The Art of Leadership By Dag Heward-Mills
Decisiveness is the mark of a good leader. To pause for too long at a junction is to fall to confusion and other evils. Imagine being led by someone who seems allergic to taking necessary decisions!
Be decisive because you will always have to take decisions. And remember that, as a leader, you will be blamed or rewarded for your decisions. Some leaders do not take decisions when they should. They waver when they should strike firmly and decisively. When you have a good chance to deal with certain things, you must act decisively. When you seem undecided and halt between two opinions, you are clearly double-minded.
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways.
James 1:8
Double-minded people are unstable and indecisive. There is nothing worse than being under the leadership of someone who is indecisive. Dear leader, it is time to make up your mind and take the crucial decisions that God wants you to make.
Why do some people not take decisions?
Some people do not take decisions because of their temperaments. For example, phlegmatic people are slow thinking men whose first option is to rest or do nothing.
A man with a phlegmatic temperament feels that even if he does nothing, a bad situation will resolve itself. It takes great effort for people with a phlegmatic temperament to rise out of their inertia and take a step.
There are also people who are indecisive because they have not thought through their plans carefully. Some do not want the task of taking a good look at the situation they are presented with and going through it to arrive at a thorough decision. It may be because they wish to avoid the discipline of thinking through the implications of the decision.
Some people are also indecisive because they do not want to follow things through to their logical conclusions. This is because we are sometimes too lazy to take on the task of thorough analysis to arrive at a required conclusion.
Some people also shy away from taking decisions when they know the implications. After a decision is taken, you must get to the job of implementation. Some people cannot bring themselves to the point of doing all the actions required after taking various decisions.
A lot of your indecision would be overcome if you can understand that you are already committed and there is no way out. Stopping in the middle is madness. You might as well finish what you started because you have one leg in the boat already. Remember that indecision can cost you everything! Let us look at the indecisive acts of Germany’s leader in the Second World War.
The Indecision of Germany’s in the Second World War
Adolf Hitler, an evil man, lost the Second World War because he wavered at the most critical moment when victory was served to him on a silver platter.
Remember that the Second World War was started by Adolf Hitler when he invaded Poland on September 1, 1939. After the invasion of Poland, England sent its armies into France to help contain the German aggression. But after their quick victory in Poland, Germany decided to invade France, Holland and Belgium. The English armies had crossed into France to join the war and fight Germany. But they were no match for the modern and well-prepared German armies.
The entire British army was pushed back to the sea and encircled at a place called Dunkirk. The British army was now a virtual prisoner of the German army and could have been easily wiped out at Dunkirk. But that is not what happened. The British were effectively trapped at the seaside with nowhere to go. It was at this point that Hitler acted strangely and became indecisive. The Panzer divisions asked for permission to attack, but permission was not given.
Adolf Hitler was gripped by indecision and wavered between destroying the British armies and allowing them to escape across the sea. Whilst Adolf Hitler wavered, the entire British army escaped across the sea. They entered into ships and sailed across to safety, where they would re-group and return to defeat Germany a few years later. Adolf Hitler missed the opportunity to wipe out his greatest enemies in one swoop. This mistake cost Germany the Second World War.
When it was too late, Hitler had a change of mind and decided to attack England in what was called Operation Sea Lion. But he had missed his chance to defeat the British when they were at his mercy. His decision to attack England was too late and Operation Sea Lion ended up being a massive failure.
Dear Leader, do not make the mistake of indecision when you must act quickly. Be decisive!
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