Table of Contents

1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2. Explanation of the personal quality in depth.......................................................................2
2.1. Definition of decisiveness................................................................................................2
2.2. Where decisiveness comes from.......................................................................................2
3. How my personal quality is displayed..................................................................................3
4. Reflection on decisiveness as my strength............................................................................4
5. Evaluation of the personal quality based on concepts and theories..................................5
5.1. Decisiveness and clarity...................................................................................................5
5.2. Decisiveness and self-efficacy..........................................................................................5
5.3. Decisiveness and locus of control....................................................................................6
6. How to exercise this quality more effectively.......................................................................7
7. How this quality contributes to career development path and conclusion.......................7
References.......................................................................................................................................9
 1. Introduction
Individuals are different in the way they live, act and perceive; the way they approach to
situations and deal with problems. What making them special and different makes them more
beautiful and people should embrace and work on those qualities or characteristics to become
more successful. Each individual will find out their own set of qualities as their strengths. The
most important thing is that individuals have to realize a set of qualities they were born with and
how this emphasizes or affects their whole life or development path. Decisiveness is one of my
strengths and understanding what this personal quality means and how it will be displayed
appropriately will determine how I understand and fulfil myself later.
2. Explanation of the personal quality in depth
2.1. Definition of decisiveness
Simply, decisiveness means one’s ability to make decisions (Young, 2007). The
definition of being decisiveness is strongly associated with firmness, ability to decide and act
towards the decision made. On another hand, being decisive can be viewed and understood based
on what called perception and choices. For instance, when a marketing planner makes decisions,
he/she has various choices. They set common goals, follow mission and the company’s
orientation and decide what is going to be performed in the department based on logical, clear
and practical evaluation and judgment. Actually, as other planners, he/she is faced with
alternatives and he or she might be confused when there are many other possible choices. In this
situation, the planner is required to be knowledgeable, informative, critical and patient enough to
develop a sound evaluation and select the best one. In such a competitive working environment
nowadays, leadership requires individuals to have ability to make key decision efficiently and
considerably. Therefore, being decisiveness simply reflects a process of being the leader of one’s
life. A successful person is a person who has ability to choose the best solution (according to the
situations and environment) and rely on the strength of decisions to act.
2.2. Where decisiveness comes from
Decisiveness is a combination of one’s internal state and skill. It means that being
decisive requires individuals to know how to summon when necessary as well as practice on it
every day. Someone was born with ability to make decisions as they are good at judging and
evaluating others, but they might not be decisive because they do not know how to summon up
their courage and confidence when they need it. An indecisive person tends to seek comfort in
other people’s opinions and is surrounded with hesitance and consensus. On another hand, other
people try their best to listen to the voice inside when making decisions and trust themselves to
decide. They repeat and practice it every day and it becomes a good habit. They develop a skill
that allows them to make decisions in the future’s situations. For instance, when a traveler gets
lost, he needs to decide to turn right to left. The voice inside his head says “turn right” and he
decides. Then, he is truly a decisive person. Understandably, being decisive always leads others
to act or respond and thus they might find what they need. In the previous example, if the
traveller does not decide he will never know the right direction to continue his journey.
Therefore, decisiveness is a skill that individuals can build and improve it (Young, 2007).
Without clear decisions, there might be no course of action, no process and no results. If the
traveller does not decide and wait for other travellers to the locals to ask for help, he waste time
and it makes him depressed. The reason people are indecisive is that they do not trust themselves
and always believe that they will make worse decisions than others. Being indecisiveness means
“being subjected to the whims of others and dependent on others to survive” (Young, 2007).
3. How my personal quality is displayed
I realize that being decisive is one of my key personal qualities. A couple years ago, I
worked as a part-time staff at a fast food store. An old customer was trying her best to order at
5p.m while the store’s deals ended at 4p.m. She was not satisfied with my answer and argued
with me. I realized that she was old and it was really bad if she left the store without any dinner
specials. I decided to give her the deal and explained that she should have ordered before the
time the deals end in the next time. At that time, I was comfortable with my decision because I
realized that an extra amount of money cannot buy happiness and excitement. Dealing with
customers and making them happy is much important than charging an extra amount of money.
In that situation, some people might take a long while to make judgment. They want to satisfy
patrons while wondering whether they are dismissed by the store manager. They might think
about how they should say about this event and how to keep their job later on. If individuals try
to think about the future or make judgment in order to make sure that they will not regret later,
they struggle to relax and have a peaceful mind.
Another example is when I was a child. I found a wallet while I played on the street
corner. What I considered at that time was how to find the wallet owner rather than being curious
about cash in the wallet. I decided to open the wallet just to track down who the owner is and I
knew that there was lots of money inside. I could have easily kept them. However I decided to
return the wallet without any cent missing. When an individual is decisive, he or she is capable
of making decision even in time-pressed circumstances. This leads to further understanding of
timeframe in making decisions. Actually, individuals’ decisions tend to be affected by types of
time scales including micro-time, short-time and long-time. For instance, in urgent situations,
people must make micro-second or micro-time decisions. Athletes are examples. When they are
on the stage or in the competition, all decisions are made extremely quickly because there is no
time to judge or process information. Such skill can be seen in some areas, for instance video-
game playing matches with micro-second gamers; and some professions such as doctors, soldiers
or pilots.
4. Reflection on decisiveness as my strength
Actually, decisiveness is my strength. This quality helps me save time and reduces stress
and anxiety. Instead of worrying about uncertain things that even I do not know, I focus my mind
on how to perform courses of action and the results. Such a personal quality comes from my
inner state. Actually, I always ask myself when facing problems and act according to the answer
given by the voice inside. For instance, I always wake up early even though I could sleep more
or I always believe that I would make the best decisions and solutions for myself rather than
depending on the thinking power of others. I understand that others cannot understand one better
than he/she understand his or herself. That is why being decisive also means that individuals
understand themselves and the decision environment also. The most important thing is that I am
able to summon up my strength and courage to decide and do things. Being decisive allows me
to become more confident, critical thinking and positive when facing problems. Instead of
thinking about or focusing on the consequences, I pay much attention to action. In other worlds,
being decisive prevents me from spending time on unnecessary and irrelevant things. It is also
my strength because it helps me solve problems when not having enough information. When I
was 18 years old, I needed to choose a university. At that time, everything was strange to me,
including programs, fields, courses, fees, etc. While my friends believed in their parents’
choices, I decided to choose what I believed the most suitable. I did not know how to perform
my studying journey at the university; how to deal with cultural gaps and whether my choice will
contribute to my career development. I had a decision finally and this makes me believe that I am
capable of making key decisions.
 5. Evaluation of the personal quality based on concepts and theories
5.1. Decisiveness and clarity
Being a decisive person means that individuals feel comfortable making decisions. Some
people feel confused even though decisions have been made and they worry about uncertain
things. Therefore, being a decisive person also means a high level of comfort and satisfaction
when making decisions.
Being decisive sends a message to individuals who act as decision makers. This is a
message of clarity, confidence and willingness. According to Young (2007), decisiveness means
being rational and logical. It means that even though decisiveness reflects a process of making
clear decisions quickly, it does not mean hasty or arrogant. Decisiveness is strongly associated
with “a collection of information and alternatives available at the time of the decision” (Sinangil,
1994). Having the same ideas, Moser (1990) indicated that people tend to choose the most
“beneficial and optimal solutions” among all alternatives available. Therefore, being decisive
allows individuals to gain strength, courage and confidence on the basic of the most rational way
to deal with any situation. Harris (2012) also contributed to this topic by understanding being
decisive and decision-making process from decision makers’ characteristics. Accordingly, Harris
(2012) argued that individuals make decisions based on not only the environment’s
characteristics, forces and the time of the decisions but also values, preferences, lifestyles,
personal goals as well as the possibility of success or performance. Therefore, a decision-making
process includes “defining the objective, collecting relevant information, generating feasible
options, making a final decision, implementing it and evaluating the outcomes (Adair, 2007).
5.2. Decisiveness and self-efficacy
Self-efficacy is a self-evaluation mechanism which reflects the belief in one’s capabilities
to produce exclusive performance or gain achievement that might influence over events or act as
the influencing factors in one’s live (Bandura, 1994). The concept of self-efficacy is strongly
associated with assuming how people think, feel, respond and self-motivate themselves. There is
evidence showing that the concept of self-efficacy relates to one’s risk attitude, risk perception
and willingness to make decisions and take action. According to Bandura (1990), people with
high self-efficacy tend to perceive challenging tasks or difficulties as opportunities. It means that
they always see things positively and consider challenges as a chance to master or develop.
People with high self-efficacy embrace willingness rather than avoidance and this allows them to
remain commitment and maintenance of necessary energies to perform tasks, achieve goals
defined and make progress (Bandura, 1990). Therefore, decisiveness can be understood based on
the concept of self-efficacy. According to Bandura (1990), self-efficacy determines whether an
individual is a decisive or not since it related to one’s self-determination level. Decisive people
are those with high self-efficacy who have the ability to predict and keep the commitment to
accomplish goals or objectives. They consider any decision made as a chance to fulfil themselves
and get achieved. Phillips (1997); Bandura (2001) and Bell & Kozlowski (2001) also agreed with
the idea, especially the positive relationship between self-efficacy and decision-making, self-
efficacy and hopefulness and self-efficacy and future goal orientation and commitment.
5.3. Decisiveness and locus of control
Moreover, decisiveness can be understood on the basic of the theory of locus of control.
The theory of locus of control was firstly introduced by Rotter (1954, 1966) which mentioned to
“internal versus external control of reinforcement”. Apparently, internals are people who tend to
depend on their own characteristics, skills, cognitive development and experience to influence
events or gain positive outcomes. On another hand, people who belong to external orientation are
those believing that performance or results are totally affected by external forces for instance,
fate, chance, relationships and the power or support of others. In Merton (1946)’s study on
external orientation, he figured out that there is a strong relationship between external orientation
and passive behaviour. Accordingly, individuals who are externally oriented people tend to act
more passively and less effectively. For instance, in the business environment, a staff will work
less productively since he believes that what he receive is not a cause of internal factors, for
instance his efforts, performance or experience, but other external ones (the company’s policy,
the manager’s viewpoint, feedbacks, law, etc.). Another study conducted by Phares (1962)
discussed that there is a relationship between internal locus of control and the ability to control
over the environment. Accordingly, individuals with internal locus of control, they tend to be
more successful in learning, performing and gaining success. Accordingly, internal locus of
control leads to the fact that internals are more confident and always believe in themselves. Such
high self-confidence makes internals prioritize their ideas, solutions and process rather than
relying on outside support. Those studies imply that being decisive means having high internal
locus of control when having control over the environment and always making decisions
themselves. In contrast, externals or people with external locus of control are indecisive
individuals. They always behave passively and allow others to lead themselves or become the
owner of processes.
6. How to exercise this quality more effectively
People have to make decisions all the time. For example, there are many questions raised
in people’s head every morning. People tend to wonder whether wake up right when the morning
bell rings or their alarm clock rings or not. Girls feel so difficult to choose a type of clothes they
are going to wear every morning. Parents have various alternatives when searching for a school
for kids and finally they must choose one. Therefore, people practice decision-making in every
aspects of life (Latham, 2015). Nevertheless, how decisions are made and how individuals feel
after deciding will answer if they are decisive or indecisive. Individuals know that making
decisions will have results whether they are good or not and making decisions also affect
relationships, feelings, strategy, budget, time, etc. (Latham, 2015). Therefore, individuals’
decisions are governed by the following elements:
“Fatigue - The winner is the most cohesive idea on the table when the energy expires.
Enthusiasm - The winner is the idea most fervently expressed by the loudest reputable
group.
Authority - The winner is the obvious favourite of the most senior individual” (Latham,
2015)
7. How this quality contributes to career development path and conclusion
Being decisive plays an important role in one’s career development. Understandably,
decisiveness contributes to one’s leadership capability, credibility and success. A leader must
have the ability to make decisions to lead, motivate and inspire others to work towards common
goals. When a leader make quick and well thought decisions backed by logical and beneficial
process, he can boost his professional standing in the eye of his followers. Additionally, it affects
one’s risk attitude and perception as well as learning process. Individuals can choose to wait or
choose to depend on fate or luck to become successful. Decisiveness increases one’s perception
of challenges and risks as well as contributes to one’s emotional stability. Decisiveness can make
people feel their ways. Individuals should improve their decisiveness by enhancing their
confidence in their ability to make decisions and in those decisions themselves. In short,
individuals must how to practice decision-making in all aspects of life. They should develop
their own critical thinking, judgment, analytical and listening skills and problem-solving in order
to improve the ability to make key decisions.
 References
1. Adair, J. E. (2007). Decision Making and Problem Solving Strategies. Kogan Page
Publishers: London, UK, Volume 9.
2. Bandura, A. (1994). Self-efficacy. Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 4, 71–81.
3. Bandura, A. (1990). Perceived self-efficacy in the exercise of personal agency.
Journal of Applied Sport Psychology, 2, 128–163.
4. Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory: An agentic perspective. Annual Review
of Psychology, 52, 1–26.
5. Bell, B. S. & Kozlowski, W. J. (2002). Goal orientation and ability: Interactive effects
on self-efficacy, performance, and knowledge. Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 497.
6. Harris, R. (2012). Introduction to Decision Making. [Online] Available
from: https://www.virtualsalt.com/crebook5.htm  [Assessed February 26th 2020]
7. Latham, A. (2015). 12 Reasons Why How You Make Decisions Is More Important
Than What You Decide. [Online] Available from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/annlatham/2015/11/15/12-reasons-why-how-you-make-decisions-
is-more-important-than-what-you-decide/#342fbd607db8 [Assessed February 26th 2020]
8. Moser, P.K. (1990). Rationality in Action: Contemporary Approaches; Cambridge
University Press: Cambridge, UK.
9. Phillips, J. M. & Gully, S. M. (1997). Role of goal orientation, ability, need for
achievement, and locus of control in the self-efficacy and goal setting process. Journal of
Applied Psychology, 82, 792.
10. Young, S. H. (2007). Be decisive. [Online] Available from:
https://www.scotthyoung.com/blog/2007/03/19/be-decisive/ [Assessed February 26th 2020]