Disappointments

If you are human, you have been disappointed over and over in your life. Disappointments all stem from our expectations. Some that are reasonable, others that aren't. Yet we are all making a choice post the disappointment, on how we deal with disappointments, a critical choice that dictates if we can eventually overcome the disappointment.

Professional disappointments are perhaps a little less complicated to handle than personal ones. When faced with one at work, we can respond by abandoning the plan, finding someone else to blame or simply quitting all together. The other alternative it to ask those involved with the disappointment (team members, customers, managers, subordinates) for the issues, roadblocks, blind spots and potential solutions they may see to overcome the disappointment. This facilitation requires an open, unbiased mind to ideas that you may not necessarily agree with. It requires unprecedented patience during the process as you encourage a diverse set of ideas from each stakeholder. It requires enormous flexibility to revise the action plan, make a minor adjustment or even a complete u-turn if required. It also requires a relentless commitment to your vision. An insistence that you won’t settle for anything less than the ideal despite the severity of disappointments you may face along the way. Definitely easier said than done.