effective leaders were most often defined by a driving determination to reach a goal, an ability to generate trust and communicate optimism, and a bias for action when ambiguity prevails.
The U.S. Marine Corps Officer Candidates School places great emphasis on taking charge and acting decisively. To build an ability to make rapid decisions under stress with incomplete information, would-be Marine commanders learn to make do with a "70-percent" solution, not 100-percent consensus: explain unambiguous objectives and leave their subordinates to work out the details; tolerate mistakes if they point to stronger performance next time and are not repeated a second time; and view indecisiveness as a fatal flaw--worse than making a mediocre decision, because a middling decision, swiftly executed, can at least be corrected.
In a similar vein, Warren Bennis, an academic observer and university administrator, concluded that effective leaders were most often defined by a driving determination to reach a goal, an ability to generate trust and communicate optimism, and a bias for action when ambiguity prevails.
ACTION POINT: Act swiftly and decisively.
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