by Cody Hodge

Created on: October 07, 2009

One of the keys to being a good manager is to be decisive. When you are charged with handling people, you need to make sure that you are a solid leader, and one that can be trusted. One of the best ways to do this is to make a decision and then stick with it. You can modify it if the facts and situations change, but you should be firm in what you think is best for everyone around you. This will cause people to respect you, and understand that what you say goes.

When you are the manager, people look to you for guidance and leadership. if you have no idea what you want to do, those below you aren't going to be sure of what to do either. Some people might just do whatever they want, and most of the time that leads to bad results. The reason why companies have policies is to make sure that there are a set of rules to follow.

Even if you are wrong, there is nothing wrong with sticking with your decision. Now I know you can't be stubborn, and there is a fine line between stubborn, and decisive, but sometimes sticking with your decision is a good thing. Right or wrong, you have made a choice, and people should not be questioning your guidance. It is up to you to make decisions, and it is up to other people to carry out what you want to happen.

The point is more to solidify authority as opposed to making stupid decisions. After a period of time you are going to want to revise anything that you felt was a bad policy decision, but you want to see if your people will follow you regardless. This shows who the good workers are, and the ones who are going to be loyal to you. You know who your friends are, and who will do the job because it is their job.

Just make sure that you are making more good decisions than bad. If you are constantly making the wrong move, people are going to question your ability, and won't be as willing to follow you. Take the facts that you have, and the situation that is given to you, and make a decision. Even if it is a tough choice to make, you should still make it, and prove that you can be a leader for everyone, and not just those who are on your good side.

Decision making is a key to good leadership. You will be under fire most of the time, so you need to make choices that are going to be good for the team, and decisions that you can live with. People won't always like your choices, but if they are good for the company, and you stay firm, you are going to earn the respect of the people for at least sticking with your choices.

Learn more about this author, Cody Hodge.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.