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During the course of a day, people are faced with dozens of decisions. Some decisions are simple and are normally easy to take on, while others can take a little more thinking and consideration. Regardless of the nature of the decision, being decisive is a key factor in being an excellent leader in your personal life and in your career.
Think about the number of times during a day that you are faced with a decision. Do you decide quickly and with confidence or do you look to others for guidance and then just follow along with what everyone else wants? Following others is not displaying good leadership skills, but that’s exactly what you are doing if you tend to be on the indecisive side.
There are some decisions which need more thinking through than others, but did you know that if you take a long time to make decisions that you are actually being indecisive? If you are coming up with a new marketing plan for example, taking a few days to come up with your idea is not unreasonable, but if it takes weeks or months, then you may need to re-evaluate your decision making skills. Being indecisive can also make those around you feel as though you are not sure of yourself or that you are not confident in your decisions.
How do you improve your decision making skills so that you will be seen a leader?
•    Start with the small decisions that you have to make every day. For example, if someone asks you what you would like for a meal, do you speak your answer right away or do you take the backseat and reply “whatever you feel like eating?” By starting small, you can easily build up your decision making confidence.
•    Use role playing. Many people have a hard time making decisions because they come nervous or they are worried that what they say won’t be respected by their peers. When you role play, have another person first ask you simple questions and then lead into harder questions to answer. By doing this, you are going to become more comfortable with answering questions and making decisions quickly and efficiently.
•    Practice your communication and public speaking skills. Some people are shy or want to avoid being embarrassed and therefore have a hard time speaking their answers or ideas. If you can feel confident in the way that you communicate and present yourself, you decisiveness will also improve.
Those are just a few simple ideas to get you started, but there are several more ways that you can improve your decision making ability. If you have a hard time being decisive, then your peers and coworkers may not feel confident in the ideas or answers that you come up with. Even if your answer is not the best in the world, you will still be seen as a leader if you can answer decisively and with confidence.

Check pou more articles like this at 'Changing Times' or for help with leadership issues go to our website 'Business Savant'.