Decision Making Habits of Leaders

UNCAGED CLINICIAN
Blog

March 9, 2025

Be Decisive; don't procrastinate!

Taking the leap into entrepreneurship comes with all sorts of doubts, fears, and anxieties.

The first order of business (no pun intended) for all new practice owners is to grow a caseload that allows them to replace their salaries so as to not jeopardize their financial well being.

Totally understandable.

In order to grow a thriving business - one that ensures lasting success - the entrepreneur must begin to make the transition from "busy self-employed clinician" to a business leader; regardless of whether the plans are to add staff, locations, or not.

Becoming a leader, no matter the size of the company, takes some know-how.

One of the top skills any leader should learn is how to become skilled at Decision Making.

For all of us, the quality of our decisions will help to shape the quality of our lives, and our businesses.

The challenge happens to be that most of us are not great at making decisions, even down to the little day-to-day things.

For example, we tend to spend beyond our budgets to satisfy our desires.

Despite wishing we could lose a few pounds, we struggle with avoiding fast food, over eating, and desserts.

Exercising in some shape, form, or fashion tends to be an afterthought.

A hard truth is that when we are not good at the little things, we probably going to falter with bigger things.

The good news is that we can become good leaders! One of the best skills to work on first is our decision making talents.

As a footnote, we want to be transparent with today's information, and give credit to the amazing mind of Craig Groeschel.

Often times, we see a decision as coming down between a "This or That". We may see this as an Either - Or situation.

When at all possible, we want to avoid these types of situations, because thinking there are only two options can limit our creativity to consider all possibilities.

A better, more cost-productive way could be missed by backing our thinking into a corner.

A good idea is to ask others around you: "What might I be missing here?"

Another decision making tool is to Decide When You are Going to Decide.

Many of us are gifted at making "to-do" lists. A "to-decide" list can be equally valuable.

This shouldn't be confused with procrastinating.

Procrastination can be the kryptonite to a business. Unfortunately, more than some of us are good at procrastinating.

A "to-decide" list can be looked at as procrastinating on purpose.

Decisions can have lasting effects. The last thing we want to do is to make a decision when we are not at our best.

Pick a time of the day or even the week when you know that you tend to be on our A-game, and make a portion of that time your decision making time.

For this to be effective, it's imperative to write things down on your "to-decide" list.

What can be wonderful about a Decision Making Time is that it creates momentum. Once the first decision is made, others can become simpler to make - and with more confidence.

Keeping the thoughts and ideas in your head will do nothing more than clog up your brain and lead to sleepless night.

Not having deadlines, even if they are artificial ones, will slow us down and create unnecessary stress.

In making decisions, be decisive; not impulsive.

Impulsiveness can lead to unwanted consequences later.

If we wait until full certainty, it could be too late.

One thing that is known is that being slow at decisions will not contribute to a higher performing practice, for the business itself nor the team.

Not sure what should be done in a situation? No problem. Become Your Own Mentor.

When faced with a challenging decision, consider: What if someone else were to ask me for advice in this situation? What would I do?

Looking at things through a different set of eyes can allow for a separation of emotions from whatever the decision entails.

This is very much in the same context of having "Mr. Budget" to tell us that we can't spend money on something that we want. If the budget says "no", then it helps to take out our emotional desire.

The final two strategies we want to cove today on Decision Making are: Delegate as Many Decisions as Possible and Increase Your Tolerance for Mistakes.

These may seem to go against one another, but they must go hand-in-hand.

As the proud owner of "your baby", delegating decisions can be a risky proposition. It is!

Referring back to the beginning of today's writing, there comes a time when the entrepreneur must make the transition from being a busy employee to becoming a leader.

In business, if we as the founders are the only ones making decisions, then our need to control everything will become our greatest limiting factor.

We will constantly struggle with employees who seem to "underperform". The growth we desire may never happen.

In the long run, it can be more costly to not delegate decisions simply for the fact that failure to delegate decisions to others will lead to a failure in developing other leaders within the business.

To build a practice, or any business, that has a big impact within the community, it can be to our advantage to make as few decisions as possible.

Developing other leaders around you will strengthen your mission.

If you would permit us, Proverbs 11:14 tells us that "Without wise leadership, a nation (business) falls; there is safety in having many advisors."

The more people who feel empowered, the stronger the culture, the better the environment, the greater the success that will achieved.

Increasing our tolerance can lead to the willingness to take bigger risks. With bigger risks come greater rewards.

We will struggle to succeed if we don't take risks. Much in the way that our dream of creating a different life for ourselves would not stand much of a chance if we didn't take the risk of becoming uncaged.

In taking the risk of becoming uncaged it is fair to assume that mistakes might occur along the way, which is why we must tolerate risks.

Thinking we, as the business owners, are the only ones to make decisions means we are overestimating ourselves and underestimating those around us.

A final thought on this...

Delegating decisions is very different than delegating tasks.

A task is giving someone an assignment. People who perform assignments all day become nothing more than followers.

Followers are the ones who become "burnt out" and want to leave.

Hmm.... sound familiar?

Allowing someone to make a decision gives them a measure of authority, and in turn, develops leaders.

Fewer people want to leave when they feel as though they are a leader in their environment.

Though you may be delegating some decisions and giving someone some authority over a particular situation, remember that you are still the Leader of the organization.

You can delegate authority, but you can't delegate responsibility.

It is still your responsibility to ensure that the leader you are molding is successful.

We hear time and again from clinicians that they want to reach the point where they are working less in the business and more on the business.

Some even want to have the ability to be able to spend less time working altogether. However, they still want things to continue to operate as if they were still operating as that busy self-employed clinician.

The way to accomplish this goal is to build other leaders.

As the practice grows, the goal should be to do less and empower more.

Why?

Because your significance isn't how everything runs when your are present; rather, what happens in your absence.

The potential of your business is a reflection of the quality of the leaders you build.

Be sure to check out next week's edition when we will offer three more strategies to becoming a Decision Maker!

A you ready to become a Leader in your business? Visit uncagedclinician.com and schedule a free Growth Strategy Call with us.

Let's work together to break through the ceiling and unlock the full potential of your practice.

Also, be sure to check out our website for other resources!

Your Success is our success!

The UNCAGED team