I am a big supporter of teamwork. If you have read my stuff or heard me speak, you know that I believe in working with and through teams. Teams are one of the best ways to make progress and get everyone moving in the same directions.

Teams are not an excuse to pass the buck on making decisions. Letting others make decisions that you should be making is not good for you in the long run. You are called on to decide the overall direction that CAD should be going in your firm. Making decisions is part of that process. I published some tips for making decisions in the last CADD Manager Journal. Give it a read.

Making tough calls can be hard to do at times, but the calls have to be made. Don’t let someone else decide.

Maybe you get tired of taking all the heat so you pass the authority on and allow someone else to make the choice. Then you hide behind that decision so that no one will think you made a bad choice. That is not the way of the Leader. A leader faces the outcome of decisions and is honest when mistakes are made. If you made a bad decision, admit it, think of how to make the best of what you have and then modify the direction and move on.

Letting others make the critical decision instead of making them yourself can lead to stagnation in your career advancement because no one sees you as being decisive.

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