Solution Saturday: Winning in No-Win Situations
Bill (Not his real name) manages several franchise locations. He finds himself in a no-win situation. Budget and personnel cuts by the mother organization make it impossible for him to fulfill his responsibilities to franchise owners.
If he doesn’t deliver results for competing parties, he feels he will lose his job. He’s looking for a new position.
Dear Bill,
Feeling you can’t win is like being caught on a hamster wheel.
Running faster doesn’t help.
Success on the hamster wheel:
- Congratulations for looking for a new job. If you aren’t independently wealthy, be discreet.
- Run toward – not away. What career might you run toward? Beware of jumping out of the frying pan and into the fire.
- Get a picture of what you want for yourself.
- Anger tells us what we don’t want.
- Keep asking, “What do I want,” over and over.
- Talk about what you want with family, friends, and mentors.
- Seize what you can control; let go what you can’t.
- Feeling helpless drains energy.
- You can’t control other people. Forget about it.
- Hot emotion indicates a desire to control something out of your control. Monitor hot emotion.
- You can control your behaviors.
- You may be able to minimize negative emotion. (Consider the previous ideas.)
- Reflect on your journey.
- What do you love?
- Who do you want to be? If you were that person now, what would you do?
- What does your frustration tell you about your values?
- How can you stand for your beliefs?
- What valuable lessons or skills is this situation teaching you? (How are you better?)
- What advice would you give someone in your situation?
Tip: Be as demanding and compassionate with yourself as you would be with others. Clarify what you expect from yourself.
What suggestions might you offer people who are in no-win situations?
Dan in today’s world of downsizing and excessive corporate headquarters oversight, this is sadly very typical.
I would add a couple things to your very complete list:
1. An HR type consultant once told me that you should remember the jobs or portions of jobs where you were looking forward to going to work, even if the work was very difficult
Hi Brad. So true. A typical strategy for gaining profits is cutting costs. It works for the short-term. Too often, leaders who rely on this strategy exclusively, come into an organization – cut costs – create havoc – achieve short-term gains, then they move on to their next victim, as if they were a hero.
Your positive suggestion reminds me of “Follow your bliss.” I’m all for it.
Dan somehow I hit Post too soon!
2. You also need to talk to people who are good Mirrors for you. Good Mirrors have 3 qualities: they understand something about the situation, they care what happens to you and they are neutral or not biased, which excludes most spouses/family members
Theses two thoughts might help Bill decide what to do next.
Brad
Brad James http://www.bradszootales.com
Thanks again Brad. The inclusion of advisers from outside family and friends is essential for getting a balanced perspective. Good call.
“Hot emotion indicates a desire to control something out of your control. Monitor hot emotion.”
This is a gem- thanks!……
Thanks Lori. I give props to John Stoker for that one. It’s something that is making a positive difference in my leadership.
Great suggestions for a tough but all-too-common situation! I like the mirror thinking – outside family and friends! Great post as always.
‘Run towards, not away’ is a profound piece of wisdom – what we run away from always chases and catches us.
Seize what you can control. That’s gold!
Dan, Homerun, great post!
I have a workshop where I use a picture of a hamster running in circles and loving it (took at a pet store). We are human Beings not human doings.
I love this: Don’t run from, run to.
The reflection question of What do I want is powerful.
My mentor Paul Martinelli in a teaching call made the huge distinction between goal setting & goal achieving by starting to ask that very same question followed up with another powerful question:
How would that make you feel? Keep the two questions going until you create the ultimate portrait of what you want to Be, Do, & Have.
Blessings,
Mark
Dan, I agree with you and your readers comments: It’s important “not to run FROM something, rather run TO something.” However, before making a decision to leave this company and seeking new employment, I would ask fictitious Bill at least two questions: 1) Irrespective of the current budget-cutback situation, do you enjoy your leadership position at this firm?; and 2) Can you see this current scenario at your company as both a learning experience and a growth challenge for you to overcome?
I refuse to believe every difficult leadership downturn demands that we turn and run. In fact, I believe that if we have enjoyed success at a company and we have some sense we can turn things around, that’s what real leadership is about: Leadership is not needed when things are going good. Heck, anyone can coach when our team is winning by 100 points. But it takes a real coach—a real leader—to create momentum, to build something from nothing, to do more with less, to inspire a staff, to construct a road where there was none, to pull people up, to push people forward and upward, to incite the hearts of people, and work alongside one’s staff to make things happen. Imagine the inner gratification in that.
The professional meets one’s professional dictum: Obligation before rights. Then, if one wants…seek another position or entertain job offers.
Dan,
Great insights, very helpful. I really appreciate your wisdom and your heart to help and serve others!
V/R,
Pat