“We need to accept risk as a normal condition.” – James Champy

“Every effective leader I’ve know is passionate about what he or she is doing. The time and energy devoted to work demand a commitment and conviction bordering on love.” - Warren Bennis

“If you lack the courage to start something, then you have already finished.” – Anonymous

Jimmy Wales is a catalyst. As founder of Wikipedia, he has built a life and business around engaging, empowering, and collaborating with a community of people. Wikipedia takes its name from the word “wiki” (from the Hawaiian word wiki, meaning "quick") and encyclopedia (from ancient Greek meaning "the circle of arts and sciences"). Wikipedia's 15 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world, and almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site. Said Wales, “I couldn’t write and encyclopedia by myself. From the very beginning, Wikipedia was a community.”

Actually, it didn’t start out that way. The venture began as Nupedia, an online English-language encyclopedia whose articles were written by experts and reviewed under a formal process. But Nupedia languished for almost a year, unable to generate compelling content and to compete with existing encyclopedia powerhouses such as Encyclopedia Britannica.

Releasing control of the tool is the thing that actually led to its success. But just because Wales is not in control doesn’t mean he’s hands-off. Jimmy is a catalyst for Wikipedia. He focuses his attention on maintaining the health and energy of the community, solving disputes, and keeping people engaged. He empowers people and gets out of the way…letting go, trusting people, and relying on others to effectively build the site. And it’s working – quick!

So, would you characterize your leadership as “catalyst” or “controller”? Is it working?

“We are all envisioning all the time, about everything we’re involved in. The question is, are the images we’re holding the ones we want to be achieving?” – David Allen 

Contrary to popular belief, your decisions don't drive your long term success - your decisiveness does. Said another way, when you reach a crossroads on any issue, the act of choosing creates power, not the choice itself. The issue is momentum. No matter what you choose, when you commit boldly with conviction, you create momentum. When you hesitate you don't. And success is built on momentum.

But many leaders and business owners get caught in a decisionless cycle – where tasks are listed, piled, or held for another time when we might get to them. If they’re important, they’re buried in the pile with other less noticeable items. If they’re not, they clutter our ability to see what’s really on our plate on what will move us forward.

So, how do we avoid to wasteland of “decisionless” leadership? With the 3 D's of decision making. Do it, Delegate it, or Delete it.

Number 1: Do it

Don’t put it on your list, don’t hold it for another day. Do it. Now.

Number 2: Delegate it

Maybe it’s important, but really falls outside your skills or expertise. So, delegate it. Get those tasks off to the right people. With the ball in their court, you can focus all your attention on the ones bouncing around in yours.

Number 3: Delete it

Get rid of the long list of ideas, articles, and possibility projects that you’ve been collecting in piles for “when you get a chance.” Keeping that stuff around is distracting you from what’s most important. This is one of the least used, and most effective, decision tools.

So, what do you need to do, delegate, or delete today?