How quickly a business moves, innovates, grows, produces – it’s all driven from the top. As a business leader it is your responsibility, and you cannot pass this responsibility on to others.

The business rhythm is the platform which culture and success are built upon. It’s the pace that your team will move at and it’s critical that it doesn’t falter, bogged down by indecision and apathy.

If you want your people to be energised, be innovative, engaged and highly productive; then you need to drive the pace and ensure that your team are enabled with processes, training and quick decisive decision making. Your role is to set the goals, navigate the business challenges and take away any obstacles, so that your team can get on with their roles and deliver to meet your goals.

Frustrations set in when people are waiting for decisions to be made. Flipping and flopping around a position tells a team that you are not in control. By all means tell your team that you’d like time to reflect on a decision – but give them a firm deadline for a response.

Sure, it’s okay to consult and take advice – and you should, for those high-level decisions that are pivotal for your business growth. But day to day management decisions need to be made quickly and decisively. A decision not made on time can be costly.

Getting stuck in the nuts and bolts and getting caught up on the minutiae, stops the business from moving forward and growing. If you like the nuts and bolts, then you need to move over and let someone else lead who can deliver the vision and the inspiration.

The rhythm of your business will change. Start-ups are by nature nimble and agile, while mature businesses operating in an established market can be slower. Other factors can impact upon the pace of your business – this could be the economy, the marketplace, your ability to recruit, to source product and to innovate. A clever leader will have drawn up plans for many of these challenging scenarios and so while your business may slow down for a period, the aim is always to get that rhythm back to rocking as soon as practicable.

Today’s business leaders have learned to harness the collective skills of their teams, in think tank formats that often provide clever innovation and critical analysis from the people who are immersed in so many layers of the business. This engagement also generates loyalty, performance and stability in your team.

Step up and set the pace for your business: you’ll gain a competitive advantage over those businesses who are settled into a comfort zone and a faltering rhythm.