Leaders with excuses can quickly become the lid of the organization.

As the saying goes, the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting different results. Many leaders understand that they need to change, why they need to change, and even how and in what direction they need to change. But they have all the excuses in the world about why they can’t really do things differently. Excuses, therefore, drag leaders toward failure and mediocrity—toward an insane pattern of behavior in which the same mistakes get made again and again. As a leader, your job is to counteract the tendency to let excuses substitute for action. Or don’t, and you and your team can trade excuses about why you and your team failed.

No Excuse Leaders don’t offer, nor do they accept excuses. No Excuse leadership demands the character to demonstrate personal responsibility for one’s actions, and the courage to hold others accountable for theirs. Excuses attempt to conceal personal or professional insecurities, laziness, and/or lack of ability. They accomplish nothing but to distract, dilute, and deceive. It was Benjamin Franklin who said, “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.”

One of my favorite quotes is by Edward R. Murrow; “Difficulty is the excuse history never accepts.” The fastest way to lose respect as a leader is to focus on optics over ethics. If you’re more concerned about political fallout than solving the problem, you have failed as a leader. Even though responsibility for decisions defaults to the leader, responsibility should be a thing of design, not default. It should be readily accepted and not easily denied – this is real leadership…No Excuse Leadership!
Leaders have no excuses, and break through to solutions and overcome barriers without complaining or relying on an excuse to protect themselves. Here are eleven key qualities of character that collectively define what it means to be a No Excuses Leader:

They are Persistent.
They are Humble.
They are Focused.
They are Driven.
They are Instinctual.
They are Honest.
They are Selfless.
They are Confident.
They are Dutiful.
They are Determined.
They have NO EXCUSES in life…They understand that every challenge in life can be a great opportunity to excel!

Live with passion!