Page 61 - Fearless Leadership

48 FEARLESS LEADERSHIP

The Impact of Blaming Others or Circumstances. Blaming others rubs
people the wrong way, especially those who are responsible and account-
able. It is perceived as petty and small and lacking integrity. If you are
in a position of power, others will not verbally tell you how you impact
them, but they demonstrate their loss of respect for you in their behav-
ior. When you are unwilling to take accountability and display strength
of character, fairness, and honesty, people will not support you.
You run another risk with this blind spot. Blaming others divides peo-
ple into two camps—your allies and your enemies. People know which
camp they are in, and they either fight or comply. Even your allies may
withhold trust fearing they could easily be next on your list. You are left
without the willing cooperation required to achieve authentic and sustain-
able alignment. Others give lip service but do exactly what they want.
Your behavior can polarize an entire organization and reinforce
boundaries and divisions instead of collaboration and cooperation.
While you may think you have the support of others, people know how
to play the game, and they will blame you just as you blame them. They
adopt an attitude of “this too shall pass” and wait for you to fail or move
on. (In Chapter 6, we discuss how to take accountability for enterprise
results and collaborative relationships.)

Blind Spot 6: Treating Commitments Casually
Casual commitments and promises happen all too often and destroy
the credibility of leaders. When leaders make throwaway promises
with no intention of keeping them, they are not believable. One of the
worst offenders that prevent organizations from staying on track and
achieving objectives are words not tied to solid action and a firm dead-
line. They cloud even the clearest objective and send people in differ-
ent directions.
For example, you are much better off stating a clear no than imply-
ing a possible yes. You disappoint people when you promise something—
big or small—that you do not deliver. When your words are inconsistent
with your behavior, people believe what you do and dismiss your words.
Little by little, your comments lose their power, and people discount
what you say.