Why Indecision Is Viewed as a Professional Weakness

I spent the first 17 years of my career on the options trading floor. When I chose the wrong position, we lost money. Real money. We acknowledged it. Moved on. Made the next trade. But rarely would a trader freeze for two weeks, analyzing how and why they were wrong. The market kept moving. Yet that analysis paralysis is precisely how I see manufacturing companies operate in the face of uncertainty. They get stuck. Over-analyze. Sit in uncertainty and wonder why things aren’t getting better. You can be wrong 40% of the time and still make money. If you’re decisive and take action. Equally, you could be “right” 100% of the time, but without action it’s meaningless. Decent decisions now are better than a perfect decision later. A few ways I’ve seen this bleed margin in manufacturing: 🏭 Equipment breaks down. The team debates “repair vs. replace” for three weeks while production limps along at 60%. 🛩️ Supply chain shifts. Contract negotiations with a vendor drag while inventory sits dead on the warehouse shelves. ❌ Key person quits. You’ll never find the “perfect” replacement AND the team now realizes the value of SOPs. No owner, operator, or team can avoid making wrong decisions. But you can practice making decisions you can recover from. Most folks don’t love this. Strategic planning, risk mitigation, and contingency plans are nice boardroom exercises that stay theoretical. Until they realize that every day with indecision IS a decision. One that bleeds margin over time. Your org doesn’t need a Big L to learn this. Just permission to move forward with 70% certainty vs. 100%. Make the best decision you can with the info you have. Make a new one when new info rolls in. Whether it’s trading or manufacturing, the market doesn’t wait. Neither do your competitors.

Most people think career success comes from making the perfect decision. It doesn’t. It comes from making timely, values-aligned ones. Especially when the next step feels unclear. One of my clients, a brilliant VP, spent 3 months stuck on a single choice: “Do I speak up about being overlooked, or wait for my work to speak for itself?” She called it strategic patience. But it was really fear disguised as overthinking. We ran it through this framework. She made the call. Six weeks later, her promotion was fast-tracked. She was finally seen, heard, and most importantly, included. Because here’s what I tell every high-achiever I coach: You don’t need more time to decide. You need a better way to decide. Try the 2-Minute Decision Framework™ (Career Edition): 1. QUICK DECISIONS → Handle it NOW For low-stakes tasks that clog your mental bandwidth: → Can you respond to that email in < 2 minutes? → Is the request low risk and easily reversible? → Are you spiraling on something that just needs action? ✅ Do it. Momentum builds trust and confidence. (Your career doesn’t stall in the big moves, it drips away through tiny indecisions.) 2. TEAM DECISIONS → Resolve it TODAY For collaborative work or project bottlenecks: → Who’s recommending this approach? → Who’s doing the work? → Who’s accountable for the final call? ✍️ Assign roles. Align expectations. Move forward. (Most team confusion comes from no one knowing who’s driving.) Use this anytime you’re: – Leading a cross-functional project – Navigating performance reviews – Building team trust through shared clarity 3. CAREER DECISIONS → Make it THIS WEEK For decisions that affect your growth, visibility, and voice: Use the 3–2–1 Method: → 3 options: Brainstorm career paths, scripts, or solutions → 2 perspectives: Ask two mentors, not the whole internet → 1 call: Choose the path aligned with your long game 🎯 Clarity > complexity. Every time. This works for: – Deciding whether to advocate for a raise or promotion – Considering a lateral move for growth – Navigating visibility or speaking up on tough issues The truth is: courageous careers aren’t built on perfect plans. They’re built on small, aligned decisions made with intention. That’s C.H.O.I.C.E.® in action. So here’s your coaching moment: 🔥 Pick one decision you’ve been avoiding. Run it through the framework. Make the call within the next hour. Then ask yourself: What changed when I finally decided? ❓ What’s one career decision you’ve been sitting on too long? Share it below, or DM me, and we’ll run it through together. 🔖 Save this for your next “Should I…?” moment 👥 Tag someone who needs this framework in their toolkit Because alignment isn’t found in overthinking. It’s built through C.H.O.I.C.E.®. ➕ Follow Loren Rosario - Maldonado, PCC for tools that actually work in real life. #CareerCoaching #LeadershipDevelopment

Mistakes are universal. Ownership is rare. Fact is, you won’t grow until you’re willing to be wrong. In my recent poll, 50% of professionals said the fear of making the wrong call is the #1 thing holding them back from becoming confident leaders. I get it. Nobody wants to: ❌ Look incompetent ❌ Lose credibility ❌ Make a mess their team has to clean up Let’s break that fear down. Because it’s not really about being “wrong.” It’s about what being wrong represents: 👎 “If I make a bad call, I’ll lose trust.” 👎 “What if I fail in front of everyone?” 👎 “I’ll look like I don’t belong here.” This is imposter syndrome in disguise. You will make the wrong call at some point. Confidence isn’t the absence of mistakes; it’s the ability to recover from them. Here’s the truth: ✅ Confident leaders don’t fear wrong decisions; they fear indecision. ✅ Confident leaders don’t pretend to know everything; they stay open, learn fast, and pivot with clarity. ✅ Confident leaders don’t lose trust when they mess up; they gain it by owning the outcome and leading through it. 3 mindset shifts that helped me lead through uncertainty: 1️⃣ Decide to decide. ↳ Indecision is more dangerous than a wrong call. ↳ You will never have 100% clarity. ↳ Make the best call you can and build systems to monitor and adjust. ↳ You can’t steer a parked car. 2️⃣ Own it out loud. ↳ When you miss, say it. ↳ Model it. ↳ Move on. ↳ People trust realness over perfection. ↳ The most powerful thing a leader can say is: we got that wrong. here’s what we’re doing next. 3️⃣ Build a bounce-back plan. ↳ Confidence comes from knowing that even if you fall, you won’t stay down. ↳ If your self-worth is tied to outcomes, you’ll crumble under pressure. ↳ Anchor it to growth, not ego. 🧠 Harvard research shows decisive leaders are seen as more competent, even when they’re wrong......as long as they course correct quickly. That’s the key. Not perfection. Agility. So if you’re stuck trying to avoid mistakes… You’re already making one. Mistakes don’t define leaders. What they do next does. Comment Below: if you’ve ever learned more from a mistake than from a win. (Spoiler: we all have.) ♻️ Repost if you’re building your leadership through every lesson. 📱 Book a discovery call to start leading with confidence: let’s make it happen! 📩 Subscribe to my leadership newsletter, Beyond the Title, for more insights that elevate your game.

I have learned this hard truth... Indecisive Leadership is a Silent Team Killer Early in my leadership journey, I learned a hard truth: Indecision isn’t neutral—it’s actively harmful. I was leading a backpacking trip, surrounded by people I thought were more skilled than me. Wanting full buy-in, I hesitated. I kept looking for the “perfect” decision. Instead, we just stood there—stuck. And that’s when I realized something: Leadership isn’t about always having the perfect answer. It’s about making a decision, owning it, and moving forward. Because here’s the reality: ❌ Hesitation creates frustration. ❌ Constantly changing course erodes trust. ❌ Leadership whiplash kills momentum. Even a wrong decision is often better than no decision at all. So, if you’re in a leadership role, ask yourself: 👉 Are your people waiting on you to commit? 👉 Do you give your team clarity—or just confusion? 👉 When you pivot, do you explain the “why”? In my latest article, I dive into the dangers of indecisive leadership and how clarity builds trust. If this resonates, could you share it with someone who needs to hear it? And for more weekly insights on real leadership, subscribe to the Why Not Newsletter here: Subscribe on LinkedIn https://lnkd.in/erfj2nJa What’s a time when hesitation hurt your team? Drop your story in the comments. 👇 #Leadership #DecisionMaking #TeamCulture #WhyNotLeadership #ClarityMatters #LeadershipWhiplash