More and more, it seems like we are living in a culture of blame. It gets easier and easier the play the victim in our lives. It's not our fault. It's the way we were raised. It's our genetics. It's our socioeconomic status. It's the market. It's this. It's that. It's anything but us. As a society, it has become acceptable to offer excuses for our failures. We are all victims, and none of us are to blame for anything.
Harry S. Truman once said, "It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit."
Great leaders will live by this maxim. Leaders are able to rise about discussions of blame and fault. Leaders are all about getting things done. When we're too busy pointing fingers and trying to find a culprit for the cause of the problem, the problem doesn't get solved. Instead, it festers and grows. A great leader will care less about who is at fault for the issue and more about how to resolve it.
As leaders in the mortgage industry, we've got to be willing to step up and take responsibility. We've got to take responsibility for our employees. We've got to take responsibility for our vendors. We've got to take responsibility for our industry. When people approach us with a complaint, it may seem like they're looking for someone to blame. But, really, they're looking for someone to fix the problem. Be that person. Rise above the low expectations that society has placed on us as leaders. Own it. No matter whose fault it is, take the responsibility.
David Lykken is 40-year mortgage industry veteran who has been an owner operator in three mortgage banking companies and a software company. As a former business owner/operator, today David loves helping C-Level executives and business owners achieve extraordinary results via consulting, coaching and communications, with the objective of eliminating corporate dysfunction, establishing and communicating a clear corporate strategy while focusing on process improvement and operational efficiencies resulting in increased profitability. David has been a regular contributor on CNBC and Fox Business News and currently hosts a successful weekly radio program, “Lykken on Lending,” that is heard each Monday at noon (Central Standard Time) by thousands of mortgage professionals. He produces a daily one-minute video called “Today’s Mortgage Minute” that appears on hundreds of television, radio and newspaper Web sites across America. He may be reached by phone at (512) 501-2810 or by e-mail at [email protected].
