WHAT APPEARS TO BE

What percentage of people around you, when faced with a difficult situation, run from it? Hide from it? Or use the “wish management” approach, as in “I wish this problem didn’t exist”?

In our upcoming book, Stomp the Elephant in the Office, we discuss how many people- regardless of position- rarely take action when there is a difficult issue taking place or a difficult decision to be made.

There is a better approach.

WHAT MIGHT BE

People who hide from difficult or uncomfortable situations speak the “cluck-cluck” language of leadership. I know. I used to speak it well. I figured that if I risked dealing with the issue I would expose my inadequacies. Because the truth is, it was far easier to be critical of others than do anything about it myself.

WHAT CAN BE

Mi amigo bueno, Ezequiel Ruiz, shared the legend of the eagle with me. He said that eagles, if trapped by an on-coming storm, fly directly into the storm. These creatures do not run; they attack. They know that if they are to survive they must play the game on their terms.

Whether or not this is true doesn’t matter. It serves an important purpose. By playing chicken we perpetuate the very thing we don’t want to have happen. By addressing the problem, or the elephant in the office, we begin the process of bringing about solutions.

Ironically, in the end, we discover that the biggest problem we faced was not the issue but the lack of courage displayed in dealing with it.

What storm are you ready to fly into today?

What is the difference between what “might be” and what “can be”? You decide.