{"id":767,"date":"2012-04-02T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-02T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/markccrowley.com\/?p=767"},"modified":"2012-04-02T05:00:00","modified_gmt":"2012-04-02T12:00:00","slug":"act-swiftly-on-performance-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-wmplo.xyz\/mark-c-divi5\/act-swiftly-on-performance-problems\/","title":{"rendered":"Act Swiftly On Performance Problems"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Snowball<\/p>\n

Procrastination is the enemy of the leader….<\/em><\/p>\n

When I was ten-years-old, I became a paperboy.<\/p>\n

Six days a week \u2013 all year long \u2013 my responsibility was to get people their papers at the same general time each day and, once a week, to knock on doors and collect my pay.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s a quick story of one experience I had along my route that taught me an invaluable lesson about life \u2013 and leadership.<\/p>\n

A day after over a foot of snow had fallen, I bundled up in warm clothing and trudged through the streets carrying all my papers.\u00a0 It was impossibly cold out and I was weary from the task before I\u2019d made it to half of my houses.<\/p>\n

As I reached the long walkway of my last customer\u2019s home, I felt a sense of exhilaration knowing I was a responsible kid who kept his commitments in brutal weather.<\/p>\n

But just after delivering the paper, two boys who lived there came out from behind a tree and pelted me with a stream of snowballs.\u00a0 Completely caught off guard, I was hit in the face and in the back \u2013 and these kids were unrelenting!<\/p>\n

While unaccustomed to surprise attacks like this, I knew what to do whenever someone threw a snowball at me.\u00a0 Fight back!<\/p>\n

The snow was wet and perfectly packable and I quickly made several balls before setting aim at my rivals.\u00a0\u00a0 By the time I was ready, my friends had made it to their front door and were seeking refuge inside.\u00a0 Not wanting to let them get away unscathed, I launched my snowballs in rapid-fire succession.<\/p>\n

I hit one of them with my first shot and the moment suddenly seemed exhilarating.\u00a0 But one of my subsequent throws broke right through a long pane of glass next to the front door.\u00a0 Fun over.<\/p>\n

The kid\u2019s parents weren\u2019t home and so I left without any resolution or understanding of the consequences.<\/p>\n

For the next twelve months (seriously), I delivered the paper to that house without ever knocking on the door.\u00a0 Not only didn\u2019t I address the issue of the broken glass, I also didn\u2019t collect for the paper.\u00a0 I was just too afraid of what I would have to face \u2013 and, of course, my fear only compounded as the weeks and months passed by.<\/p>\n

While delivering papers on my twelfth birthday, I convinced myself that it was time for me to act with greater courage.\u00a0 And when I walked up that long pathway to drop off the paper, I rang the doorbell.<\/p>\n

When my friends\u2019 mother answered the door, I told her that I hadn\u2019t collected for the paper in a long while and needed to do that.\u00a0 In response, she made clear that we had another matter to settle as well.<\/p>\n

My customer asked me how much she owed me for the paper.\u00a0 In today\u2019s dollars, the bill would be equivalent to about three-hundred dollars \u2013 but in those days a year’s subscription was about fifty bucks.<\/p>\n

She then informed me that her two sons had been entirely honest in explaining how the window got broken and she was not inclined to hold me fully accountable for the costs of repair.\u00a0 Because of how long I\u2019d waited, however, she asked me to split the cost of the glass and I was grateful it wasn\u2019t far worse.<\/p>\n

For an entire year, I had allowed the fear of what could<\/em> happen to immobilize me.\u00a0 Rather than face the music, I dodged my friends\u2019 mother and avoided directly confronting the problem.<\/p>\n

Throughout my subsequent career, I often was faced with a similar dilemma:\u00a0 \u201cDo I deal with this problem swiftly or see if time will lead to things working out?\u201d<\/p>\n

Early on, there were times when I ignored the lesson of my childhood and extended the time before I acted.\u00a0 Virtually never was I rewarded for my patience. \u00a0Small problems almost always grew bigger. \u00a0And when you lead other people and fail to deal with problems promptly, I discovered, your delay tends to very negatively affect that team’s morale. \u00a0Being direct in your communication, and taking direct action, are therefore\u00a0requisites<\/em> for exceptional leadership.<\/p>\n

So, take it from someone who should have learned the lesson the first time around. Address any interpersonal hot spots \u2013 to include performance shortfalls \u2013 without delay. You’ll sleep better, too. \u00a0And please also remember this: \u00a0Our failures in leadership most often result when we know what course to follow, and then fail to take it.<\/em><\/p>\n

Sharing these blogs with friends and colleagues is cool! \u00a0If you would like to receive more posts — along with other leadership related information from Mark, please sign up here.<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Procrastination is the enemy of the leader…. When I was ten-years-old, I became a paperboy. Six days a week \u2013 all year long \u2013 my responsibility was to get people their papers at the same general time each day and, once a week, to knock on doors and collect my pay. Here\u2019s a quick story […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14,15],"tags":[80,127,144,233],"class_list":["post-767","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heartleadershipinpractice","category-leadership","category-lifelessons","tag-excellence","tag-leadership-2","tag-management-skills","tag-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nAct Swiftly On Performance Problems - Mark C. 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