Leadership is Not for the Faint of Heart

By Ron Price   Sooner or later, every leader’s journey includes a healthy dose of problems. Why?   A friend once told me leaders are like teabags—you don’t see their true colors until you put them in hot water. Here are some suggestions for responding to the problems you will encounter as a leader:

1. Don’t complain! Complaining about the economy, your employees, your competitors, or yourself is the language of victims. The only place you hear excuses is in the locker room of the losers. Complaints and excuses don’t exist in the presence of winners. 
2. Don’t blame! Blaming others for your problems (or blaming yourself), is a waste of emotional energy. The blame game is filled with frustration, accusation and self-justification (or self-condemnation depending on who you are blaming). Listen to your language—are you logically and professionally critiquing others based on mutually understood expectations or are you venting because things haven’t gone your way?
3. Look for opportunity! Problems are pregnant with opportunities. Opportunities to learn new things, to develop new solutions, to discover new markets and customers. Don’t use the economy as an excuse—some of the greatest successes in business have grown out of economic need. 

Yes, we live in interesting times. No, that doesn’t mean we have to be victims. Get busy using the right words, building strong relationships, and converting problems into opportunities. Your greatest successes are waiting for your discovery!