How do you feel about challenges? Do you embrace challenges, seeing them as a necessity for success?
This is Chris from Level Up Leadership. I thought it a good idea to focus this week’s newsletter on goals and challenges. After all, as we move into the autumn and the last part of the year, there are only 119 days to reach your goals, whether they are personal, professional, or part of your team’s priorities!
Everyone encounters obstacles, but our reactions can vastly differ. Some may view problems as impossible roadblocks to avoid. However, others see them as opportunities to innovate and move forward.
- Setbacks become lessons.
- Challenges become opportunities.
- Limitations become chances for new discoveries.
Here’s how you can turn setbacks into successes.
#1: Recognize the Opportunity to Learn
When faced with a setback, start with reflection. Ask yourself, “What can this teach me?” This shift in mindset lets you see obstacles as a personal curriculum for growth. You identify what led to the setback, and so better avoid similar setbacks in the future.
#2: Employ a Solution-Oriented Approach
Instead of staying focused on what went wrong, move past this negative mindset. Focus on finding solutions, such as with the 5 Whys. In so doing, you address the current issues, as well as prepare yourself for future challenges.
#3: Get Input
When problems arise, discuss them openly and honestly. Tap into the knowledge and expertise of others rather than go it alone. And in a team, this builds trust and engagement because everyone contributes to the solution.
#4: Document and Reflect
Keep a record of challenges, as well as the actions you used to overcome them. Reflection lets you see patterns, which then improves your problem-solving skills in the future. It lets you see challenges as positives.
#5: Balance Realism and Optimism
You want to be optimistic but also realistic. Although positive leads to positive, there is also the mistaken belief that we should always be positive. They state with a smile, “Let’s not focus on the negative.” However, that can result in toxic positivity.
Pro point!: Regularly schedule brainstorming sessions.
When you build brainstorming sessions into the team calendar, you normalize focusing on the future and being proactive. This allows you to avoid many unforeseen setbacks.
A Warning About Toxic Positivity
Toxic positivity is forced optimism. Although well-intentioned, it’s destructive. It’s inauthentic too, and also negates genuine concerns and any feelings which aren’t positive. In a team, it also means you miss opportunities to find difficult solutions together.
But here’s the most destructive aspect: It allows hope to become an integral part of strategy. You don’t thoroughly explore and plan actionable steps, and instead too greatly rely on the notion that things will somehow work out.
Surprises happen. And rather than deny the existence of challenges and problems, it’s important to acknowledge them.
- Validate any concerns and feelings. When you acknowledge both, you are able to constructively address them.
- Promote authenticity and not forced positivity. The latter often results in gossip among the team. And gossip taps into people’s worst, unfounded fears and concerns.
Wrapping Up
A constructive approach does more than solve immediate problems. It also leans into learning, innovation, and success. Next time you face challenges, embrace them. They aren’t just problems to avoid.
Until next week!