By Andrea Lawful Sanders
We seem to have quite a few leaders who are simply stuck on being basic.
They dress the part, but not much else is happening.
Why work hard to attain all the degrees and accreditation to apply for certain jobs, but once you have the position and settle into the role, nothing happens beyond showing up for work and only giving a modicum of what you were originally hired to do?
Allow me the grace and space to give you an example; a new initiative has begun that requires bold thinking outside the box, and creating a vision with your team to execute the work ahead for your company.
You go through the motions, put your best face forward by assuring the CEO that you are the visionary they need. You get the job, but instead of doing what you assured could be done, you lack inspiration and motivation for yourself, which transcends to those working with and for you.
When questioned by your boss as to why no movement is taking place, you deflect with excuses that range from, “nothing you tried has been working,” to blaming those who work underneath your leadership. You go further to start and then quit certain programs because there is no success right away.
So, if you cannot motivate yourself, how does this work exactly?
All around us we see mediocrity dressed up as leaders who will spend much of their days holding meetings with no results, and when given suggestions that will add value, rejecting them because the beast we call an ego will not allow anyone to get “credit” other than you.
Where are the tools of expectations and accountability each week for your team?
Where is the patience to see something take root over time to success? We give up far too easily and I have no idea how we expect to impact lives like this.
We are so busy chasing the status and paychecks, we quickly lose sight of what little vision we had, if we had any at all.
Look all around you — true leaders serve humbly and inspire others to do the same. They are not afraid to take leaps of faith, and shoulder any failures.
There is an oft quoted poem that simply states, “Excuses are tools of incompetence used to build bridges to nowhere and monuments of nothingness, and those who use them seldom specialize in anything else.”
We see the monuments of nothingness among those who get offended when taken to task about not performing up to the tasks they are given.
We see the bridges to nowhere, when we use the work of others and take credit as if it were our own. It is plagiarism at its core.
If something or someone blocks your path — find ways around it. No excuses.
If you feel like quitting every day, take a look at yourself, find peers to work around the issues at hand, and either walk away or make it happen no matter what it may cost. No excuses.
I swear, some of you are allergic to hard work or using more than a small percentage of your brains. If you are too busy stroking your ego and wanting to be acknowledged as great wherever you go, when exactly are you finding time to actually work?
Billions of dollars are wasted annually in business and industry because there are people holding titles that aren’t worth the corner office or the name plates on their doors.
We run for political office with no real plans in place, beyond the soundbites spewed to get those votes.
Who are you working with across the aisle for the benefit of your constituents? Must we remind you, that you are just one vote at the end of the day?
When we refuse to learn from our mistakes, we only add more dung unto the pile of mediocrity.
Look at your role and do an honest assessment of what you have done. If you have nothing to show but some improvement over the time you are there, the problem starts with you.
When you have no ambition or drive, you will quit before you start. It takes five plus years to get any new initiative to stick. Moaning and complaining a year in will not end well because you have already given up without realizing it and passing that bad energy on to those who seek leadership from you.
Level up, or you will find yourself dismissed with no one to blame but yourself.
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