CEOs Must Stop Blaming Your Team for Lack of Performance

In this episode of Grow Think Tank, I tackle the often-ignored topic of blame in the workplace. I highlight how attributing performance issues to employees or external factors can impede both personal and organizational growth. Drawing from my experience coaching CEOs, I emphasize the importance of self-awareness in leadership and the need to confront uncomfortable truths. Leaders are encouraged to reflect on their roles, recognizing that the solution often lies in their own leadership approach rather than their teams. I provide insights on fostering engagement and redefining company culture, stressing that personal accountability is key to effective business management. Listeners are invited to join a training program aimed at empowering leaders to move beyond blame and embrace growth through intentional action.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  If you're waiting for your team to get better, if you are blaming them for the lack of performance, lack of alignment, and anything else, then you want to look at yourself first. It's misplaced blame. Now, what do you do with this? Well, first of all, you've got to be self-aware. It's a very challenging thing to be self-aware because you don't know when you get it right. You don't know if you've really gotten to the heart of it, the core issue. Welcome to Grow Think Tank. This is the one and only place where you will get insight from the founders and the CEOs of the fastest-growing, privately-held companies. I am the host. My name is Gene Hevitt. I help leaders and their teams navigate the defining moments of their growth. Are you ready to grow? Today, we're going to talk about a controversial topic,

• 0:45Speaker 00

  but who do you blame for the lack of growth in your company? Think about that honestly. Do you blame your employees? Do you blame the economy? Do you blame anyone external than yourself? Well, here's a wake-up call for you. In about 12 years of CEO coaching and coaching companies are in growth mode, those that blame others aren't taking ownership of what's really going on. When you say your employees aren't stepping up, they're not in alignment, and you put that on them, you're waiting for them to fix it. You're waiting for them to get better. You're waiting for them to realize it. You're waiting for them to do something

• 1:29Speaker 00

  so that things could be better. But here's what I know. Leadership isn't about waiting for others. It's about taking ownership, seeing what you do have control of, seeing what you absolutely should be doing that's different than what you have been doing. If you're blaming your team for anything, I really believe you need to look at yourself first. I'm not saying that they're perfect. I'm not saying that they are doing the things that they're supposed to do because most likely, they're not. They're people. They're human, just like you are. But I am saying that when you, as a CEO of the company, you have put the systems in place to hire these people, you have the standards of the company,

• 2:11Speaker 00

  you have a culture that has been defined by you over time, maybe not directly, but indirectly. All of those things lead to you, not to them.

• 2:24Speaker 00

  And you have to accept that. I recently have been working with some new clients and many of them have said the same words. And I want to share those words with you. You may not like them, but this is the truth. They come to my workshops or they come to calls with us and we have the conversations. And they say, you know, I thought the problem was my team, but I realize I'm the problem. I realize I'm the one that needs to change. I'm the one that needs to upgrade my leadership skills. I'm the one that needs to take control of my calendar. I'm the one that needs to change the way things are going here. If I want things to be different. So I share this with you from my heart and with love.

• 3:07Speaker 00

  But I also challenge the common thinking that it's the other person. If I wanted to lose weight and I blamed my wife for good cooking, that would be pretty weak. Character trait, right? If I wanted to lose weight and I blamed anything other than my own ability to control my discipline, my consistency, my intentionality around what I'm eating, how I'm moving, how I'm sleeping, how I manage stress. Like I'm using this personal example because I want you to think it's all up to me. What I put in my mouth, what I decide to do, what I decide not to do.

• 3:48Speaker 00

  When I decide to sit on the couch and rest versus go for a walk, go for a jog, go to the gym, play pickleball. Not my thing, but maybe it's yours. My thing is Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. If you've listened to the podcast, you know that I am kind of a little bit crazy. 55 years old and still practicing this martial art. Been doing it about 20 years and I love it. And I continue to want to get better and it consumes my time when I'm not working and I'm not with my family. But all that being said, you can't blame someone else if you want something different. You as the leader of the company have to look at yourself first and go, how can I lead differently? How can I engage this person?

• 4:33Speaker 00

  How can I reach them? How can I find alignment? What do we need to do that's different than we're doing today? I share this with you because I see it happening over and over and over. If you're waiting for your team to get better, if you are blaming them for the lack of performance, lack of alignment and anything else, then you want to look at yourself first. It's misplaced blame. Now, what do you do with this? Well, first of all, you've got to be self-aware. It's a very challenging thing to be self-aware because you don't know when you get it right. You don't know if you've really gotten to the heart of it, the core issue. It's one of the reasons why people come to coaches like me, and I'm not saying you should hire me or work with me, but you should go to someone who understands how to help you really see what has a grip on you,

• 5:18Speaker 00

  what level of thinking is actually going on in your head, the stories you tell yourself that are keeping you where you are. And if you aren't willing to look at those things, then you're probably going to repeat some of these lessons. It's going to take you a lot longer. I'm not saying you won't get there. It just will take you longer to get to where you're going and you will have to endure a lot more sacrifice and stress in that journey. And I'm not saying there's no stress and sacrifice in the journey of growth because there is, but you can be uncomfortable in growing or you can be uncomfortable in not having the business you want, the performance you want, the profit you want, whatever it may be. It's all up to you. I know this is heavy stuff,

• 6:02Speaker 00

  but I promised myself that I would hide nothing and hold nothing back as I coach my clients. And as I look to you and listening to all of the people that have come into our world in the last year or two years, it's been more difficult in business for many different reasons and different models, different industries. So I know what's happening at scale. All that to be said, I'm here to help you if you want help. If you're kind of curious about the work that we do and you want to go a little bit further into this, we have a training that we do every couple of weeks. It is fresh, it is power hitting, and it will give you of a layout of the things that you can change. And you get to focus on where you change.

• 6:46Speaker 00

  Inside that training or that workshop, we will give you a little bit of coaching inside that because we want to make sure you get the information. You don't have to hire us, but if you want us to support you, you can. If you're curious about that training, go to training.correlation.com. We'll get you the place where you can sign up for free for the next training that we have. And if you're blaming your employees and you're not taking ownership of what's going on in your business, then you want to be there. You absolutely want to be there to help yourself. Stop working so hard. Stop trying to control things. Stop being the most important person in your business. If you want a business that grows beyond you, go to the training at training.correlation.com.

• 7:32Speaker 00

  When you think of growth and you think of leadership, think of growth, think, think. As always, leave a courage. We'll see you next time.