“Never be afraid to sit awhile and think.”
~Lorraine Hansbury
In the above statement, I’m not referring here to checking that your hair is in place or that your makeup is applied correctly or that your sideburns are straight or your mustache is properly trimmed. I’m asking you as a manager are you spending enough time in self-evaluation or are you too busy, arrogant, ego centered or not concerned with how you may be contributing to the possible causes of some of your organization’s or department’s challenges. Too many managers are quick to look outside themselves for the causes of their problems. I’m here to tell you, that if you will spend more time looking in the mirror you may be surprised at how or why some of your issues are not being properly dealt with.
One of my favorite sayings that I share with my management audiences is; if you have a problem in your organization look up the ladder for the cause and down the ladder for the solution. Most managers reverse this approach and unfortunately because they do, they never seem to be able to solve many of their challenges in an effective way, once and for all.
Everything that happens in your department or organization happens because you either tolerate it or contribute to it as a result of your management style, communication patterns or ego. So if you really want to solve some of your organization’s current and future problems, look in the mirror before you go ranting and raving throughout your department pointing a finger and looking for causes or someone to blame.
Why won’t managers look in the mirror more often? Here are a few simple reasons.
-They are insecure and need to be right and can’t make mistakes. So they will defend decisions even if they are poor ones or even wrong ones.
-Their ego is out of control. They need to have total control over everything; decisions, policies, procedures, etc.
-They are too wrapped up in their own agendas, needs or personal objectives.
-They say they are too busy and don’t have time. Well, maybe they don’t have time because they are wasting so much time in micro-management or crisis-management.
-They are in a state of apathy where they are unaware of the realities of what’s going on in their organization.
-They are sort of in la-la land without a care in the world.
-They are in denial. They refuse to admit that a problem exists or that they are contributing to it.
-They have low self-esteem or a poor self-image and can’t bring themselves to see how anything they are doing or not doing could be a contributor.
-They just don’t care.
There are others but I’ll bet if you or one of your managers has this problem that it is being caused by one or more of the above.
So what’s the answer? Look in the mirror more often and start asking yourself the tough questions. Can’t bring yourself to do it? Call me, I’ll help you.
In His service, Tim