Getting S**t Done
I have been in the business world for close to 30 years now and it continues to amaze me how few people can actually get things done. Cutting through the clutter is critical for getting things done, but I believe the biggest reason people don’t get much done is their need for approval and their fear of failure. The need for approval issue is deep rooted and one that I am not an expert to discuss, bit failure, I know failure.
Our culture has gotten to the point where everyone is a winner and everyone gets a trophy. This could be part of why things don’t get done. Without failure we rob ourselves of the ability to succeed in any major way. The more we live in small boxes and do everything to avoid failure the less we accomplish. So where does this fear come from? I believe part of it is our education system and much of it is parents not letting their kids fail. They are afraid that their child will get hurt, but getting hurt is part of life.
Here is the biggest problem with this mindset, failure is what makes us who we are! I have learned so much more from the failures in my life than the successes. When you fail we get the opportunity to deal with stress and challenges. There are some major points in my life that in the moment seemed like a terrible day, where failure and stress abounded, but when I look back years later I realized that those days taught me so much, shaped who I am as a leader and have allowed me to be as effective as I can be.
Failure works it’s way through a business in the same way. When leaders don’t like failure they don’t let their teams fail, so they are just limiting the ability of their teams. In the end people that get things done tend to be those that are not afraid to fail. How do you see failure?
‘Til next time …….
Larry Kesslin 