In Paul Meyer's book, "Effective Supervisory Management," the founder of Leadership Management International states success as a manager depends upon accepting responsibility as a leader.

To function effectively as leaders, we must make some choices about our role within the organization, our priorities as managers, and the values by which we live. We must know who we are, both personally and as part of the whole organization.

Without such self-knowledge, it is difficult to make good decisions and take action on them. Successful management grows out of a consistent and constructive attitude toward other people and how they should be treated

We have all adopted many different attitudes and behaviors during our lifetimes. We have also developed a value system uniquely our own. We fall into a trap when we subconsciously think, and, worse, expect, that others should live and work within the same value systems as our own.

When this happens, we experience an inner struggle, especially when situations on the job appear to be in conflict with our own values. As managers, we need to guard against applying our own values to others.

How then do we ensure that we lead our teams to be productive? We set up objective guidelines, give realistic instructions, and recognize both the power and authority of management as well as the needs and desires of employees.

We need to recognize that other people have the right to hold values that may differ from ours. We may not approve of them, we may not understand them, and we may not even like them.

However, when we recognize the right of others to hold their own personal values and treat them with respect, we can more effectively manage their activities to achieve the productivity required to reach organizational goals.

As an aside, something I teach in my diversity program is, "We may all have come over in different ships, but we're all in the same boat now."

As a leader, each of us is required to make good decisions every day. Our decision to treat others with dignity and respect becomes the foundation of all others. When we make good decisions, we influence morale, overcome barriers, solve problems, and ultimately, improve productivity.

Many of the decisions we make can be made quickly and efficiently with little conscious effort. Our experiences, knowledge and other factors produce habit patterns that enable us to define immediately what should be done in certain situations.

However, we also need to make decisions that may have far-reaching effects on the success of the organization. According to Meyer, these decisions may require our responding more deliberately rather than reacting on instinct.

But even when facing the most weighty decisions, "common sense," or practical judgment, plays an important role. Using a common-sense approach, we base our decisions first and foremost on our goals, or in other words, we begin with the end in mind.

Common sense involves the capacity to see the big picture, to be realistic, reasonable and to use sound judgment. Common sense involves the ability to set priorities and to put first things first.

We begin by asking ourselves and others: What is the goal? What is the desired result? Why is this decision important? Who will be affected? What will be different? Am I willing to make the necessary changes in myself? What is the worst that can happen? How do I minimize or avoid negative effects? What is the best time?

The power of these questions is that they can be applied to simple and complex decisions alike.

Having well-trained team members gives us the opportunity to delegate decisions to them, thus giving their roles more impact and helping the leader operate at a higher level.

The worst level of delegation and decision-making for leaders and their teams is to operate at the "wait until told" level.

All decisions should be made by the person handling the task. When leaders take steps to raise individual confidence levels and nurture a greater spirit of teamwork throughout the organization, the organization will operate more efficiently and effectively.

Communication is the key to coaching team members to be strong decision makers. Give people an opportunity to win, and leaders win, too.

Lucy Ivins, STAR Leadership Associates, conducts results-oriented training in organizations targeting higher levels of performance and productivity. She writes from her resident office in Pahrump.