Leadership: Look at yourself first when things go wrong
Today, no matter how good you are as a leader, no individual can
produce results in an organizational environment but teams. To get the
best out of people, look at what you do with people who produce results,
and how to improve what does not work.
You can take responsibility, or you can blame others and lose all
control. The right thing to do and the hard thing to do are usually the
same. When things go wrong, accept the responsibility for your driving
and keep your hands on the wheel.
When results are below expectations, resist the inner urge to blame
others. Instead, recognize your part of the results they produced. This
could include things you did not do or did not do well enough to achieve
the desired results. Imagine alternate approaches that might work better
next time.

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For example, a colleague does not seem to listen to your comments. On
reflection, you realize that you told them only what you wanted, not how
they should go about doing it.What do you have to let go of? Who do you
need to forgive? Who do you have to stop blaming?
The only way to assure you'll do better next time is by making no
excuses today. Often the only thing standing between you and your goal
is the bullshit story you keep telling yourself about why you can't
achieve it.
The differences between people are much bigger than the apparent
differences which you notice easily. Creating an organizational culture
with a common vision, strategy, practices, values and ethics should take
precedence over individual culture.
Big barrier
This is the biggest challenge business leaders face today with
widening cultural gaps due to emerging sub-cultures that are complex in
nature. Real world versus your own - three positions you need to
understand.
People often talk about the 'real world' and forget that each one of
us lives in our own world. Learn to see situations from other people's
view point. You should typically have three positions to base your
decision;
1) Your own, 2) other's and 3) neutral or impartial observer
position. The third position is essentially, an outsider's view. This
will help form a well-balanced perspective to base upon the best
decision possible.
When you are faced with a difficulty, explore all three positions.
Two people with different mental models can find it hard to communicate,
and this can be damaging in business. Learn to recognize different
patterns of behaviour in your team members, and work with these
differences to maximize performance.
Try to differentiate between people with different personalities in
your own team. Improve performance by ensuring that people's
characteristics fit their job scope. Make sure people's natural
personality preferences are well-matched to the tasks they perform. |