Seeking Reality, A Crucial Skill

At a recent gathering of the Managers and VP's and C Level leaders in a large organization, they were all asked the question "If you had to rank yourself in terms of importance and contribution to our company of all the people at this meeting,, where would you rank ?" The responses were anonymous. 90% responded that they felt they were among the top 10%!! Time for a reality check.

Which brings me to the subject of this Blog. One of the key skills needed for success is to view reality as it exists - not as you wish it would exist, or want it to exist. That sounds pretty simple - it isn't.

A story: A new boss in a client company had all the education, experience, and industry knowledge to be really successful. He had the habit of assigning projects as they became obvious to him, without regard to the resources needed to get the job done. He saw clearly in his mind the need to act - and he was an impatient man. He saw there was so much to do, and so little time. Any attempt by the person assigned the project to negotiate a due date or modify the bosses assignment was met with anger and threats. So the assignee would tell the boss he would start work on it right away - because that was the only acceptable thing to say. The boss would go away satisfied that he would see results and get action - after all, the person he assigned the project said he would. He was able to report that huge progress was being made under his guidance.

After six months, this boss was stunned to find that all these projects were half done, or hardly started, or mired in lack of resources. He saw this as a challenge to his leadership. His reaction was to terminate some of the managers who had failed to perform, and bring in new people with "energy" to get things back on track. They didn't - the same things happened to them - and after eighteen months on the job the boss was fired - but not until he had cost a number of good people their jobs, and caused the business to suffer.

The moral of this story: Saying something doesn't make it so, no matter how hard you try. The personal skill this boss lacked was the skill to see things as they really are, rather than how they would be if his ideas were in place. This boss was so convinced of the rightness of his ways that he could not see the possibility that there may have been acceptable alternatives. His ego wouldn't allow it. The result was two parallel planets - his world as he saw it, and the world measured by results.

Success in any business enterprise requires a large dose of reality - both personally and organizationally. Take the time to inventory your view of reality. Check with people you trust, seek out facts that can't be disputed, seek out people that are outside your usual suspects, listen to what is said - and then challenge yourself and your perceptions to get closer alignment of your view and the reality of world around you. It's a crucial skill.