Don’t play the blame game. Problem finders are everywhere. It does not take a PhD, a MBA or even a GED to be a good problem finder. It takes no skill or advanced education to point fingers. Problem finders usually wallow at the lower levels in organizations and rarely make it past middle management.

However, problem solvers are rare. Problem solvers get great jobs and earn good money. Problem solvers are what companies need in leadership. Leaders of Character who are great problem solvers always use the same tool when diagnosing a problem – A Mirror.

Blame Game – What Average Leaders Do

People who are mere problem finders are excellent at pointing fingers. Problem finders love to use the word “They”.  A leader who starts with “They” will likely never rise higher than middle management.

An average leader usually begins looking at a problem by looking at the people on his team or the leaders above him. An average leader begins the diagnosis process by looking around him to see who is to blame.

• “Who screwed this up?”
• “Who is responsible for this?”
• “Upper management is out of touch.”

When anyone, especially a leader, begins the problem solving process by looking at what outside forces caused the issue, the solutions are usually inadequate or short term at their best.

What Leaders of Character Do

A Leader of Character sees a problem and begins diagnosing the issue by utilizing the mirror. She begins with the understanding that she is ultimately responsible, and therefore she starts by analyzing her role in the issue.

• “What did I do or not do that caused this?”
• “Where did my leadership fail my people, my company, or my family?”
• “How do I get better so I don’t do this again?”

The mirror is probably the most powerful yet underused tool in a leader’s problem solving kit. It starts where all problem solving should start if I want to be a leader of character. It starts with analyzing myself.

The Bottom Line:

The blame game is easy for anyone to play. At two years old, my twins were able to point the finger at each other when confronted with an issue. Unfortunately, many adults still won’t look in the mirror when confronted with a problem.

Spending my time fixing others is a lot less painful than fixing myself. It is also a band-aid approach that often avoids the bigger issue inside of me:

Pride

By starting my problem solving process with a mirror, my pride quickly takes a back seat to growth.

As leaders who aspire to be Leaders of Character, we must begin by looking in the mirror. I must look in the mirror when:

• A subordinate misses a deadline.
• A spouse arrives home later than expected.
• A child fails to mow the lawn on the day I specified.

In each of these cases, the subordinate, the spouse, or the child may have screwed up. But a Leader of Character does not start with that assumption. A Leader of Character will pause before laying blame on others. First, she will look in the mirror to determine what her role was in the issue.

A Leader of Character understands that being the leader means she is ultimately responsible for the behaviors of the people she is called to lead. By beginning in the mirror, the Leader of Character sees beyond the current issue and identifies a lasting solution versus a temporary band-aid.

By starting in the mirror, the Leader of Character also creates a problem solving culture on her team or in her family and models Humility for those she leads.

Question:

What other tough questions can we ask ourself while looking in the mirror?

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