I was talking to a leader who explained how the company he joined 3 or 4 years ago weren’t going as smoothly as he’d hope; so I asked him about the future. He surprised me with his response:

“From the moment I arrived, I knew there were problems. I’ve been saying it since I arrived. Nothing seems to be working properly still; so I’m hoping to see it change soon.”

To me, this isn’t a leader. He’s a follower. It seems that the problems have taken over without any leadership or change. He’s destined for failure.

Find yourself complaining about “stuff” that’s not going “well”? You have 3 reasonable responses:

1. Blame others. It’s always easy to blame. But if you’re at all in charge; you need to accept blame yourself.
2. Blame the environment. You know, the economy or the business environment. This seems to be a cop out too. Yes, you may have challenges all around you; but real leaders find solutions, in spite of the challenges.
3. Accept blame. You alone, have the ability to change things (starting with you).

So what should you do once you accept the 3rd response?

1. Ask what you’ve done differently today to change the results of yesterday. Be specific. Is there anything?
2. Ask what you plan to do tomorrow so that it gives hope for today. Everyone doesn’t like change, but everyone wants improvements. If you talk about the positive results; they’ll endure the change.
3. Ask how you will measure everything so you know which direction you’re heading. Change without measurement leads to confusion. The more you measure specific change; the more you know what caused the success. Accountability is also imperative.

I totally understand. We’re going through a lot of change at PinPoint Creative; and I’m excited to say that we’re getting great results. It all started with some huge branding/benefit decisions. I can hardly wait to share them with you!