As simple as this post may seem, there's a real chance you might miss the profound message - or dismiss it as you do most things in your life with a condescending, "I already know that."
We let me help you understand it better: if others don't see you as the leader you consider yourself to be, if you are not considered the best manager in your organization, if you are not the most requested vendor of any of your competitors or if you think that your workplace could use a little improvement, then you don't know it all. Your results don't lie. They only amplify the truth. So put aside your ego and listen up.
How is it possible to be a genuinely effective leader if you have only ever been a lousy follower? How is it possible to be a good manager if you've only ever been a whiny, self-centered employee? How is it possible to improve your organization if you are no better than the collective average working there? How can you become a vendor of greatness if you have only ever been a customer who accepts sub-standard service?
It's the comparison points that separate the great from the mediocre. You need comparison to achieve anything really great.
You can not be a great leader if you have never been a great follower. You can't know what it is like to follow hence impossible to fully comprehend what it is like to lead.
You can't be a great manager if you view all of your past bosses as morons. Unless you have experience as a model employee you will never know how to be a model manager.
You can not improve your organization if you are not among the best in your organization. Average people have average ideas which bring average results. Exceptional people get exceptional results. If you are not constantly self-improving, then your work is not getting any better which means that your organization is not improving either. Organizations can't possibly improve if the people in those same organizations stay the same.
How can you know what outstanding service is if you have willingly accepted poor service and not voiced your opinions? If you won't set a standard of acceptable service for yourself, how can you serve your customers better? When a customer raises his or her expectations, the selling organization is forced to improve or lose the customer. If you have never helped another organization improve their service then you can not know what better service is exactly. You may have an idea but no proof.
So before you think yourself entitled to be promoted, to be followed, to receive an award or think your organization superior to others, ask yourself, "What have you done lately that makes you a better person, manager, leader or vendor?" If you haven't read a book or attended a seminar that improves you then you are the same delusional person you always were.
Greatness doesn't happen by accident. It requires effort. So how about you change your attitude and admit that you don't know it all and crack open a book for the proof. Blaming the economy, your bosses, your customers and your co-workers isn't going to change your results. You are. The problem isn't everyone else. Never has been.
--
Attitude w/ ATTITUDE
Subscribe to Kevin's Attitude with ATTITUDE Blog by Email
Follow Kevin on Twitter @attitudeburns
The Official Kevin Burns YouTube Channel
No comments:
Post a Comment