The person willing to choose becomes responsible—and therefore powerful.

Responsibility and power arrive together. When you make the call, you also own the outcome, which is exactly why many people avoid deciding and also why the ones who decide end up with influence. You cannot have authority over a situation you refused to take responsibility for.

If you want more say in something, start by taking on a decision nobody has claimed. Accept that you will sometimes be visibly wrong. That exposure is the price of the position, and most of the people around you are declining to pay it.