Recently I had the amazing opportunity to interview Angie Morgan, author of Leading From the Front: No-Excuse Leadership Tactics for Women.

Angie has acquired thousands of hours as a professional speaker and trainer, executive coach and curriculum designer for leading companies and organizations around the globe. After learning how to lead as a Marine Corps officer, she dedicated her career to helping others develop their leadership skills in order to achieve greater results.

Angie has partnered with prominent companies and organizations to develop programs that uniquely address their business needs. She is recognized as a thought leader in her field and clients routinely seek her guidance to help them translate leadership theory into actions that lead to impact and results. Beyond her contributions to the Lead Star team, she is actively engaged as a Director for the Marine Corps Heritage Foundation, where she commits her time to preserving and promulgating the Marine Corps’ history.

Here are highlights from the Angie Morgan interview:

How can we be decisive and think fast on our feet?

You look at where you are, wherever you are, you are the sum of your choices. Your decisions are probably one of the greatest places in which you exercise personal leadership ability. There is no such thing as a perfect choice, yet we spend so much time agonizing over perfection with our decisions. Sometimes the decisions you have to go with just good enough.

80% Solution – Apply a decision-making process. You research, seek out your mentors, and gain feedback. You gain about 80% of the information you need and you make the decision.

To think fast, I use the 80% all the time just to move myself forward, because that’s the goal in making decisions.

What are some of the key practices to becoming a powerful leader?

Leadership development isn’t a linear process. Your ability to influence and inspire is a deep awareness of yourself. Get to know yourself. Be comfortable with yourself. Know your value, your strengths, and your weaknesses. If you can know who you are, you can understand and relate to other people better as a leader.

Leadership is about followers. When you’re communicating to other people directly, your confidence is an inspiring trait. If you can be authentic, it is really just about being credible. And you do that by working hard to actually exceed the standards that you ask of others.

Things you can do to learn more about yourself:

• Any leadership assessment (ex. DISC or Myers-Briggs)

• Sit down and put a list of what you value and your life priorities

How can you start leading your life, rather than allowing your life to lead you?

It starts with accountability. When you assume control and responsibility for your choices, things happen. Suddenly you feel you are in a position for reaction versus proactivity. If you can be accountable and also responsible for your choices, you can start to think that you can get ahead and you can start influencing your life and your career. Control what you can control.

You can’t control other people. Once you get that mindset about what you can control, the solution follows.

Thanks, Angie!