Have you ever been in a meeting where the team is trying to identify all the reasons and causes a problem or challenge exists?
Someone will go to the white board or flip chart and start listing all the potential sources of the problem. Typically suspects are the competition, economy, government policies and guidelines, industry standards, customer biases, under-performing team, “them”- whoever they are, and so on.
What I find most interesting is that the focus is generally on the outside world or external issues. Yes, we’ll do a quick look at our firm or team to find a reason or contributing factor to the problem.
I have found the single most ignored or avoided factor is our self. You. Me.
Granted, there are outside factors that cause a problem or challenge but far too often we look for external or “other” sources and don’t evaluate the impact we have.
If you lead or manage a team, the very first place to look for improvement or to eliminate a barrier is with yourself. The best leader is the one who looks objectively and honestly at themselves and asks, “what about me?” Have I done everything I can to remove barriers, provide resources and be a positive influence and contributor to make positive changes?
How’s your list looking?
Now, back to the other list.
