T. Boone Pickens, the late famed oil prospector and corporate raider, said in commencement remarks at George Washington University: "Be willing to make decisions. That's the most important quality in a good leader. Don't fall victim to what I call the 'ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome.' You must be willing to fire."

It's common knowledge that most people simply do not like to make tough decisions. That's why the frustrated executive replaced the "In" and "Out" trays on his desk with one labeled "Stalled."

We are at a critical point for many businesses right now; decisions made today affect the future survival of every operation. The pandemic has stalled all kinds of decisions that would have been five-minute conversations just weeks ago. And so many decisions were made for us by government orders. Can't overrule those.

So how best to approach the pressing issues within our control that need immediate action?

Sigmund Freud and his niece once discussed how difficult it was for some people to make a decision. He said, "I'll tell you what I tell them. I ask them to toss a coin."

His niece said, "I can't believe it. You, a man of science, guided by senseless chance!"

Freud answered: "I did not say you should follow blindly what the coin tells you. What I want you to do is to note what the coin indicates. Then look into your own reactions. Ask yourself: Am I pleased? Am I disappointed? That will help you to recognize how you really feel about the matter, deep down inside. With that as a basis, you'll then be ready to make up your mind and come to the right decision."

We grow by making decisions and assuming responsibility for them. You're not going to be right all the time. In fact, President Harry Truman said, "Whenever I make a bum decision, I just go out and make another."

One of his predecessors, Theodore Roosevelt, had a little different take: "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

Sitting on a decision too long just creates a new problem. Not making a decision is doing nothing.

Counselor and researcher Trudi Griffin says there are simple ways to make the decision process less intimidating, such as "identifying the worst-case scenario, making a spreadsheet, and following your gut instinct." In addition, she recommends considering whether the decision will be permanent. "Most decisions are reversible, so you can take comfort in knowing that if you hate your decision, you can always make a change to fix the situation later on."

She also counsels to "learn to distinguish between an impulse and intelligent decision." Once you've weighed your options, you can usually figure out if your first reaction was reasonable or a quick fix. Take a breath and give yourself time to think.

Ask any CEO or manager if they are proud of all the decisions they have made, and I will guarantee the answer will be no. But ask them if they learned from their mistakes, and I will also guarantee the answer will be yes, at least from the smartest ones.

Good decision-making is learned. It stems from good judgment, which is also learned, frequently the hard way. But with practice, good decision-making becomes much easier.

Strong leaders have no problem in making decisions. They are confident that their decisions are the best. Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, said, "My idea of a group decision is to look in the mirror."

Buffet takes responsibility for his decisions, and his stockholders trust his judgment. Therein lies another facet of decision-making: owning your decision. Celebrate when you've made the right choice and find a fix when you haven't.

The folly of human nature is neatly summed up by the case of the schoolteacher who invested her life savings in a business enterprise that had been elaborately explained to her by a swindler.

When her investment disappeared and the wonderful dream was shattered, she went to the office of the Better Business Bureau. "Why on earth didn't you come to us first?" they asked. Didn't you know about the Better Business Bureau?"

"Oh, yes," said the teacher sadly. "I've always known about you. But I didn't come because I was afraid you'd tell me not to do it."

Mackay's Moral: Life is all about decisions. Choose wisely.

An elderly woman had always wanted to travel abroad. Now that she was getting on in years, she thought the time had come, but she'd never even been out of the country. So she began by going in person to the passport office and asking how long it would take to have one issued.

“You must take the loyalty oath first,” responded the passport clerk. “Raise your right hand, please. Do you swear to defend the Constitution of this country against all its enemies, domestic or foreign?"

The woman’s face became pale and her voice trembled as she asked in a small voice, “All by myself?”

Loyalty is what makes for great people, winning teams and top-flight business organizations.

Former Treasury Secretary Donald Regan said, “You’ve got to give loyalty down, if you want loyalty up.” I have a different way of saying this. I firmly believe that respect is earned, honesty is appreciated, love is gained and loyalty is returned.

In February, Americans celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Miracle on Ice, when the American hockey team beat the heavily favored Russians and then Finland to win the gold medal at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. My friend Herb Brooks was the coach. Herb’s players all cited his loyalty to them and to the idea that they could win it all as the reason for what many call the greatest upset in sports history. This underdog hockey team became an American legend, all because of inexhaustible loyalty. Herb believed that blood makes you related, but loyalty makes you family.

In years past, when a person landed a “dream job,” that person tended to stick around until the gold watch ceremony. That may have represented some level of loyalty, but, often, it was better described as longevity. A safe place, a comfortable situation. Loyalty to the organization was assumed.

Today, it’s more challenging to build loyalty when employees move around so much. But loyalty is always important. I still believe a person can job-hop regularly and maintain tremendous loyalty to the company that they represent.

I personally value loyalty over longevity. I would rather have a terrific employee work for us for a few years and be true to our company values than someone who still shows up every day, punches the clock and hangs around just to collect a paycheck.

Being committed to the job that one is hired to do is the mark of loyalty. Moving on is not disloyal if it means a promotion we can’t offer or a desire to use a different skill set. A person can remain loyal to an earlier employer when working in a new job. In fact, I hear regularly from former employees who let me know that their experience at our company provided them with a great start and helped to launch a successful career. They are grateful and will remain loyal to us.

When a new employee is hired at MackayMitchell, management expects commitment to the company and in return treats every employee as a valuable family member. We have a number of employees who have celebrated 20, 25, 30 and 40 years with us because we practice what we preach. But, believe me, if the loyalty factor appeared to be missing, we would re-evaluate that relationship. We need committed people to continue to provide outstanding service and produce the best envelopes in the industry.

We need loyalty to be winners. Former IBM Chairman John Akers said: “We’ve all heard the shortsighted businessmen attribute a quote to Vince Lombardi, ‘Winning is not the most important thing; it’s the only thing.’ Well, that’s a good quote for firing up a team, but as an overarching philosophy it’s just baloney. I much prefer another Lombardi quote. He expected his players to have three kinds of loyalty: to God, to their families and to the Green Bay Packers, in that order.”

As a native Minnesotan who has spent my life in the shadow of the Packers and their fiercely loyal fans, I can attest to their loyalty -- no matter where they happen to be on game day!

Mackay’s Moral: Get a lock on loyalty -- it’s one of the keys to success.

A Marine corporal was driving a benefits specialist from base to base to deliver lectures on life insurance, according to a story in Reader’s Digest. After listening to a dozen of these talks, the corporal insisted he knew the spiel by heart.

“Prove it,” the benefits specialist said. So at the next base, the corporal delivered the speech flawlessly, until a Marine asked, “What do I pay for insurance after I leave the Corps?”

The corporal temporarily froze before he had an idea. “Marine,” he said sternly, as he pointed to the benefits specialist, “that is such a dumb question that I am going to let my driver answer it.”

That corporal demonstrated two important skills: thinking on his feet and continuous learning.

When I was building my envelope manufacturing company, I was driving all over to get business. I drove 15,000 to 20,000 miles a year, and would constantly listen to audiotapes in the car, and later CDs, to boost my motivation and sharpen my sales skills. I didn’t want the drive time to be down time.

Knowing the average person spends 3 1/2 years over their lifetime in their car, I had a plan to turn my automobile into a university. I wanted to pass that opportunity on to our sales force as well. That’s why for years our company has had a tremendous library of motivational, sales and marketing materials for our employees to use. Now, like everyone else, we’ve moved on to podcasts. Why not maximize your time and learn something new?

Whenever we send someone to a seminar or training program, we ask them to come back and teach everyone at our company what they learned to maximize the return from our investment dollars. This is true for anything our people learn that might benefit others. That way, the entire group can improve their skills.

No matter how long you have been building your career, and how much you have learned with experience, there’s always more to absorb. Getting better at your job goes far beyond just learning the ropes; it’s a forever process. Maybe you can’t learn something new every day, but you can take advantage of every opportunity to learn.

Does your organization know how to learn? Here are four ideas to create a learning organization:

1. Encourage self-directed learning for employees. Don’t tell anyone what to learn, but give permission for people to explore what they think is important. Provide resources and access to information and the internet, and time off and tuition reimbursement if possible.

2. Promote inter-department collaboration. Bring together members of teams from different departments and let them share ideas and strategies. Encourage staff to share different opinions and points of view, so that meetings produce thoughtful, innovative results.

3. Use open-ended language. In your meetings and discussions, ask questions that stimulate creative thought and learning without simply focusing on finding “correct” answers. Show everyone on your team that you consider striving for improvement more important than arriving at a single “right” answer.

4. Treat mistakes as learning opportunities. Hold honest, straightforward conversations when something doesn’t work as anticipated. On a regular basis, ask team members what’s working and what isn’t. Look for lessons that might improve the process next time, as well as ideas for new processes that might result in an innovative product.

A baseball manager made an announcement to his team at the hotel on the morning of the game that there would be two buses leaving for the ballpark. “The 2 p.m. bus will be for those players who need extra work, and the empty bus will be leaving at 5 p.m.”

We all need extra work if we want to improve.

Everyone is fascinated with big plays -- a “Hail Mary” pass in football, a grand slam in baseball, a hat trick in hockey. However, quite often it’s the smaller plays, like a base hit, negotiating a new labor contract or finding a way to improve a manufacturing process, that consistently achieve success. Never downplay the everyday efforts to up your game and keep making progress, no matter what business you are in!

Mackay’s Moral: You don’t just get better; you make yourself better.