Leadership Skills: Decision Making
Decision making is one of the most crucial leadership skills. Some people make decisions without any difficulty, while others struggle. Are you having trouble making a decision? Do you feel overwhelmed by all the choices you have, and aren’t sure how to pick just one? No matter how big or small those decisions might be, I can teach you how to strategically:
- Define your decision and come up with alternatives.
- Determine what criteria you’ll need to help you make the decision.
- Make the decision
“If we wait for the moment when everything, absolutely everything is ready, we shall never begin.” – Ivan Turgenev, famous 19th-century Russian novelist, poet and playwright
DEFINING THE DECISION AND ALTERNATIVES
STEP 1:
What is it that you need to make a decision about? Maybe you have several choices to make, but start with one. Ask yourself a couple of questions that are applicable to your situation, such as:
“What do I want to be doing for the next 6 months?” “What business am I going to start?” “What aspect of my business do I want to grow?”
STEP 2:
Determine your primary goal and write it down. For example, you might want to grow your business over the next six months. Therefore, your goal sentence might be: “I want to earn 25% more within the next 6 months.”
STEP 3:
After you’ve written your goal sentence, begin brain-storming a list of ideas for how to achieve the goal. Below are some rules for brainstorming:
— Write all ideas down – ideas are neither bad or good–they’re just ideas!
— Do not judge or analyze the idea – just write it down.
— Make the process fun!
You do not have to generate a list of ideas in one sitting, but you may need to set some limits around how much time to spend creating your list. Be creative in how you capture your ideas. Carry a small notebook with you so when an idea comes to you, you’ll be prepared and write it down immediately.