No excuses

It has been said that this is an old but true story:

Many years ago, the Duke of Assuna visited Barcelona in Spain. In the harbor at that time was a galley ship full of convicts at the oars. The duke went aboard the galley and called for each prisoner and asked him what he was doing and why he found himself in a galley pulling on the oars as a convict slave. The duke listened with fascination to the tragic stories they told.

The first man said he was there because a judge had accepted a bribe from his enemies and falsely convicted him. The next man the duke talked to said that his enemies had paid witnesses to speak falsely against him, and that was the reason he was there. The third man said that he had been betrayed by his best friend, who had escaped justice, leaving him entrapped. The duke finally spoke to one man with a different story. “My lord,” he said, “I’m here because I deserve to be. I wanted money, stole a purse, and I deserve what I now suffer.” The duke was astonished at this, and he turned to the captain of the slave ship and said, “Here are all these innocent men, who are here because of unjust cause, and here is this one wicked man in their midst. Let us release him for fear that he should infect the others.” The man who confessed his wrong was set free and pardoned. But those who continued to excuse themselves returned to the oars and the galley.

This story often mirrors the life experience we go through. We make some errors of judgment, and then we go through life trying to excuse ourselves for it rather than courageously admitting our mistakes.

I remember one time when I was questioning one of our sales staff for failing to meet her quota for a few continuous weeks. She began to blame the products for being hard to sell. When I pointed out that other stores do not have the problem, she blamed the store for weak sales and the weather, traffic, slow floor traffic, etc. But a more profound investigation showed that she had been absent from work for a few days, and on the days, she was present, she was still “absent” as her eyes were glued to her phone all the time. This salesperson missed the advice of Aldous Huxley as he said: “Several excuses are always less convincing than one.” What could have been a simple encouragement to correct her behavior and do better, turned into a sharp rebuke because of her excuses and refusal to accept responsibility. A few months later, she was let go.

Constantly making excuses sucks because it brings forth repercussions.

1. An excuse covering up the root of the problem and causing more harm will ensure as time passes.

2. The person responsible for the mistake will never have a chance to learn and will repeat the same mistake in the future.

True strength is not the inability to commit mistakes. No one is exempted from making occasional lapses of judgment. Still, true strength is the ability to admit that you’re mistaken and determined to rectify the error and do a better job. Benjamin Franklin says: “I never knew a man who was good at making excuses who was good at anything else.” Own the problem and face up to the responsibility. Respond positively to corrections and warnings. Of course, some people would be upset when mistakes happen, but the anger is temporary, and the problem can be rectified. This way, we learn to do better and be better.

Someone has compiled the following 10 excuses people make in the workplace:

1. That’s the way we’ve always done it.

2. I didn’t know you were in a hurry for it.

3. That’s not in my department.

4. No one told me to go ahead.

5. I’m waiting for an okay.

6. How did I know this was different?

7. That’s his job, not mine.

8. Wait till the boss comes back and ask him.

9. I forgot.

10. I didn’t think it was necessary.

Here are some more thoughts and quotes about excuses:He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.

Leadership is about taking responsibility, not making excuses.

Ninety-nine percent of the failures come from people who have the habit of making excuses.

“Be stronger than your excuses.”

So now that we know, just remember no excuses this time.

(The next Level Up Leadership 2.0 Master Class Online will happen this Sept. 27-29. For inquiries and reservations, contact April at +63928-559-1798 or and for more information, visit www.levelupleadership.ph)