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Certainty and Decisiveness Breeds Confidence

Written by: Marshall W. Northcott

Article Overview: Why must you lead others with certainty and decisiveness? How will a lack of these qualities hurt you and your team? Read on to learn more...

Certainty and Decisiveness Breeds Confidence

No doubt you've heard the saying the only sure thing in life is death and taxes. Before you get the idea that I am going to suggest otherwise, be assured I am not! There are no guarantees and that is a fact. For the masses, the followers of life however, a key quality or trait of leadership is the ability to lead with certainty and decisiveness.

Life presents us with many uncertainties and to some degree this is desirable because it creates some excitement and energy for us as human beings. There are some things that we do purely because of the lack of certainty and not knowing how things will go or in what way they will work out. When it comes to leadership traits however uncertainty and indecisiveness are very undesirable qualities. Certainty is a basic human need that gives people a sense of security and peace of mind. They must know that in your role as a leader, that you are certain and decisive in your decisions. This is true even when inside you don't know 100% if you are making the right call or taking the best direction.

It's not so much that you must be 100% convinced every time that you decide to do something that it is the absolute perfect thing to do! How could you be that positive every single occasion? It just isn't possible. What is important however, is that those that you lead believe that you have chosen the most suitable course of action based on the knowledge that you have from the information available at the time. They must not see you moving forward with hesitation and trepidation because they count on their ability to lean on you and trust your judgment. Once you have waived the green flag they want to know that all systems are go and it's full steam ahead!

Generally speaking people hate flip flopping and they lose confidence real quick if you are indecisive. It makes them uneasy and nervous. They need to know that there is a pattern of logic and sensibility, "rhyme and reason" otherwise they will lack confidence and consider you to be a flake. It is important that people build confidence in your leadership and this is done by seeing you make decisions, execute plans and then see things through to completion with assurance.

Relentlessly bouncing ideas around, having indefinite discussions about the implementation of systems or examining potential changes in the way you do business with no end in sight frustrates and annoys team members. This is how the government method for doing business at glacier speed. As tax payers it drives most of us crazy and we often poke fun at it! For the most part we rather have them go ahead and occasionally admit that they jumped in too quickly or made a mistake than drag things out forever and never get anything accomplished.

Your team members will be more forgiving when you are certain in your ways and decisions even when you make mistakes. They will be uncomfortable with plan of the day management style, changing direction with the wind or seeing you running and hiding for cover. This way of leading doesn't instill confidence in anyone! Sticking to decisions and seeing things through to completion matters to on-lookers. They need to know that you are a rock and be able to count on your resolve.

You must know in advance whether or not you will compromise your principles, bend the rules, contradict your values, go against your morals or jeopardize your ethics. People, in most cases, won't follow someone wishy-washy who flip flops. They get great comfort in following a leader who has a decisive conviction in their character.

Almost anyone can be a leader during picture perfect times. It is during trying times and moments of adversity that we really discover the true essence of leadership. It is when your own certainty and decisiveness are put to the test and you must rely on faith to see you through that you really find out what you are made of. This is when someone with true leadership characteristics will step up to the plate and take charge.

"Of course there is no absolute certainty, but we want certainty the car will start, the water will flow from the tap when we turn it on and the currency we use will hold its value." - Tony Robbins

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Article Tags: Certainty, Clarity, Decisiveness, Sales Leadership, Sales Management, Setting Expectations



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