The Heart Of Business

By Craig S. Galati

Look around your organization. Do you have the person who never makes a mistake and never does anything wrong? He is probably the same person whose car is always breaking down and can never get to a meeting on time. But it’s not his fault. He is just unlucky.

Look around your organization, find this person, and kindly ask him to go to work for someone else.

I’m sure this sounds harsh, but our organizations need responsible individuals — the kind that take responsibility for their actions, don’t blame their misfortunes on others, and don’t make excuses for everything in their lives.

If I wanted to, I could find an external reason or excuse for everything that didn’t turn out my way.

I remember back in little league when the umpire called me out on an outside pitch with runners in scoring position with the game on the line. Of course I couldn’t hit the previous two pitches because the sun was in my eyes.

I remember when we didn’t get the contract because one of our competitors brought donuts to the interview. It couldn’t have been because we didn’t have a well crafted work plan to present.

I remember when I couldn’t get my assignment done because my supervisor asked me to do another task. Of course, it couldn’t be that I mismanaged my time and got caught up searching on the Internet.

Sometimes life does throw us a curve or someone puts up a roadblock that is difficult to overcome.  But blaming someone or making up an excuse doesn’t change a thing except in a negative fashion.  Responsible people really resent those who always make excuses!  In fact, everyone has to deal with these situations — so why do some people still get the job done?

Here are a few things to think about:

Look at yourself critically:  It can be difficult, but to really assess the situation, you’ll need to be honest with yourself.  Did you contribute to the problem?  How?

Take responsibility for your actions:  Blaming others does not change the facts and it doesn’t absolve you of your responsibility.  In fact, the contrary is true.  Once you get the reputation of blaming things on others, people will start to see you as irresponsible–and who wants to work with an irresponsible person?  If you contributed to the situation, look at it as a learning experience.  How can you avoid this in the future?

Determine what is in your control: When we take on any task or try to do most things in life, there are items which are squarely in our control and there are items which are not. Quit worrying about the things that you cannot control.

Back to my interview example. My firm had complete control over what we presented, how thoroughly we researched the assignment, and how well we crafted an approach to the project. We did not have control over how our approach would be received by others or what other factors (in this case, donuts) would influence the selection committee. We should have focused more on our offer and that is the learning experience we took away from this interview.

Earlier in my career, I spent a tremendous amount of time worrying about things that I could not control, and in doing so I gave less time to the really important things which I could control. Focus on what you can control and let go of the things you can’t.

I’d like to hear from you:

• Do you take time to reflect upon your contributions to situations? 

• How much time do you waste worrying about things that are not in your control?

• Do you have any tips to help others realize that they are responsible?

• Do you have any tips to help others learn to focus on what they can control instead of dwelling on what they can’t control?

Until next week …

Craig