As an executive, you are the CEO of your sphere of control. Assume everything is your fault, and that you can control the outcome of the results for which you are responsible. This is your best course of action because it forces a change in your mindset. It will force you to think about how you can deliver results, instead of thinking up excuses.
This shift in mindset will, over time, have many benefits, including
- More measurable results and an improvement in the overall condition of your business;
- Your customers and your boss will view you as trustworthy, competent, and excellent; and
- Good employees will want to work for you and deliver results under your leadership.
In the end, we’re judged on our results. Our excuses may be valid and reasonable, but they’re still excuses. As leaders, we can’t accept excuses from ourselves or our subordinates and must drive a culture of accountability within our sphere of influence in order to be effective. When you’ve failed, just say “I didn’t get it done and will do better” and move on. Don’t make or accept excuses.
An executive must firmly believe that everything is within their control in order to be effective. Too many executives blame outside forces for their lack of success. How many times have you heard someone say (or maybe even said yourself) things like:
- We don’t have enough training;
- We don’t pay high enough wages; or
- The customer is unfair and dishonest.
These things may all be true, but I’ve noticed something when I dig into claims like these. Inevitably, I’ve found them to be somewhat accurate, but there were also things that we aren’t doing having a far greater impact on the negative results.
Jesus once said, “How can you complain about the speck of wood in another’s eye, but not notice the log in your own eye”. This is a good point. Before we complain about others and circumstances outside our control, we must first look inward. We must make sure we’re doing our part. If we’re honest with ourselves, the answer is usually that we’re not.
I want to take the issues I outlined above and explore how a shift in mindset can have a profound impact. This comes when we assume that we are responsible for our results, and refuse to let outside forces control our destiny. It starts when we pull the log out of our own eye.
- We don’t have enough training. This is a common complaint. Every business tries to provide excellent training for its managers and employees, and every business misses the mark in some respects. It’s the executive’s job to fill in the gaps. Ask yourself, how can I improve results with the training I do have access to? Could you make simple training videos for your employees with your camera and share them? Could you and your employees watch how-to videos for free on YouTube? Where can you find the information that you and your employees need to be successful within your budget or even for free? Ask yourself this question before assuming someone else is the issue.
- We don’t pay high enough. The wages your company pays exist as a percentile in the marketplace. For instance, if you’re paying in the 50th percentile, it means that half the companies pay more for your position, and half pay less. Wherever you are on this spectrum, there are always workers earning less than your company pays. This means there’s no excuse for not finding someone to fill a role. Ask yourself, how can I recruit better to find the best people for the pay I can offer? I’ve noticed that people who complain about the wages their company offers are often just waiting for whoever comes in off the street. They’re not out there recruiting, posting flyers in the community, handing out their card to potential employees they see, etc. Wages are usually not the problem and the executive needs to recruit and achieve results with the wages they do have.
- The customer is unfair or dishonest. This statement is often true in some respects. Customers can often seem unfair. Also, customers, like most humans, will sometimes lie to you. But as I’ve dug deeper into circumstances like these, usually unfairness and dishonesty are not the reasons for our lack of success. Often, the customer seems unfair because we haven’t done a good job. They don’t view us as competent and don’t have trust that we’ll get the job done, and make them look good to their bosses. Also, most of what we perceive as dishonesty is a misunderstanding, a need to keep a secret for strategic reasons, or at best a white lie told to avoid conflict. Again, not the reason for our failure. A better question to ask yourself in these situations is “how can I get results and earn the customer’s trust?”
Notice the question “How can I?” I’m asking this question over and over for a reason. Framing problems inside the question “How can I” forces you to solve problems using whatever resources you do have at your disposal. It allows you to come up with a plan that will work. Your job is to think in this manner and try to come up with the best plan you can execute. When you start thinking in this way, you’ll notice that the plans you come up with will get better and better over time.
The shift of asking yourself “How can I” makes a huge difference. It will force you to think less like a victim of circumstance, and more like you are in control of your own destiny.