Do you ever feel like you made the right call at the time, but once things play out realize that it could have been done differently? If you're a manager I'm sure you have.
That's the thing about being a leader. You are forced to make decisions with limited information. The key is to take the information that you have at the time and make the best decision at the moment.
Hindsight is always 20/20.
If you ask 10 people how they would have handled a situation you will end up with 10 different methods. Some better than others and maybe even better than your own.
In the end though it isn't about the decision made, but about the motive behind the decision. When motives are right, you can screw up and still be okay. But conversely if motives are out of whack, you are in trouble even if everything goes right.
As a manager you are going to make the wrong call occasionally. Where you intend to protect, you end up hurting. Where you intend to encourage, you end up demotivating. It happens. Apologize, learn from it and move on.
Life is short. Don't waste it on the "could have been's", but invest it in the "what will be's."
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Sunday, June 2, 2013
When the going gets tough, the tough get going.
I remember that was a phrase I used to hear as a kid growing up. Don't really remember one particular person using it more than another, it was just a common phrase. Even the movies at that time seemed to be scripted on that premise. Rocky, Rambo, Die Hard all embodied the essence of that phrase with their lead characters.
As I was thinking about that phrase it dawned on me that I don't hear that phrase much anymore. That made me stop and wonder why that is. I came up with a variety of reasons, many of which could be debated but that isn't the reason for this post.
As a leader you have the privilege to lead in good times and the responsibility to lead in the tough times. I think that sometimes as leaders we want the prestige when everything is going right, but aren't tough enough to hold it together when things become challenging.
To a certain degree I think we see leadership like the video games we grew up playing. When things aren't going the way we want, we go for the reset button and want to start over. But life isn't a video game and there isn't a reset button. Tough or not, we have to push through.
We as leaders must learn to display a toughness especially when things get tough. We have the responsibility of setting the tone for our teams. If we are weak, the team is week. If we are tough, the team is tough.
I don't know about you, but I need to get going, because that is the tough do!
As I was thinking about that phrase it dawned on me that I don't hear that phrase much anymore. That made me stop and wonder why that is. I came up with a variety of reasons, many of which could be debated but that isn't the reason for this post.
As a leader you have the privilege to lead in good times and the responsibility to lead in the tough times. I think that sometimes as leaders we want the prestige when everything is going right, but aren't tough enough to hold it together when things become challenging.
To a certain degree I think we see leadership like the video games we grew up playing. When things aren't going the way we want, we go for the reset button and want to start over. But life isn't a video game and there isn't a reset button. Tough or not, we have to push through.
We as leaders must learn to display a toughness especially when things get tough. We have the responsibility of setting the tone for our teams. If we are weak, the team is week. If we are tough, the team is tough.
I don't know about you, but I need to get going, because that is the tough do!
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