This blog was originally published on January 28, 2018.
The status quo is like pouring a tablespoon of sand into your gas tank every day. The big organization likely knows the tablespoon of sand is being poured into its gas tank, but likely doesn’t care. People come, people go, and the engine keeps running. The tablespoon of sand is just the cost of doing business. The problem is, eventually the tablespoons of sand add up and the engine doesn’t run as well as it used to. “But it’s still running, nothing to fear!”, they say. Until it’s not running any more. And everybody looks around, wondering how it happened. They no longer notice the person dropping the tablespoon of sand into the gas tank right in front of their eyes. “We’ve always dropped a tablespoon of sand into the gas tank every day and look how successful we’ve been. That can’t be the reason we’re in crisis. It must be something out of our control that has led to this crisis. Let’s lay off 30% of our workforce, that should do the trick. And give that guy dropping the sand in the gas tank a raise, by the way. We can always count on him to do his job.”
How long does it take for this to happen in a mid-size or small company? Exactly.
I believe a culture based in leadership principles drives success by challenging orthodoxies at every turn. Show me a small or big challenge and I’ll show you a behavior that is rotting an organization from the inside out. And then I’ll show you how to turn that behavior on its head. I run a leadership consulting firm. My principles are based on my experience operating in the world’s most elite military and law enforcement organizations. I help you apply these leadership principles to your organization.
Errol Doebler is the founder of Ice Cold Leader, a leadership consulting firm. After successful careers as a Navy SEAL Platoon Commander and FBI Special Agent, Errol founded Ice Cold Leader to realize his passion of teaching leadership and helping individuals and businesses improve exponentially. Errol provides executive coaching and leadership training to individuals and teams across the United States.
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