Being a leader is about living your life in a way that inspires or encourages others. To lead is to serve. If you make it your goal to do the best that you can and to help people, then you can't fail. I encourage you to commit to keep learning.

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One of the first things you’ll notice when you become a leader is that you’ll constantly need to make decisions that impact others. It can be intimidating to have so much responsibility resting on your shoulders. Some decisions might be easy while others will have tremendous implications and consequences with much more at stake, and will be difficult to make. In general, the bigger the consequence or financial magnitude, the more thought you should put into your decision. You’ll want to consult with others, ask experts, and use all the resources you have available so you can make an informed decision.

Not every decision should be approached the same way, and so when you need to make one you should first ask yourself:

1. Is it important? What’s the expected impact of the decision? Identifying early on the importance of a decision, allows you to bring the proper focus and energy into making it. Some decisions have very little effect on your company or yourself while others can be life changing.
   
2. Are you the right person to make the decision? People will often come to you and ask you to make a decision for them. Ask yourself if you’re the best person to do this, or if you should help them identify a decision-making path for themselves. Maybe someone else should make this decision now and in the future.
3. Is it life-changing? Ask yourself, “Is this decision a hair-cut or a tattoo?” Meaning, is this something that will be permanent or something that’s short-term? Obviously, long-term decisions require more thought, energy, and processing time than something that will be short-lived.
   

In every case, you need to consider all of your alternatives before making a decision. Don’t close your mind to a single point of view. Listen to others first. Get honest feedback, gather all the information possible, and push back until you completely understand the situation and the consequences of the decision you’re considering. Emotions, moods, and snap judgments are bound to influence you. Your final decision must be based on a clear and careful review of the situation, and the correct evaluation of the conditions, tempered by special circumstances, timing, and priorities. Then, a plan of action must be developed and put into place. It can be a complex and difficult undertaking to make a decision, so don’t do it while you’re under pressure.

Thinking on your feet. Sometimes it might be necessary and advantageous for you to “think on your feet” and make a decision in an instant that could greatly impact you and those around you. Initially, this might make you uncomfortable, but remember that developing self-confidence comes from experience, preparation, and awareness of any consequences of your decisions. That confidence is built using many small parts, such as reading, continuing education, learning from past decisions, and taking control of your emotions. The foundation of confidence is past success.

It’s very important for you to pay full attention when being asked to make a decision. If you’re only half-listening because you’re trying to read your email, or trying to finish up on another project, you’ll only absorb part of what’s being said and so will only have part of the information, reasoning, and facts. You’ll only achieve part of what you should have and you’ll make bad decisions.

Being consistent. A big part of the decision-making process is training the people around you on the factors that you consider while making your decisions. It’s really important to create systems for the decision-making process for any project, and especially for those that are repeated. These systems will establish how to gather and present facts and how to look at them systematically. This not only encourages consistency but also allows your employees or others on the team to grow and to learn to make the same quality decisions you would make whether you’re there or not. For example, if you have a system or a formula that you use as a basis for making a decision about ordering books or supplies, then the person responsible for presenting it to you for your approval should always use the same formula to come up with their proposal. If you do the research and perform the calculations the same way every time, then you’ll know what you’re saying yes or no to. You can always say, “Let’s do 80 percent.” Or, “Let’s do 110 percent.” based on current circumstances or compelling reasons, but your decision will be sound—for that moment!

Change. If you’re being asked to make a decision on something that involves a change from what was done before, ask for the compelling reason for the change. What will you accomplish by making it? If there’s no compelling reason, there’s no reason to make the change. It’s very easy to say yes to every request, and then as the years go by, and you look back at the evolution of that project, department, or product you might find yourself completely off track from your original goals and not understand quite how you got there. Keep your long-range goals in mind when you make decisions, and if it’s not necessary to change what you’ve done in the past then don’t do it. Go back and look at what you did the last time, so the good stuff isn’t overlooked. If something worked, do it again. Ask yourself if making a change is going to result in something better. If not, continue doing it the same way. Of course, doing something the same way for years is no reason for you to continue doing it just because you’ve always done it that way. Decide on making a change after you’ve determined the compelling reason for it. By creating decision-making models you’ll reduce the need to constantly make new decisions! Your decisions can be based simply on the new facts, rather than worrying about what else might have changed that you’re not considering.

Having to make so many decisions can be overwhelming, so you’ll need to find your stride. Confidence will come from experience. Also, remember that being patient about making a decision is different than being indecisive. Sometimes it’s better to just let the situation play out; it will either resolve itself, or the decision will make itself obvious in time.

I have a rule, if a decision is about something that’s going to happen in the future: I don’t want to hear about it now. I have so much information coming in at me, and so many decisions I’m asked to make, that unneeded information fills my head, distracts me from what I need to concentrate on, and there’s nothing I can do about it right now anyway.

Move what’s not important out to a future date and concentrate on the decision at hand. Slow down. Focus. Apply the 80–20 Rule.

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The above content is extracted from Mike Holt's Leadership Skills textbook.