For someone who loves moving things forward constructively, there is little that is as insidious as a leader whose main focus is “to know who is to blame” when things don’t go well.  The fact that things don’t go well is not nearly as much of a problem as the “Blame Game”.

I am always FULL of questions – so let me ask you this:  What is more important when things don’t go well –

•  who is to blame?
   or
•  what caused the unwanted outcome?

Of course we all are interested in both pieces of information, but where we place our emphasis completely changes whether our team is more likely to be interested in trying new things, learning and developing, or whether they are scared to try anything new and hide any new ideas they think of, because of potential failure and being singled out as “the one who is to blame”.

The most devastating impact is on the business, of course.  So as a business leader, I assume that optimizing performance to ensure a very healthy bottom line is a key objective.  So, let’s look at some more uncomfortable questions:

•       How successful are companies that just do what they have always done no matter what?  No pivoting or innovation, just keeping on keeping on.
•       How engaged are employees who are too scared to voice their ideas?
•       How much do you get out of employees who are disengaged?

Here is one tiny bit of data – if you Google this subject you will find a library full saying the same thing:

Forbes: May 2, 2019: How Much Are Your Disengaged Employees Costing You?

A single disengaged employee at the average salary level is going to cost you almost $16,000 per year. Raise their salary to $60,000, and they will cost you $20,400 per year. Increase their salary to $80,000, and their disengagement is costing you $27,200 a year. You get the idea.

Now, here’s where it gets really scary: Let’s apply this formula to a whole organization.

• You lead a small business that employs around 250 people.
•   Using the Achievers data (which states that only 21% of employees are engaged), we can calculate that around 198 of those 250 employees are disengaged and complacent in their work.
• Let’s say the average salary of those employees is $47,000.
• That means your employee complacency is costing you $3,164,040. 

The Blame Game is a habit – a habit that at best will reduce the company’s ability to improve, grow and meet any new and challenging goals.  The worst part is the wet blanket effect it has on enthusiasm, courageous innovation and unbounded determination.  The truly sad part is that most companies start because someone (often the one who now has a Blame Game habit) was extremely courageous and enthusiastic about a possibility, an idea that they had.  This fuelled the start and drove the company to success.  It is often as leaders begin delegating and others are now performing the tasks they used to do, that this habit can appear.

Pay attention to this.  Identify it.  See it if this is something you are doing.  Habits can be shifted and changed if you recognize them.  Nothing can be done if you don’t.  At the very least imagine being the younger you who was once enthusiastically doing something new, trying, failing and trying again.