Decisiveness And Business

On an episode of Celebrity Apprentice, it became apparent to me that making decisions is something a lot of people struggle with – even very successful people … and celebrities. When asked directly by Mr. Trump who should be fired, nobody would give a direct answer. And, it’s important to note that this resistance is apparent in both the women and the men.

It’s amazing to watch people struggle with making a commitment to even what many of us would consider the most basic decisions. You’ve seen it too. The person who stands at the local franchise hamburger joint with their hands in their pockets looking at the big board in front of them for what seems like an hour, just trying to decide what they want. Really, it’s pretty basic, they really only have hamburgers and french fries – how hard can this be?

We could all site numerous other examples of this is life in general, on almost a daily basis. And, it happens in our businesses just as often.

Implementation and execution are two of the biggest issues business owners struggle with. We hear it all the time. These are the two areas most people need the most help with. It really boils down to getting things done.

Decisiveness and implementation go hand-in-hand. The more decisive you are in your decisions, the quicker you pull the trigger to try something new or to get something done, the sooner you know if that particular project or campaign was a success or not and to what level. At that point, you can either scrap it all together and move to the next thing, or make modifications and adaptations to it to make it better.

So many times this lack of decisiveness is a matter of fear. If you’re apprehensive about trying something new or taking a risk, you will tend to procrastinate doing that thing. More often than not, the project simply never gets done, it never gets off the ground, because of this fear or indecisiveness.

This isn’t about taking silly, uncalculated risks, or doing things that will be a detriment to your business. It’s about being willing to step out ant do something a little different or trying something new that you saw working in another industry in your business. Sometimes it as simple as making the decision to fire that long time employee or vendor that has been causing you issues – you know the one that’s been with you for so long that it’s comfortable knowing their there, yet you know deep down that if you just severe the relationship, things will get better all the way around.

Business is about taking some risks once in a while and watching them pay off and pay off big. It’s also about making decisions and making them quickly and with confidence so you can move on to the next thing that needs to be done.

So, go be decisive today. Make a decision with confidence and watch it pay off for you and your business. After a while, you’ll even feel better about making decisions this way.