Swimmingly…

Today I reminded one of my favorite clients about the power of making decisions.  I reminded him of the book titled, The Unthinkable.  This is the book, remember, that highlights the three phases to making a decision during a crisis.  Here they are.  

Denial.

Deliberate.

Decide.

The first phase we mostly deny the need to do anything different.  On 9/11 the survivors took, on average, six minutes denying that there was a reason to head for the stairwells.  The second phase we acknowledge the need to do something and begin to look at all the alternatives. As leaders we tend to err on the side of caution here. We over evaluate.  We chew the cud.  We ruminate.  We procrastinate.  We wait for the authorities to tell us what to do.  We tell ourselves that we are being prudent. The truth is that we are being “chicken shits.”  

The final phase is deciding to ACT.  

I encourage all my clients to make more decisions and to make them faster.  The beauty is not in being right, it’s in being active.  The greatest leaders have a bent toward action.  Yes, they think first.  They simply understand that we can only think our way so far.  To get to the “other side” they realize that action is the only way. Transformational leaders understand that action is where it’s at.  They ACT.  Very cool.

Tonight, I received an email that highlighted four decisions that my client made.

TODAY.

Three went “swimmingly,” according to him.  

That, my friends, is what I call a stroke in the right direction.  

What decisions did you make today?

What decisions did you put off?

What decisions are you still deliberating?

Why?

Why?

Why?

Did you know the team is looking at each other and asking themselves this question, “What is he waiting for?”