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When we talk about decisive Leaders and leadership do you see yourself? 

Do you identify with the key characteristics and traits, and importantly, understand why decisive leadership matters in today’s competitive, fast-paced Business world? 

Decisive leadership is the ability to make confident, purposeful, and timely decisions even in times of uncertainty. Effective, decisive Leaders start with knowledge, insights and experience and support that by involving experts when needed. They make ‘good’ decisions using a mixture of wisdom, analysis, and judgement. 

Decisiveness isn’t about arrogance or impulsiveness, nor recklessness and making rash decisions.  

Indecisive Leaders hesitate and risk undermining their Teams trust and jeopardising project progress and outcomes. They often handball decisions to others without due diligence or lose opportunities by indecision. 

Decisive Leader Profile:

Confidence - leaders believe in their judgement, act and seize opportunities. This is gained by gathering the necessary information and supporting sound decision processes. They have the courage and conviction to balance analysis with bold decisions. 

Composed – they are calm under pressure, rational and clear thinking. Acting with purpose and clarity. They balance decisiveness with reflection and critical thinking.   

Timeliness – can make well-informed choices, more quickly at the right time. 

Accountability – are committed, taking ownership and responsibility for their decisions. Will adapt and adjust if needed, learning from past experiences. They stand by their decisions and own mistakes if made. 

Communication – clearly communicates their decisions to avoid ambiguity or misunderstanding. This provides direction, builds trust, credibility, inspires and motivates Teams and Organisations to achieve goals. 

Continuous Learning – Decisive Leaders gain wisdom from ongoing learning, are open to new ideas, and self-improvement.  

Self-Awareness - Emotional intelligence, self-awareness, is key to understanding oneself and the actions of those around you and the circumstances you find yourself in. To have a better sense of your environment pay attention to the behaviour and moods of others within it.  

Decisiveness requires Leaders to tap into their logic, intuition, and experience, combining a number of traits into a mechanism that allows them to act responsibly, with confidence for the benefit of all concerned.   

Decisive Leader examples include

• Vogue editor Anna Wintour described in a recent news article as ‘known to some as ‘Nuclear Wintour’ for her decisive leadership. Reportedly, 'she took over the magazine and transformed it into a powerhouse that set trends and often maked or breaked designers, celebrities and brands'. 

• Another is Commander of Apollo 13, can-do spaceman, James Lovell, who recently passed away. It was during his last space mission that he came to embody for the public the image of the cool, decisive astronaut. On the way to the moon, an oxygen tank exploded. They had no solutions but Lovell took control and by calmly solving the problems, the Team survived to return safely home. Who can forget those words “Houston we’ve had a problem!’  

You may be a leader of many or few, leading a space mission to the moon or running a small Business unit, your decisiveness is powerful and key to delivering successful results!