Have you ever noticed how easy it is to throw out an opinion? I mean, dude, everybody's got one, but making a decision that's different. That's rare. And that's what separates a leader from everyone else. A lot of people get stuck right there. They're afraid to commit, afraid to be wrong, afraid to take responsibility for the outcome. So instead. They don't make any decision at all. They stall, they hesitate. They offer opinions, but they never make a move.
Today I want to push you past the hesitation phase because if you're going to lead, and when I say lead, whether it's going to be in business in your family or dammit in your own life, You have to start making decisions and you have to be able to stand by them too. This lesson comes straight from coach Bill Walsh. The score takes care of itself and it's one of the greatest books on leadership and he puts it bluntly. Leaders make decisions, not just opinions. So let's get into it.
so when you're leading, whether it's your business or a team or you're just trying to turn your life around, you're going to face moments where the pressure is on sometimes the scoreboard isn't reflecting your effort and people start second guessing you. The room gets quiet. Heads begin to lower. eyes shift away cause you're not the winning horse. They're not making eye contact with you.
As a matter of fact, you're kind of like you're kryptonite to everybody and you feel like that you're just standing alone and you might be walsh says, this is when you find out if you're a leader or not. It's in those tough times because leadership isn't about following the crowd. It's not about waiting for an approval or seeking validation. It's about seeing the path, gathering the best information and then making a damn decision. And let's be real.
Sometimes that decision is going to be unpopular. People are going to doubt you. Some people will just walk away. But if your decision is rooted on sound logic, strong principles, in a clear process, you have to stand your ground. Now here's where it's going to get tricky for you. A leader must never quit. A leader must also know when to quit. Both are true.
And knowing the difference is going to be everything in leadership for you because there's a fine line between the strength of will and blind stubbornness. Some leaders refuse to change course, not because they're right, but because they're too proud to admit that they're wrong. History is full of people who doubled down on a bad decision. It took everyone else down with them. You don't hear about many of those because those leaders, they fail and they fade away into obscurity.
So how do you know when you're on the right path? Walsh gives a simple checklist. Number one, are you making this decision based on sound logic, strong principles and a deep belief? Number two, are you persisting for the right reasons not to prove yourself right or someone else wrong? See, that's done all out of ego. When you're trying to prove that you're right, just sheer out of ego and you don't have sound logic, strong principles and a deep belief.
You're just trying to prove that you're right. That's baseless. It's rudderless. And you're ultimately going to end up in defeat, but also if you have vindication out because it seems like someone's opposing you and you're trying to prove them wrong, dude, you've lost sight of the mission. Because sound logic, strong disciplines, and a deep belief in making forward progress are the reasons why you should continue on and stay the course.
And number three, have you thought through your worst case scenarios? And can you still stand by your choice? This is so important. Kevin Systrom, who is the founder of Instagram said a lot of times people, it's not that they make the wrong decisions. It's that they didn't factor in all of the different scenarios. So when you're making a decision, you can't just look at what you believe is going to be the outcome.
You also have to look at other possible scenarios, blindside moments and factor in those things. And if you can live with that decision, Stand with the decision and move forward. If you can't then make the adjustment, not out of fear, not out of pressure, but because that's what a real leader does. I see it happen all the time. People get stuck in what I call the decision gap. They hesitate, they analyze, they get more opinions. They wait for the perfect moment and then they do nothing.
See, they think that having an opinion is enough. It's not. Everybody's got an opinion. My coach used to tell me that in football all the time. Marsh opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one. It's the leader who makes a decision. See leaders don't sit on the sideline critiquing the game. They step into the arena. They make the call. And they take full responsibility for the outcome. And look, you're not always going to get it right. You will fail. It's part of the game.
It's the part of a competitive landscape in being a leader. It's just part of it, but here's the truth. Failure in motion is better than hesitation in place. You want to be a leader? Start making decisions. Stop waiting for someone else's approval. Stop waiting for certainty. If you know in your head and you believe in your heart and it's based on sound logic and principles. And you have a process, then dammit go.
And if it doesn't work, learn from it, adapt, adjust, and then make another decision. And that first decision is to go. Own it. Leadership is not comfortable at all. It's not easy. It's not always going to be rewarding, but if you want to be the kind of person that shapes his own future, who doesn't just sit there watching things happen, but one who makes things happen, then you got to make a damn decision.
Not just have an opinion, not just sit on the fence, make the call, live with it, adjust if needed, but damn it own it. Because at the end of the day, the score always takes care of itself. Thanks for sharing today's episode. Remember, keep it simple. Keep it moving. Never settle. Stay tough. Peace.