Like it or not, we ALL drop a ball once in a while.
Whether it be that we allow busyness to distract us from business . . .
or have a brain fart and simply FORGET to follow through . . .
or one of our team members blows a gasket and fumbles his part . . .
Whatever the “Reason” or “Excuse,” those who strive for excellence in all they do (Who I’m assuming you are :-)) generally have “Zero Tolerance” for dropped balls.
Once the ball is dropped, you can’t undrop it, but you MUST take swift and deliberate action to RECOVER it . . . Your reputation and integrity are on the line.
Dropped balls present you with an opportunity to “Define yourself” to everyone within sight or earshot of the infraction. and don’t forget that people TALK – They tell EVERYONE when unpleasant surprises surface and things go wrong . . . and don’t talk much when things are cruising along swimmingly.
Everyone loves juicy gossip.
Are you “THAT Person” who drops the ball and:
- Relies on DRAMA to avoid having to take responsibility . . . throwing a temper tantrum (Crazy Making)
- Hides – Dodging phone calls and being unresponsive to emails/texts
- Points fingers at everyone else
- Blames it on the gal who’s not in the room (she can’t defend herself)
- Makes up creative stories about how those other people created this miss
- Spends time and energy theorizing conspiracy theories (“They” made this happen to distract us from discovering a larger issue)
or are you THIS Person who drops the ball and:
- Puts EVERYTHING else in your world on hold to FOCUS on recovering this ball
- Immediately acknowledges your role in the dropping of the ball
- Shifts all focus away from drama and blame and towards ball recovery (Solution oriented thinking)
- Pledges to mend the issue . . . and then OVER delivers
- Apologizes
You?
Just sayin’
Best,
b
What’s your best “Dropped Ball Recovery” story?
PS – Had a closing yesterday – New construction – The Chief honcho of the building company showed up at the closing to PERSONALLY apologize for 3 things that happened during the construction process that were “less than their standard of excellence” . . . Neither the Clients nor I had noticed these dropped balls as being distractions from the process.
the closing was delayed 2 hours due to a mistake made by a processor of the 2nd mortgage . . . The loan originator PERSONALLY showed up for the entire closing, assumed FULL responsibility for the delay with a HUGE apology to me and the Buyers . . . AND paid all of the closing cost costs for that 2nd and more.
We all walked out that closing with HUGE respect for this Builder and this Lender 🙂