Since I’ve begun helping small businesses, I’ve found myself in the middle of countless awkward situations, difficult conversations and tough decisions. As I grow into this type of work, the more I’m finding that I enjoy the hunt of the solution. More to the point, I’ve enjoyed learning about people, and how we make decisions. And the biggest lesson I’ve learned thus far is that intelligence and knowledge do not guarantee good decisions.
The key attribute, which determines the quality of our decisions, is the ability (or lack thereof) to face difficult realities. To put it another way, an inability to face difficult situations is a key indicator that that person cannot realize sustained success. This is not to say that that person will not reach their goals. But, if they can’t face tough realities, they will waste more time, energy and opportunities getting there.
To illustrate this point here’s a story about a lazy nephew.
A long time ago, there was a business owner who had hired his lazy nephew. The owner regarded this nephew as his favorite family member and had allowed him to work as an employee.
As the years passed, other employees noticed the owner showing favoritism toward the lazy nephew. They became resentful towards the owner and the nephew. Soon, productivity decreased, and the company had difficulty making a profit. When the profit-making ability of the company weakened, the owner took immediate action. He he hired consultants to work on the problem. It became evident that the reduction in profit was a result of low employee moral. The owner told the consultants that he’d do anything they suggest, as long as their suggestions didn’t involve his nephew.
The consultants went to work right away. People were interviewed, stats were examined and mountains of data were crunched. Finally, the consultants presented their solution.
For the next year, the owner spent thousands of dollars on a new productivity program. He introduced profit-sharing and even gave all employees a 20% raise. Everyone was happy, pumped and productivity immediately went up.
But, these positive results were short-lived. As time went on, the excitement faded and attention started to return to the nephew. They began to complain about his laziness and the injustice the favoritism was creating. Attitudes become sour, productivity decreased and profits returned to their low levels.
Why did this happen? Why didn’t the owner’s productivity program work? Why weren’t the consultants able to fix the problem? The answer has everything to do with the owner’s inability to face tough facts. Specifically, his relationship with his nephew. Because he was unable to fire his nephew, he as inhibited from making the right decision, resulting in his attention being turned toward multiple peripheral issues. Without letting himself address the right problem, he wasted money, time and attention, realizing only short-term success. If he were able to face the difficult reality of his nephew hurting profits, the owner could have spent less money, less time and had longer/better results.
This may seem too simplistic of a story. But, if we are going to become resolute leaders, we must understand its implications.
What are we doing about our figurative lazy nephews? Are we taking care of all the symptoms and not the problem? If we let them, our lazy nephews will stay there for years. That’s why we have to be proactive and begin to develop an ability to look at the hard things. We need to base our decisions on what is in the best interest of our goals, not our emotions. You can intellectually agree that refined sugar is bad for you. But, until you actually use that information and stop using refined sugar, you’ll never reap the benefits of possessing that information.
Resolute leaders have to make the tough decisions. So fire your lazy nephew. Choose to put your money and time where it really counts. Our goals, businesses and dreams are too valuable to let them be sacrificed in the name of avoiding difficult situations. Your level of success depends on your ability to make these types of decisions. And your ability to make difficult decisions depends on your ability to face the hardest of facts. So, let’s start accepting difficult realities in hopes that it’ll bring us closer to a better reality for ourselves and companies.
