No one wants to follow a whiner. No one wants to hire or date a whiner. Most normal people don’t even want to be around whiners.
If you want to be a winner instead of a whiner, it starts with having a winning mindset. Which brings us to our last healthy team commitment:
We are committed to living on the solution side of every issue.
Rather than blame factors beyond our control (circumstances, culture), we focus on solutions that are within our control. I once worked for a boss who could never accept responsibility for why our organization was underperforming. When numbers lagged, it was the result of competitors moving into our territory – although they had moved in years before and we had been doing quite well during that time. When our revenue decreased and necessitated spending cuts and eventual lay-offs, it had nothing to do with overspending or misspending funds.
The person who remains stunted will look for excuses. The person who succeeds looks for solutions.
Where you have whiners, you will likely have complainers as well. Healthy teams recognize that complaining is contagious and detrimental to the mission of the organization. A complaining spirit easily jumps from person to person, cubicle to cubicle. Championships and wars are not won by raising enough complaints, but by getting things done.
When facing a problem, we hold two buckets – one with water, the other with gas. Which one we choose to use is important.
A team that lives on the solution-side of things, chooses water. Rather than add fuel to the fire, which might be fun for a moment, they choose to solve the problem. If a team has too many collective gas buckets, watch out!
Rather than make excuses connected to factors outside their control, successful people accept responsibility for the things they can control – like whether or not to keep the Twinkies in the pantry if they’re trying to lose weight.
A person who continually offers excuses is practicing a form of escapism. Listen to your language. Do you hear yourself saying things like, “I couldn’t help myself” or “There was nothing I could do about it”?
Be ruthless about ridding your life of excuses. No positive change will happen until you correctly define reality, accepting what you cannot change, and taking responsibility for the areas of life you can influence.
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Experience and Background
- Professor at Warner University
- masters in business administration (mba)
- presenter at the WFX National Conference
- former president, Church Planters of the Rockies
- helped start 2 for-profit tech companies
Sermon Videos
To get a better feel for my style and personality, you can watch past sermons on our YouTube channel.
Coaching Opportunities
One of the things I enjoy the most is helping individuals or organizations reach their full potential. It’s been said, “everyone wins when a leader gets better.”
Guest Speaking
Need an engaging speaker for your event or conference? At the moment, I am available on a limited basis to speak for seminars, workshops, or worship services. Click here to learn more.
Trouble Sleeping?
I’ve written a few books that might help! You’ll find books on preaching, leadership, Ephesians, as well as my first novel. Follow this link to learn more.