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:
- Blame others. It’s always easy to blame. But if you’re at all in charge; you need to accept blame yourself.
- 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.
- Accept blame. You alone, have the ability to change things (starting with you).
So what should you do once you accept the 3rd response?
- Ask what you’ve done differently today to change the results of yesterday. Be specific. Is there anything?
- 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.
- 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!
