Why did you succeed? I worked really hard.
Why didn’t you succeed? The weather, the traffic, my computer, the regulations, my boss, my peers, my car, the company policies. I’ve been so busy! The dog ate my homework. The serpent beguiled me.
This is the Self-Serving Bias in action.
A behavioral influence in which we take credit for our successes, while blaming external circumstances for our shortcomings, disappointments, and failures.
Of course we do! We’re boosting our confidence while protecting our self-esteem!
There are 2 problems with blaming circumstances:
1. People absolve themselves of personal responsibility. As a result, they become a victim under their circumstances, leaving little room to become a victor over them.
2. People fail to evaluate all the information available to them (internal and external roadblocks), resulting in poor decisions.
As leaders, how do we lead people out of their own way? With the Lasso of Truth.
Wonder Woman used a truth-compelling lasso. We can employ truth-compelling questions (just imagine the twirling lasso!):
- What role have you played in your success or disappointment?
- If we look at only controllable factors, which ones attributed to your success or failure?
- From your perspective, what specific actions/behaviors did you take or should you have taken?
- What actions/behaviors can you change moving forward to change your results?
When we allow people to point fingers at external circumstances, we condone their victim status, and they stay stuck. Stuck people, stuck team, stuck leader.
But when we help people focus on controllable factors (their actions and behaviors!), we lead them out of their own way.
