Decision-making is the core responsibility of a leader or business owner, with an organization’s success or failure often hinging on the ability of its management to make good choices. However, many entrepreneurs lack faith in their judgment or allow personal beliefs to cloud their strategies, resulting in lost opportunities and glacially slow growth.
On this episode of The Small Business Show, host Jim Fitzpatrick is joined by George Deeb, best-selling author, Forbes contributor, and managing partner at Red Rocket Ventures. Deeb is a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in mentoring successful business owners and effective managers. His insights into leadership make him a valuable resource for those looking to found their own companies or lead their teams to success. Now, he discusses the skills that comprise good decision-making so that entrepreneurs know how to improve the speed and accuracy of their judgment.
Key Takeaways
1. There are five key skills to good decision-making. Business owners must be knowledgeable, intuitive, receptive, nimble and receptive.
2. To be knowledgeable, entrepreneurs must have a grasp of the data and variables affecting their industry. The greater their understanding of their sector’s function, the better decisions business owners can make when setting their strategies.
3. For business owners, intuition refers to their “gut instinct” or common sense. While entrepreneurs should avoid relying solely on personal feelings, having a good instinct is a powerful tool that will keep a team aligned with its goals.
4. Business owners should never make choices without the input of others in their industry. To improve their decision-making abilities, entrepreneurs must lend an ear to employees, experts, managers, and others who have insight into the issues facing their organizations.
5. Speed matters when making decisions. Rather than letting themselves get bogged down with the details, entrepreneurs should prioritize nimbleness and agility so as to avoid missing opportunities.
6. Entrepreneurs must also approach decision-making with an open mind. By being flexible and avoiding headstrong behavior, business owners can navigate unpredictable markets and react faster to unexpected events.
"Don't waste a whole lot of time on the stuff at the bottom of the list because you're not really moving the business forward in a material kind of way. Focus on the things that will move you materially and good things will happen." — George Deeb
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