Be willing to make the tough decisions, and once you’ve made your decision, don’t go back on your word. Even if people are against you or disagree with you, it is important that you can confidently and decisively make smart decisions. – Like a Boss: Six Defining Characteristics that all Effective Leaders Have in Common
We make decisions every single day — big decisions, small decisions, and even some that you’re not 100% sure of. Often times you have to learn to go with your gut. Just remember: as a leader, being wishy-washy is never effective. Sometimes you will have to make tough decisions.
Making Tough Decisions
When Anne Mulcahy began her career as a sales representative at Xerox in 1976, she never intended to one day be the president and CEO, especially not during the company’s most challenging times. Xerox was on the brink of collapse with an SEC investigation into its accounting practices and $18 billion in debt. Somehow, she managed to turn the company around and return it to profitability and prominence as “one of America’s best-known technology giants.”
When Mulcahy was chosen to lead Xerox in 2001, she made her first big decision as CEO. She reduced the workforce by 30 percent and got rid of the full desktop portion of the company. There is no doubt that these decisions were difficult to make; however, her decisiveness is what attributed to her ultimate success. Sometimes you have to be willing to make tough decisions and stand by those that you make. People may agree with your decisions at times, and people will definitely disagree with you at other times. But, it is important that you can confidently make those critical decisions.
Leadership is often synonymous with power. However, not all leaders are powerful—or effective. But the leaders who are effective are decisive, they can influence change. They can lead people to a common goal. Decisive leaders can influence trust and inspire those within their organization.