“What’s with your attitude?”
The biggest difference between small business leaders and followers is their attitude. Most people approach a problem in one of the following three frames of mind:
1. They get uncomfortable and wish it would go away.
2. They feel they have to come up with a quick and correct answer.
3. They look for someone or something to blame.
As a result, most people worry about their problems until they can be resolved.
Small Business Leaders are different. They have trained themselves to look at problems in three opposite frames of mind:
1. They see them as normal and therefore not something to worry about.
2. They see them as opportunities to learn and move ahead. As Richard Bach put it: “There is no such thing as a problem without a gift for you in its hand.”
3. They see solutions as inevitable.
Over a lifetime of grappling with problems as obstacles, setbacks, and challenges, I’ve learned that problems can always be resolved by two approaches that lead to a much easier life:
1. By moving your thinking to a higher level
2. By taking your time.
Eckhart Tolle, author of The Power of Now, says that seeing a situation as a “problem” is the result of ego-based thinking. In this kind of thinking, a problem arises when it threatens our image of ourselves as competent, capable, and confident.
By moving our thinking from ego-based to non ego, or spirit-based, thinking, our problems dissolve into thin air. They become simply another “interesting” situation with lots of opportunities to explore, experiment, and have fun.
Taking our time is the second way to solve problems.
Tom Hicks, of business consultancy Connexus, says that people are born problem-solvers but don’t realise it. Our fear of discomfort means we rush into a solution when it would be infinitely better to take our time.
By being patient, we allow ourselves to put the solution at the end of the process of enquiry and higher-level thinking. It also means being able to live with “life unresolved”, not always a comfortable thing to do.
Hicks adds that a problem is like a curve in the road where we can’t see the road ahead. When we take the bend quickly, we come a cropper. When we take it slowly, we make it easily.
The next time you face a problem which appears to knock you off-track, don’t panic, wonder what you’ve done wrong, or lose your confidence. Instead, calm your thoughts and take your time.
And that way, bit by bit, you will become a leader of class.
– Eric
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October 4th, 2009 at 1:18 pm
When I read this line, “They see solutions as inevitable,” it gave me pause. My first thought was, doesn’t everyone? And then I fall back on my mantra, “Carma, you’re weird. People don’t think like you.” 🙂
That aside, I really liked this post, primarily for two reasons. It clearly states what are common, non-leaderly thoughts, and then lays out the leaderly thoughts that can be cultivated and nurtured. People reading this can pat themselves on the back for those thought they already have, and know what thoughts they need to focus on for improvement.
I also like the implied aspect of forgiveness. It’s O.K. if you’re not there yet. We are all works in progress. We can take our time not only to solve problems but also to become the leaders we want to be.
October 5th, 2009 at 3:29 am
Problems are what you are supposed to have in any business, otherwise there would be no need for your business to exist
A business only ever exists to provide solutions to the problems you customers cant or dont want to solve themselves
It reminds me of the person who once said
I wish the customers would stop coming in so i can get my work done!
October 12th, 2009 at 10:27 am
Eric, I like the analogy you include, “When we take the bend quickly, we come a cropper. When we take it slowly, we make it easily.”
It reminds me of something Jack Canfield mentions in his book, “The Power of Focus”.
He talks about how you can drive across America knowing only what is 100m ahead of you at any time.
When solving problems, my own or clients, I am often reminded of this when a whole solution isn’t coming to mind right away. I just need to know what’s next and then
as I come out of the curve, who knows what ideas will open up ahead of me.
Thanks Ruth