It’s easy to take credit and feel good when things go well isn’t it? That job got completed early because I hustled and it looks great because I’m good at what I do………
So what happened on that other job that was behind schedule, went over budget and had some mistakes that had to be corrected? Isn’t it funny that you very rarely will hear that same person who was taking credit for all that went right, taking credit for anything that went wrong.
Employees didn’t show up, didn’t do what you told them, etc. If you are in charge, if you hired them, then guess what, it’s on you. Materials weren’t delivered in time and now the job is delayed. Well, if you are the person in charge of ordering materials and don’t have a plan in place to adjust for late or incomplete orders then who’s fault is that?
It’s definitely easier to blame extenuating circumstances, and some are unavoidable, but I think it looks much better to begin any blaming of anything on oneself.
Example one – “Sorry this job is behind but these employees keep showing up late and not doing what I’m telling them too, this delivery was late and the weather delayed us.”
Example two – “I am struggling with my hiring and training processes and will work harder on that. As often as deliveries are late and incomplete, I really should plan to expect that and I should have planned on these weather delays as this happens a lot this time of the year. I will work on each of these.”
How would you react to each of these?
I’m working on this more myself as it is always so easy to shift the blame to someone or something else but if it’s my project and I’m in charge I can’t do that. I also think that people respect this approach more and even more important is that I actually feel better doing it this way as well.
Let me know your thoughts. Even better, let me know if you try and how that works out for you.
Have a fantastic week.