End the Blame Game in 2017: 5 Essential Questions for Choosing The Right Mindset

“Millennials really suck. I can’t find a millennial who wants a job or who cares or shows up. They don’t follow up and are not really interested in working all that hard,” my friend said to me after one of our launchbox networking roundtables.

“Wait, all of them?” I asked.

“Well, not all of them; just the lazy ones. Most of them. Except my daughter. She’s different. She and her classmates went to a great school and they have great jobs. They are tenacious. They are great. But the other ones really suck unlike any other group I’ve hired.”

“Um, I’m not sure those millennials are statistically that different from other universities. Young is young. The difference is they are different. They all want to express some kind of individuality.”

“But millennials just lack commitment. It’s incredible.”

“Have you tried to understand why you think this? Do you try and understand them before you judge?”

“Why?”

“Well, if millennials are different, then the facts have changed. Shouldn’t we change our mind?”

“Why should I change?”

“Well, if what you are doing isn’t getting you the results you want, what are you going to do differently in the face of all these horrible millennials?”

“I’m not sure you understand.”

And . . . curtain.

Welcome to The Blame Game. The object of the game is to make everyone else the source of your problems: Mom blames Dad, daughter blames mother, teacher blames student, sales blames legal, accounting blames IT, distribution blames manufacturing, non-millennials blame millennials.

The rules are simple, too: Shine the spotlight of blame on others, pointing out their deficiencies and problems, never shining it on yourself. Deny any hint that the problems might lie in you, that we are the source of all or most of our problems, not others.

There are no winners in the blame game, only losers, because what gets lost is any sense of personal responsibility and accountability to drive outcomes. The blame game ensures and assures that you never own your shit.

The blame game is the worst game in the history of business. Don’t start 2017 off playing the same old game and generating the same old results. Stop playing it. Now!

If millennials offer something different than we do—something that connects them to tens of millions of potential customers and clients—why would we want them to change? Isn’t this what we want in our business relationships? Shouldn’t we understand the value of someone who offers different strengths than we do? If we have a weakness, doesn’t it make sense to have an individual with that as one of their strengths?

Of course we get this. Except, it seems, when it comes to millennials. They “suck.”

There is very little that can’t be solved by taking initiative to do this daily. To get started, think back to a time you felt really frustrated or challenged when dealing with a millennial, or really anyone close to you—your significant other, your children, your mom—that ended with your thinking the other person was at fault. Write down what happened and how you reacted. Now take a step back and a deep breath and ask yourself these five questions without passing judgment on the other person.

1. Why was I frustrated?

2. Who was I blaming and why was I blaming them?

3. What could I have done to fix the situation or address the issue or challenge?

4. Who did I need to help me, based on my strengths and the strengths of others?

[Breathe deeply again]

5. How can I make solutions happen?

These questions effectively end blame, holding us accountable and responsible first for what we do in life and in business. Getting past the blame game and deciding you’re not going to blame millennials, or indeed anyone and everyone, for your problems is the essential first step in choosing your mindset. When it comes to ownership of your story and everything you do, choosing your mindset is first and foremost an act of self-accountability.

Simply put, you can control only yourself in this world. And you have a duty to do so. Should you be honest about what you can do or not? Take ownership or not? Focus on solutions or problems? These are the questions you confront when you choose your mindset about what you want and whom you serve. So ask yourself “What can I do in every situation in 2017 to make it better, change the focus, and drive the outcome?”

Image Copyright: leeser / 123RF Stock Photo

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Need help answering these questions and getting started? Let us help you stop chasing relevance and make it happen. Let us help you attract, engage and retain your millennial employees and customers in order to make 2017 your best year yet! For workshop, coaching and speaking information – log on to launchbox365.com today.