Stop Painting Over the Rust

See that young guy in the picture? That’s my dad, Jack Leddin, wearing his U.S. Navy uniform back in the 1950s. He spent most of his time in the service on a destroyer called the USS Hopewell.

He once told me that whenever the ship pulled into port, the crew would scramble to make everything look perfect. The goal was to show the world we had the sharpest, strongest Navy around. And sometimes, to make that happen, they’d just paint over the rust.

That’s right. Instead of fixing the problem, they’d slap on a fresh coat of paint to make it look good. Then, once they left port, guess what? He and his crewmates would be back on deck, scraping off the new paint so they could finally get to the real issue underneath.

We All Do It

That story has stuck with me for years.

Because let’s be honest, we all do the same thing.

We paint over the rust.

We pretend everything’s fine when it’s not.

We smile through the stress.

We act like our teams are tight, even though we’re barely holding it together.

We present ourselves as a well-aligned organization with a strong culture while trust quietly falls apart beneath the surface.

It’s easier to cover things up than to deal with what’s really going on. But the longer we avoid it, the worse it gets.

The Behavior That Sets Positive Disruptors Apart

That’s why one of the key behaviors James Patterson and I highlight in our upcoming book Disrupt Everything is something we call See Brutal Reality.

It means you face the truth, head-on.

You name what’s broken.

You stop pretending.

And you start working on what matters.

We talked to over 350 disruptors around the world, from household names to unsung heroes, and this showed up again and again. These folks had big dreams, but they also had the guts to be honest about where things stood. They didn’t sugarcoat it. They didn’t lie to themselves. They saw the rust and said, “Let’s fix this.”

The Challenge for All of Us

That’s the challenge for all of us. Me included.

To stop hiding the problems.

To stop pretending.

And to invite others into the process of making things better.

Thanks Dad for the lesson. The real work doesn’t happen when the ship looks perfect in the harbor. It happens when you roll up your sleeves and deal with what’s underneath.

Want to Learn More?

If you want to learn more about Disrupt Everything or how to build a team or organization of positive disruptors, head over to my website. We’ve got an exclusive pre-launch offer waiting for you.

Make it a great day!

Patrick

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