How much do you involve others in your decision-making?

Our reader poll today asks: How much do you involve others in your decision-making?

– I always seek outside opinion before making a decision: 30%
– I sometimes seek opinions but make many decisions alone:  63%
– I rarely seek outside opinion and make most decisions alone: 6%
– I never seek outside opinion when I’m making a decision: 1%

Trading off information for speed. In a tremendously complex and fast-moving work environment, it’s clear we never have all of the information we need. To make good decisions, gathering additional information is always a good thing as long as it’s done in a timely manner and doesn’t derail the decision-making process. Your job as a leader is to find that sweet spot between gathering information and building consensus without taking so long to do it that you miss your opportunity. Additionally, taking in too many opinions can erode your credibility as a leader because people might begin thinking you’re not confident in your decisions. Find the balance in all of these objectives, and your decision-making will almost always be sound.

Do you agree with these poll results?  Let us know in the comments below!

– Mike Figliuolo at thoughtLEADERS, LLC

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These results were originally a SmartPulse poll in SmartBrief on Leadership which tracks feedback from more than 190,000 business leaders. Get smarter on leadership and sign up for the SmartBrief on Leadership e-newsletter.