Be decisive

For better or worse, the buck has to stop with somebody, and that is you. There will often be difficult decisions which must be made and where there is not a clear best path. In those cases, you’ll want to work in two phases:

1. Gather input from people who may have good insight.
2. Decide what to do.

Once you make your decision, that is your decision and you should fully commit to it. This is for a couple of reasons.

First, you need to be able to really focus on executing the path you have chosen. If you are constantly thinking about other options, whether this was the right path, etc., you will not be focused and might be distracted, affecting your actual execution.

Second, your team needs to believe that you believe in your choice. If they detect that you are unsure, hesitant, or even resistant to the path you have chosen, they will not commit and you may end up with a half measure which is not good for everyone.

Few aspects of leadership are more important than being decisive. Once you have chosen a goal—whether the team has chosen the goal through consensus or whether you have chosen it for the team—your job as the leader is to decisively pursue that goal, leading the team with clarity.

Gather input. Decide. Execute.