“There are plenty of difficult obstacles in your path. Don’t allow yourself to become one of them.” – Ralph Marston

A few weeks ago I found myself in a deep conversation with one of my fellow colleagues on the topic of leadership.  Those of you who know me also know this is one of my favorite topics.  But this time the topic wasn’t about how to be a better leader, or balancing work-life, or even how to motivate a team.  Rather, this time we were talking about why people fail – and in particular, why leaders, teams, and even individuals seem to continue in behavior that ultimately results in the wrong outcome.

“Perhaps it’s because they weren’t properly trained”, they postulated.  “You can’t expect them to do the right things if they’ve never been taught what’s right”.  Then the theory of work ethic and motivation came up.  I’ve been harping on this very subject for months now, so there is no surprise it was top of mind.  And then finally it hit us – more than any of these other things, the single biggest reason people fail tends to be that they can’t get out of their own way! Continue reading →