How to Make Decisions Like a CEO

Making decisions that have a huge impact on your business isn’t easy, but it’s an extremely important part of running any business. You need to be able to think on your feet and make key decisions quickly and decisively. How do you do that? There is a great deal to be learned by studying CEOs and how they make decisions.

Based on Data and Experience

A CEO knows everything that’s going on in their company and in the market. They know the numbers. They also have accumulated experience and knowledge from the past. All this information is at their fingertips at any time, and they can access it when needed to make decisions the right way.

Gut Feeling

Along with data, a CEO makes decisions with a good dose of instinct. They have a gut feeling that has been honed through years of experience and learning from missteps they’ve taken in the past. A good leader also has high emotional intelligence, which allows them to accurately judge a person’s character at first glance.

Strategic Planning and an Eye to the Future

One reason CEOs can make decisions so quickly and decisively is that they’ve already considered that the issue at hand might arise. CEOs think strategically, always calculating what could possibly happen and how to react to it. With a plan already in hand, they can make snap decisions for maximum benefit with the least amount of risk.

CEOs think proactively, not reactively. They make decisions not from a defensive position but based on what they want to see happen in the future.

Unafraid to Make Mistakes

CEOs aren’t ambiguous or wishy-washy. They don’t hesitate and ruminate. The downside is that you might make the wrong decision on something important. But rather than fearing failure, a CEO makes that decision based on the best information available, and then accepts the mistake as a great learning opportunity. Even failure is better than indecisiveness.

Don’t Do It All Alone

Although a CEO looks like the strong individual leader of an organization, they are nothing without their team and network. A good CEO is acutely aware of what they know and what they don’t know. When they need help making a decision, they’re not afraid to ask. They rely heavily on the expertise of trusted partners and team members.

Core Values in Mind

One of the unique roles of the CEO is protector of the company’s core values. They need to keep these values in mind at all times and make each decision so that it’s in line with them.

You don’t need to be the CEO of a company in order to make decisions like one. Whether you’re leading a team, running a small company, or simply working for yourself, you can learn to make decisions like a CEO and lead your business in the right direction.