Deciding to Decide

A choice can require additional data or more time. Members of the team need further deliberation to make an informed call. The customer has to check budget allocations. You're unsure it’s aligned with the overall strategy.

Waiting can be justified but excuses can also be the reason we wait. Some decisions require time, others aren't made because we're in the way.

We look for leadership to be decisive and crisp. It’s about helping people get better, keeping everyone on track, and getting stuff done. But it isn't always smooth in real life. How often have you finally pulled the pin and the relief quickly replaces your fear?

Some inspiration as we deliberate:

The only person you really have control over is yourself.
Deborah Reber

It is in your moments of decision that your destiny is shaped.
Tony Robbins

When you make the right decision, it doesn't really matter what anyone else thinks.
Caroline Kennedy

Peacefulness follows any decision, even the wrong one.
Rita Mae Brown

Almost any decision is better than no decision at all.
Brian Tracy

Once you make a decision, the universe conspires to make it happen.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

What's your decision?
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Big Moments

When you're thinking of an idea, a project, a career move, a relationship change, or any other important event in your life, it's often easier to let your mind fly a bit. These are big moments in our lives; to take that new gig on the west coast, to leave that person who has shared your life, to buy that house, the list goes on. We face decisions every day but the big ones can be debilitating.

I was in a relationship that was going nowhere but I was too scared to move forward. It wasn't my fault, it wasn't hers, we both got stuck and once that messy process was done, we were both better off.

"Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task." William James

I once took a job on a handshake. It was a big move, a big opportunity, and it changed the trajectory of my life. It shifted my thinking, it kicked me in the ass, it made me stand up straight and take a chance.

You're facing something in your life right now. You know it can't stay where it is but you're scared or unsure which way to go. Find quiet, make a list of pros and cons, and take the necessary time. Go for a drive, crank some music, get time alone, and do what it takes to face it head on so you can identify exactly what you're looking at.

If you need help, send me an email and we can discuss.
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Kneale Mann | People + Priority = Profit
New Book out in 2016 – Details soon!

Inquisitive Intuition

The intuitive mind is a sacred gift and the rational mind is a faithful servant. We have created a society that honors the servant and has forgotten the gift. Albert Einstein

It’s often said that things happen for a reason. It’s often said that we adapt to the result with which we’re faced with at any given time. This is not a work thing, it’s a life thing. We create what we want – even when it doesn't feel like it. Our energy pulls in what we focus on which can be what we want or what we don't want.

As children, one of the first words we learn is "no". Words such as; yes, imagine, how, create, come much later which may be why we gravitate to "can't" far too often. That may be why we first hear no in our minds soon after the idea. As leaders, we need to make sound decisions, but nothing is guaranteed so there is always be a chance of a misstep. But taking chances is where growth thrives.

First Impressions

Malcolm Gladwell talks about that feeling you get in your gut when you know you’re right in his book Blink. It happens to all of us. We sense there’s an opportunity, we feel it’s a good one, and then justify the reasons not to act. Our reflection then creates the "I knew it!" moment.

We have to be careful not to build in failure at the design stage then work toward fulfilling that prescribed inevitability. What we need to do is learn from past challenges but focus on successes. Food for thought for the next time you get that nagging urge to act yet find some excuse stop yourself.

Let's listen to our intuition more and stop thinking so much.
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Kneale Mann | Leadership Strategist, consultant, writer, speaker, executive coach facilitating performance growth with leaders, management, and teams.

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Clocks Back • You Forward

In parts of the world, clocks fell back an hour this weekend. An extra hour of sleep we lost in the spring. Strange things happen around these two events each year. Some find autumn tougher while others think adding an hour of daylight in March messes them up. One thing to be thankful for is that most gadgets have a clock that automatically makes the change for us.

Great ideas often come from short bursts of inspiration. Companies have been born over a lunch. An hour can be spent on the couch or used to change the world. Thirty-six hundred seconds to accomplish anything we want, what are we going to do?

60 Ideas for 60 Minutes

• Update your resume
• Empty your in-box
• Say no
• Offer your time to a charity
• Call mom
• Make cookies
• Get rid of self-doubt
• Have coffee with someone new
• Write your business plan
• Listen without talking
• Go skydiving
• Tweet
• Write a proposal
• Ignore the naysayers
• Share an idea
• Start a business
• Call a sibling
• Gain some perspective
• Plan a trip
• Apply for your dream job
• Build a chair
• Learn euchre
• Do something that scares you
• Make soup
• Stop making excuses
• Find new websites
• Call a friend
• Go for a drive and get lost
• Ride a horse
• Invent a product
• Have a bath
• Go easy on yourself
• Prepare a meal
• Take a nap
• Start a graffiti wall
• Remove negative influences
• Make amends
• Say yes
• Update social profiles
• Have lunch with a friend
• Get off your ass and do it
• Paint a t-shirt
• Quit your whining
• Watch a webinar
• Learn to juggle
• Prepare a presentation
• Call dad
• Play squash
• Help a friend
• Clear your desk
• Contact a potential business associate
• Enjoy nature
• Go bowling
• Listen to a podcast
• Plant a tree
• Help someone with their list
• Prepare your will
• Go square dancing
• Write a chapter for your new book
• Lose the fear

What are you doing in the next hour?

Kneale Mann

image credit: istock