Decisiveness: Your Strategic Tool for Confidence and Productivity

When I’m not writing content for clients, working on my next novel, or running kids to and from school, I referee soccer. Officiating the sport taught me decision making skills on the field that I can apply in the workplace.

Photo by Don Simkovich

The score was 1 to 0 with several minutes left and the blue team was winning. The red team was attacking in the blue team’s zone and made a pass to the top of the penalty area. I was in position behind the ball and close to play. I was at the top of the penalty area, looking up with a wide angle toward the goal, but then …

… the play happened out of my sight, even though it was in front of me and only a few feet away inside the top of the penalty area. I heard a thwack — but a soft sound, not a hard one — and I looked down to see a red player on the ground looking up at me and a blue defender who froze. Everyone looked at me and — my brain stopped working for one second, two seconds and then I yelled, “Play on.”

A red player shouted, “Come on, ref, that’s a penalty kick.” She muttered that the defenders all stopped because they expected me to call a PK.

The game was played evenly and I had kept control throughout the match and had no problems making decisions. Now, the red team got frustrated and as time wound down, I had to make a…