Dive in, the water’s fine (or do you make decisions too slowly?)

Photo courtesy of Easylocum (Creative Commons)

When I was on the swim team as a teenager, there were a lot of morning practices when the water was COLD, but we still had to get in and do our laps. There was one girl who would dangle her feet for a while, and then slide in up to her stomach, and then eventually, dip her shoulders in.

I found that instead of trying to get used to it a little at a time, it was best to just dive in and get that shock over with. Then for the rest of the practice, the water felt fine.

I have to admit that in many decisions I face in life, I act like that other girl and test the water by inching in when I should just take the plunge and jump – times when I delay instead of moving ahead.

I am a planner, so I tend to make sure everything is in place before I move on things, and that can mean missed opportunities. Plus, I prolong the discomfort by agonizing over a decision for a long period of time. I am amazed at the sense of relief when I have made a quick decision.

As a leader on your work team or in your family, you owe it to those you lead to be decisive. I have learned a few actions that can help you move your team forward:

• Worry doesn’t work: “dangling” too long causes us to become frozen by the indecision, and that can influence other decisions. We also paralyze our team because they cannot move forward.
• Determine your options: gather “enough” information to have several options. It doesn’t have to be exhaustive since seeking too many options can just be procrastination.
• Consider worst case scenarios: consider the worst that can happen with each option, and also with no decision. Not as bad as you thought, right?
• Make the decision: pick an option and go for it. Even if it’s not ideal, you are moving forward and can adjust from there.

As you get more comfortable with the decision-making process, the timeframe for gathering your options and looking at the worst case will shorten, so your resolution speed will increase.

On an individual level, you will be more productive and less agitated by indecision hanging over you.

On a work or group level, you can get your team involved by asking them to bring you the options for a decision, and asking their input. What a trust building exercise that would be, especially as you teach them what you consider before making a decision.

In what area(s) of your life do you need to dive in and make quicker decisions?

 

Leadership lessons from traffic

I gained a valuable leadership lesson from traffic this morning. I never know where inspiration will present itself, but I didn’t expect it to be at an early morning intersection.

This particular intersection has a traffic light, that flashes red one direction and yellow the other early in the morning. As I was running toward it, one car had stopped at the flashing red, and another stopped at the flashing yellow before turning left. And they sat there, polite as can be. I imagined the conversation in chipmunk voices – ” please go ahead,” “no i insist, you first,” “no by all means, after you.”

I’m dancing around, legs cramping, waiting on someone to go so I can continue my run. And I realized that sometimes the most important thing a leader can do it ACT.  I was wishing those drivers had been more decisive and had stepped up more quickly.

I bet there have been situations where you have waited on someone else to make a decision, or set a meeting, or move ahead on a project. And the longer you wait, the more frustrated you got, right?

What if you just took action yourself ? What if you took the initiative to set that meeting or make the decision which moves something ahead? Leaders at all levels of an organization can make an impact by taking action. Whether it is in a business, a nonprofit, a church or at home, the best leaders know when to take action.

In his book EntreLeadership, Dave Ramsey says, “A leader who won’t, or can’t, make decisions is never going to succeed and certainly will never become a full-fledged EntreLeader. When you make the choice to call yourself a leader, or even better yet, aspire to be an EntreLeader, you have to declare that passivity is no longer an option.”

He goes on to say, “You put all you dream about in jeopardy when you are indecisive.”

Wow – all you dream about in jeopardy. That alone incites action. Let’s gooooo!!!!!

The encouraging conclusion that Ramsey reaches is that “there is tremendous energy and peace that decision making brings. Your team is energized by a leader who can make the call as well.”

So here’s your challenge today. No matter what level leader you are, how can you stop being indecisive and ACT? Share in the comments and let’s encourage one another!