From John Maxwell:

“The pessimist complains about the wind
The optimist expects it to change
The leader adjusts the sails”
“Number one characteristic of a good leader –
The ability to make things happen.”

What about you? Are you adjusting the sails or are you just thinking about it?

Are you taking action or are you still considering it?

How many of us just hate it when someone in a leadership role can’t seem to make a decision? I know personally, it drives me crazy. I have a very simple saying, make up your mind please.

In my first managerial position I had a great boss, he taught me the only thing that has helped me succeed, which is the ability to make decisions.

He had a simple philosophy, “just make one decision and move on, if you made the wrong decision, life will go on, you’ll just have to make another decision to make it right.”

In my first management review I got hammered a lot, not because I was doing a bad job, but simply because I wasn’t making decisions, I was waiting, thinking, analyzing. I can still remember the words, “Manny, you’re doing a great job, but you have to learn to make decisions.”

And you? Do you still think about it?

This isn’t just a business lesson today, it’s a life lesson. If you are the CEO of a Fortune 500 company, or a spouse and parent of 3 children, you need to take action and you need to take responsibility for it.

Many times we are trapped in fear. We are just afraid to pull the trigger.

One of the main problems with leadership today is that we spend a lot of time talking about it, analyzing it, thinking about it.

How about we just make a decision and move on? Why is it so difficult for leaders to make decisions today? Do you know that the higher you go in any organization:

1. The faster you have to make decisions
2. The less information you have to make those decisions
3. The greater the impact of those decisions.

No matter what, you’re never going to have all the information. No matter what, you are always going to run the risk of making a mistake.

From Og Mandino in The World’s Greatest Salesman. “There has never been a map, however, carefully executed to detail and scale that led its owner even an inch of ground. There has never been a scroll of law, however, just enough to prevent a crime. Action is food and the drink that will fuel my success.”

If you find yourself thinking about it, if your team doesn’t seem to be moving the way you know it should, if it seems hesitant, then start this week and make decisions faster.

Remember, it’s okay for leaders to make mistakes. Don’t get sucked into the political model that is always trying to hang the leader for every decision he makes. Success comes from making mistakes. Great leadership comes from making decisions, right or wrong.

Take some action – now – today.

You need to take action. As Joyce Meyer says: “Be aggressive to help others, don’t wait until you feel like it, don’t wait for a supernatural sign that God wants to use you. Just start.”

Nothing happens until you do something. Nothing happens with you or your team until you make the decisions you need to make. Nothing happens until you take action.

A final quote from John Onberg says: “If you want to walk on water, you have to get out of the boat.”

If you want to move on, get off the boat and take action today.