“Appreciate and understand these consequences.” 

Eliminate the Emotion

You must take emotion out of the equation. Why?

• Consider the Implications. When we are emotional, we react immediately and impulsively to the situation at hand, but fail to account for, not only the consequences of our decisions, but the impact on our audience.

• Sign of Instability. When leaders react emotionally, they send a signal of instability to those inside and outside of the company. Think about how often you reacted to the situation in front of you only to come back a day later and realize the implications of your actions.

• Redeploy The Energy. Being unemotional is counterintuitive for the entrepreneur. After all, it is likely the passion you have for your idea that fuels your ability to think differently. While removing emotion from the decision-making process is expected in most formal business environments, for entrepreneurs, it is one of the most needed assets, and an operating method we need to tap into every day. We need it to overcome challenges. We need it to keep employees moving ahead. We need it to keep ourselves sane. It is what gets entrepreneurs started in the first place and keeps them going.

Be Thoughtful

Being unemotional is only part of the equation. You also have to be thoughtful and deliberate. Why?

• You Need Time. You must take the time to think through important issues. In early stages of entrepreneurship, you often don’t have the financial or human resources or the processes to make good decisions.
• You Need Creativity. In addition, because you often lack resources, you need to tap into the same creativity that helped you create your vision, and, like your passion, redirect it to support what your evolving business needs. Don’t get me wrong. It would be great if the issue with your technology vendor was solved with a courteous “No problem. We were planning for this contingency and have a backup offshore shop doing parallel work.” Right. You need to bring a thoughtfulness to your decision-making process to take advantage of your creativity and the creativity of others.
• You Need to See Around Corners. With important issues, you have to slow down, anticipate what’s coming, and make decisions instead of reacting to decisions and consequences already made

Be Deliberate

Finally, you need to be deliberate. Many days for the entrepreneur are just about scrambling. With important issues, you have to slow down, anticipate what’s coming, and make decisions instead of reacting to decisions and consequences already made. Why?

• You May Need Others. As hard as it is to change pace—and perspective—go slow when it comes to important decisions. Important decisions are also rarely ones you’ll want to make alone. Don’t make important decisions alone: they almost always should include other people, other approval, other opinions, and many other questions.
• See the Bigger Picture. You have to see that big questions have multiple steps and multiple players. You need to give attention to those individual questions and how they get you to the final answer. In reality, you’re often actually answering fifty questions to get to the big one you started with. You can only do that if you slow down and think.
• Set the Right Tone. Not only is deliberation key to making good decisions, it sets the tone for the company. This is true regardless of whether it’s a two-person partnership, a solo performance, or a business with a strong organizational chart and an established employee base. When you can take a step back and get the perspective you need, you create a sense of confidence and stability for everyone around you. Everyone is looking to you, and when situations come across your desk, how you act affects every piece of your business, and the perspective of everyone you encounter.