Once heard Chris Widener talk on a SUCCESS Magazine CD. During the talk he posed this question: "What hard decision are you not making?" He went on to say that by delaying our decisions, we are costing ourselves precious time. If on the other hand, we make the decision (and it turns out to be the wrong decision), we may still have time to correct it.
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Zig Ziglar used to call it a "check-up from the neck up." And I was recently reminded of it while reading this Gallup article on the Psychology of Entrepreneurs.
Your most important opinion has little to do with sports, politics or religion. But as an "A Player," it has everything to do with your success.
Your most important opinion is the one you have of yourself.
This opinion, known as your self esteem, is so important that almost everything you do is aimed at increasing your feelings of self esteem or protecting it from being damaged by other people and circumstances. In his book, Honoring The Self, Nathaniel Branden states, “The greatest barrier to achievement and success is not lack of talent or ability but, rather, the fact that achievement and success, above a certain level, are outside our self-concept, our image of who we are and what is appropriate to us.”
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Many CEOs pay lip service to the statement that "their people are their greatest asset." Do you, do you really believe your team, your people, are your greatest asset? And if yes, do you have recruiting and talent management processes that allow you to attract, hire, develop and retain your "leaders of tomorrow"? Do you run a "learning organization" and do you realize the value of "development opportunities" for attracting and retaining the best and brightest? If not, better make some quick changes. Because, according to Dr. Brad Smart in his e-book, Avoid Costly Mis-Hires, after conducting 65,000 case studies, the single most important factor in a leader’s (company's) success is the talent of the team assembled.
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Decision Making: Utilizing effective processes to make decisions.
We've previously discussed the importance of hiring for solid decision making skills. Now we turn to improving your decision making. How are your decision making skills?
I know that I struggled in my early adult years with this skill. My first breakthrough came when a friend offered that very few decisions carry such dire consequences that they can't be undone. He said, the best approach was to gather enough information to support your decision and then make a decision. If that decision turns out to be wrong, you can make another decision. I've also used a decision making process I learned from one of Donald Trump's first books, Trump: The Art of the Deal. In the book, Trump explained that he approached many decisions by trying to decide the worst possible outcome of the decision. Then, assuming he could live with that worst possible outcome, he went forward with the decision.
Decisiveness is a critical skill to success in business and life. Here is a process we recommend to our executive coaching clients:
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