5. Thou Shalt Fight for the Greater Good
By focusing on the greater good, rather than egos, emotions and past beliefs, you will make better and faster decisions. By keeping the greater good of the organization at the forefront, decision making will be elevated to mission and purpose, versus politics and personalities.
6. Thou Shalt Not Try to Solve Them All
Another secret to great decision making is to prioritize the right ones. By solving the most important ones first, you’ll find some of the other issues on the list will drop off because they were symptoms of the real issue.
7. Thou Shalt Live with It, End It, or Change It
In the end, there are really only these 3 choices – Live with it, end it, or change it. If you decide to live with it, stop complaining. This advice comes from Gino Wickman’s mentor, his father, Floyd Wickman. There are no other choices.
8. Thou Shalt Choose Short-Term Pain and Suffering
The months, weeks and hours leading up to a tough decision, such as having to let go of an employee or even fire a client, are painful, but after “36 hours of pain,” it’s typical for leaders to feel like it was the best decision made for the greater good of the company. Most leaders wonder why they didn’t make the tough call earlier. Fear of making a tough decision is many times worse than actually doing it. So pick short-term suffering (36 hours of pain) over long-term suffering by not taking action.
9. Thou Shalt Enter the Danger
In DECIDE, this is one of the best principles: The issue you fear the most is the one you most need to discuss and resolve! Take a clarity break or bring the issue to your family or team so you can get moving forward with clarity again. Don’t be a weenie!
10. Thou Shalt Take a Shot
Sometimes decision making can drag on because nobody proposes a solution. Take a shot! If it’s wrong, people will let you know. Besides, your proposed solution might help your team get to an even better solution – and encourage others to put a decision on the table.
The mark of a great leader is consistently being a great decider! With the world moving faster than ever before, sound decision making in these difficult times is especially critical. The 10 Commandments of Good Decision Making will help you build your clarity and decision-making confidence, increase your team’s alignment – and ultimately improve your results!