Have you been asked to make a big decision without all of the facts? Unfortunately, we have all been there at one time or another. At the speed of life and business now, you can’t always wait until you know everything. So what can you do to get to an answer?
Start by looking at the facts that you have and what else do you need to know to be able to move forward to get to an answer?
- What do you know with a high degree of certainty?
- Are there other facts that you are pretty confident about?
- How can you leverage your experience and knowledge to help you make assumptions for the other needed information?
- What input can you get from others to add to your facts and validate your plan or decision?
Being able to handle a high degree of ambiguity is a key skill as you progress in your career. It comes into play when you are asked to make decisions very quickly and in some cases with little or no validation. You may also have a lot of ambiguity when you start a new role, create a business case, learn something brand new or start a business. Using the questions above is a way to start building your confidence in this skill now. Colin Shaw offers some additional tips in his article called: Secrets Revealed! How to Thrive in an Uncertain World.
Handling ambiguity with skill is definitely something that is noticed by your senior management. The more you do it, the easier it will become. You will begin to trust your gut and see that you can begin to narrow down the ambiguity to get to a solid answer.
Are you ready to take your leadership to the next level? The new Powerful Leadership Coaching Program can help you do that! This 6 week program will be focusing on executive presence, influence, strategic thinking and so much more. This class will be kicking off in mid-September! Send me a note if you are interested in learning more about the program!