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Episode 100 of the Grow Great Daily Brief was preceded by hundreds of other episodes through the years, but it’s a milestone of the new format…and I want to thank everybody who listens and subscribes. I hope you find value here as together we work to grow, improve and transform our companies and our leadership. I’ve chosen a powerful theme for this 100th episode, the TRUTH.
Monday night the Dallas Cowboys showed how pitiful they truly are in a loss to a mediocre Titans team, 28-14. Most of us living in DFW weren’t terribly surprised. The radio outrage Tuesday morning continues. People are tired of the last 20 years of average football played by this team. But the Cowboys have a brilliant businessman at the helm, Jerry Jones. He’s only got one major blindspot it seems, the delusion of being able to construct and lead a winning football team. Making money ain’t the problem. Winning games? Well, that’s far more challenging to Mr. Jones. But he doesn’t appear willing to see the truth of his football circumstance. Yet. Probably never will.
Sometimes success reinforces the lie and gives our delusions extended life.
When your business is as financially successful as the Cowboys are, I’m sure it’s very hard to see any failure. Jerry Jones isn’t any different than you and me in that regard. He’s looking at the valuation of the team, now presumed to be the most valuable sports franchise in the world at $4.8 BILLION. Hard to argue with the business end of things. But professional football, and all other pro sports is a different breed of cat. There’s the team’s performance in the sport, and there are the dollars brought in by the team. For the Dallas Cowboys, those are two desperate things.
Financial success reinforces the notion, “Look at how successful we are. We’re doing things right.” It’s hard to argue with…making it more sinister by deepening the delusion.
Where are the lies in your life and your business?
You know what vexes me as much as anything? Entrepreneurs who don’t see what’s possible – with “what’s possible” defined as growth and improvement. Many businesses operate every day on the lie of “good enough.” Sales are good enough. Profits are good enough. Systems are good enough. People are good enough. Too many business owners presuppose that their current success is good enough. They’re satisfied. Complacent. But they don’t sense it for what it really is. Dangerous!
I once found a way for a $3 million annual revenue increase for a business. At the time, the business was doing pretty well. Better than they’d done in 2 years. That success made the owner gunshy to see, face or adjust to THE TRUTH. At the time, I was doing hardcore roll-up-your-sleeves-get-your-hands-dirty consulting. I no longer do that work because it’s so incredibly frustrating for me. The business didn’t pursue this potential increase. Two years later, they were back to a cyclical struggle. And I felt awful, even though they were way back there in my rearview mirror by then. It was just painful to see the TRUTH but unable to help them see it. But success got in the way.
Seeing, facing and adjusting to the truth is a viewpoint, mindset, and attitude.
Do you question the current state of things? Including success?
Do you believe – truly believe – that things can be improved?
I’m not talking about a restless discontentment, but I’m talking about leveraging a constant state of dissatisfaction. That’s why Cowboys fans are so upset. For more than 2 decades they’ve endured the same ‘ol, same ‘ol. One season blurs into another season of mediocre results. The sameness is what’s driving fans crazy.
That sameness drives people inside and outside your company crazy, too. But it needs to drive YOU crazy…crazy enough to be tired of it so you can hit the 3rd leg of the trifecta, to avoid going crazy in the process of improving your business.
Success can spoil you. Failure can panic you. But the Truth will set you free.
What is TRUTH?
If you see it one way, and I see it another way — who is right? Maybe both of us are right. The glass indeed is half empty and half full at the same time. But those viewpoints are dramatically different. Those viewpoints lead to completely different attitudes and actions.
Enter the power of others.
I’m pushing all my proverbial chips into the middle of the table to bet on the power of surrounding business owners/entrepreneurs with other entrepreneurs. Because the value proposition is unparalleled. In the span of my 30 plus year career, I’ve seen nothing – NOTHING – that can approach the positive impact of being surrounded by people committed to helping us see, face and adapt to the truth.
Speed. Convenience.
I don’t know a single CEO or entrepreneur who has enough time. Everybody is pressed on multiple fronts.
I don’t know a single CEO or entrepreneur who is satisfied with the speed of their own decision-making. Everybody is clamoring for more and better information delivered to them faster so they can be faster in figuring out what should be done.
I don’t know a single CEO or entrepreneur who has enough convenience in their decision-making. Everybody is appropriately vexed at the complexity and difficulty of getting the feedback and information necessary to grow and improve.
That’s the power of others surrounding us with no other agenda other than to help us make better decisions! Candor from others. Candor from others with multiple viewpoints, and the ability to ask different questions. Perspective changes everything. It’s among the many reasons the police seek out as many witnesses as possible. When you put together multiple viewpoints you get a much more accurate picture of what really happened. The Truth.
The Truth will not emerge when everybody is saying YES to us, or when everybody is working hard to make us happy. Most of us are surrounded by people more willing to please us than push us. It’s true for you, me and Jerry Jones. But that’s not where growth or improvement is found. It’s only found when we surround ourselves with people willing to help us see, face and adapt to the truth.
It’s up to each of us to embrace a philosophy of being dissatisfied. Not a state of misery, but a state where we’re optimistic that tomorrow can be better. If only slightly. And the day after that, better yet. It’s a sad place to be when we feel as though we’re good enough. There’s always growth and improvement to be achieved. We just need to have people around us who are committed to help us.
Be well. Do good. Grow great!
P.S. The Peer Advantage is my response to the need. Please check it out if you’re ready to grow your business and your life. Click here.
About the hosts: Randy Cantrell brings over 4 decades of experience as a business leader and organization builder. Lisa Norris brings almost 3 decades of experience in HR and all things "people." Their shared passion for leadership and developing high-performing cultures provoked them to focus the Grow Great podcast on city government leadership.
The work is about achieving unprecedented success through accelerated learning in helping leaders and executives "figure it out."