7 Habits of Great Decision Makers

As a leader, decision making is part of the deal. Ultimately, everything comes down to what we want to happen and that means we make the final call. It’s tempting to think that small business owners are naturally good at decision making. Maybe. We do make more decisions on a daily basis but the truth is, decision making may not come easily all the time, and certainly not for all leaders. Wherever you are on the scale of decision making skills, we can all benefit from learning from those who are great at it.

Decide & Implement Quickly

When I was still working for someone else, I remember sitting at a meeting all frustrated. It was probably the 10th meeting we’ve had that year on the very same topic and I pushed my bosses – again – for a decision. I didn’t get it. They stalled. Again. Wanting more ‘data’. Again. I couldn’t move forward. Couldn’t do my job. Hardly surprising, our market share didn’t grow that year.

Sir Richard Branson, founder or Virgin has been reported to “make and implement decisions quickly — usually before our competitors in the market have held their fifth meeting on the same issue”.

We don’t make better decisions by stalling. Finalize and implement right away.

Be Brave

“Most people don’t have guts to make the tough decisions because they want to make the right decisions. So they make no decision, and that’s a decision.” Said Tony Robbins.

We aren’t going to make the right decisions every single time. We don’t have the ability to read the future, so the only way is to go forth bravely and try. Inaction is always the wrong decision. Think of it this way. We have the option of making the wrong decision all the time or the right decision sometimes. The choice is pretty clear.

Trust Your Instinct

This is the most intangible of all which can be scary. Perhaps that’s why many of us are afraid to go with out gut. Yet, it’s the one thing that many great decision makers and leaders rely on.

Tim Ferris says, “If you’re insecure, guess what? The rest of the world is too. Do not overestimate the competition and underestimate yourself. You are better than you think.”

Trust Your People

“If you want to hire great people and have them stay working for you, you have to let them make a lot of decisions and you have to, you have to be run by ideas, not hierarchy.” – Steve Jobs

Of course, you need to first trust you have hired the right people. If you aren’t convinced they are right for your company, why are they still there? Assuming they are the right ones – let go of that leash. It frees you up for other (perhaps) bigger decisions too.

Make Decisions Often

According to General Patton, “Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader.”

It is said that the skill of decision making is like a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it will be. So ahead and work those muscles. It’s a sign of a good leader.

Make Decisions Based On What You Know Now

Sometimes, it isn’t possible for us to have all the information we need. More often than not, we only get glimpses.

Robert K. Greenleaf says it best in his book Servant As Leader. “On an important decision one rarely has 100% of the information needed for a good decision no matter how much one spends or how long one waits. And, if one waits too long, he has a different problem and has to start all over. This is the terrible dilemma of the hesitant decision maker.”

Have A Routine & Simplify Your Life

In his autobiography, Benjamin Franklin wrote, “The precept of Order requiring that every part of my business should have its allotted time” and he followed this with a now famous daily routine chart.

Having a routine means you won’t have to decide when you’ll do the daily stuff. Your mileage goes further when you simplify your life and reduce your choices. E.g. Eating the same breakfast daily.

This would make as many daily decisions as “automatic” as possible, leaving you more focus, more bandwidth for those critical decisions you may encounter througout the day.

This doesn’t mean your life has to become monotonous. Rather, you save the variety for areas or things you want to enjoy the most, and not on the mundane like what you’re going to eat for breakfast, or what you should start working on in the morning.

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