Are you a glass half empty of half full kind of person? Do you seek answers or offer excuses? I can throw a stone and hit someone that is giving excuses instead of solving problems - and I used to be one of them, too.

A couple of days ago, I started talking with someone who seemed very bright, confident, and seemed to bring a lot of experience from past positions. This person commented the training program was far less than expected and in fact didn’t think one even existed.

I paused a moment, and asked a question, “With whom have you spoken about your concerns? What types of training do you feel you were ‘promised’ but have not received?

I listened intently for a period of time. I heard things about needing to know how to show features of systems X, Y and Z. I heard things about filling out leasing paperwork. I heard things about sales training.

And you know what I heard loud and clear? This person was feeling a little deflated and had allowed some obstacles to get in the way, I heard reasons “why not”, but not “how can I…?” questions. Basically, being brutally honest - I heard excuses.

As a manager, I do not wish to deflect any blame either. We are responsible for creating training programs for our teams. To be quite fair, I could lob out a whole slew of excuses as to why I’m not very good at this, but suffice it to say - I’m not. What I can say is that I look at life as a great proving ground. There are all sorts of lessons to be learned, and if I am asked I am always more than willing to stop and explain something - in particular why something works the way it does.

So you better be listening, and you should be expecting me to tell you why. I expect you to reason out the rest and ask me questions if you are unsure. You are an adult, as am I, and never want anyone to feel like a problem is bigger than they are. It’s all a perspective game… a game of how to eat an elephant.

If you want to succeed in life - not just exist - you must have a seeking heart and set your mind about reaching your goals. Don’t allow obstacles to turn into excuses of “why not” and the stand in your way.

Tags: Business, Change, excuses, Goal Setting