Who’s to blame?

Don’t blame the world.

Don’t blame the boss.

Don’t blame your co workers.

Don’t blame the customer.

It’s all about our ability or inability to convince them.

It’s all about sales.

Our ability to “sell” the proposal, to “sell” our achievements, to “sell” our value,  to “sell our enthusiasm”, to “sell” our ideas.

If we find ourselves blaming others, it is time to change your plan, change your arguments, attitudes or presentation.

It’s our responsibility, not theirs.

Find a way to convince your audience, co workers, boss or clients, to make them enthusiastic or to understand.

If the customer wants red, and you want to sell blue, find the way to convince them that blue really IS better.

Or find those customers who want and need blue.

Or change what you are doing and sell red.

It’s not about the others inability to understand.

Stop making it their fault.

It’s all about our ability to provide the information, arguments and ideas that allow them to understand.

Stop pointing fingers and assigning blame.

It’s all about us.

No shortcuts to being a great leader

There are no shortcuts to effective sustained leadership.

It is not easy to be a leader, or to maintain a position of leadership.

There is no book, movie, seminar or short course that will turn one into a leader.

We can learn about certain elements of leadership that we may or may not possess, and incorporate these ideas into our lives and behavior.

But leadership is not about what information we possess, our good intentions, or a business title and corner office.

It’s all about what we show to others.

It’s about what we do.

Day to day actions.

Sustained leadership success comes from; listening, attention to detail, implementing ideas, perseverance in the face of adversity, willingness to embrace innovation, training and mentoring others, planning and risk identification, and the most important factor of all, providing a living example to others.

A true leader provides a model to others.

Leaders will consistently provide examples of; honesty, integrity, ethics, dignity, passion, diligence, capacity to learn, and unwillingness to be defeated.

A true leader will also provide examples of how to lose, how to accept defeat and move on, because leaders are not always winners

Leadership is not a 9 to 5 job, it’s a way of life.

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