Everything Happens For A Reason

"What I'm looking for is a blessing that's not in disguise.“
~ Kitty O'Neill Collins

There’s a lot of pithy wisdom running around these days, such as:

• Everything happens for a reason
• There’s no such thing as a bad decision
• There are no coincidences

What do you think about these statements? On the whole, I think it makes sense to adopt a positive attitude that embraces these ideas. Why not? You might otherwise become pretty cynical and jaded. On the other hand, a cavalier acceptance can also breed complacency about taking
responsibility for our decisions. For example, to refuse to acknowledge a poor choice can lead to repeating that choice. In my opinion, sometimes we don’t make the best decision we could have. To deny that is to blame fate, or some other entity. To accept it is to be mature, take responsibility and consciously move toward a more productive path.

So, how do you balance optimism and honest analysis? Let’s look at a situation that has some business and personal elements.

John was an independent management consultant. His good friend, Tom, had a strong relationship with two Fortune 500 companies, and an overflow of consulting assignments from those two clients. He approached Tom about working together.

John was very excited about the possibility of adding two prestigious companies to his client base, and also thought working with Tom would be enjoyable. He did, however, have a couple of nagging little thoughts in the back of his mind from when he and Tom used to work at the same bank together, such as, “Tom always did just enough to get by…..when ever he could palm off part of his work on someone else, he did it…”

John thought about the risk involved, and he thought about writing up an agreement that would spell out each of their responsibilities, whose name the work would be done under, etc. He broached the matter with Tom, who brushed it aside, saying, “we don’t really have time to hammer out a complex agreement dealing with all the nit-picking details. If we want to do these projects, we need to get going right away. That’s why I picked you to participate – we know and trust each other.

John felt intimidated by Tom’s refusal to do a formal agreement, and proceeded with the work. It turned out that the projects were done under Tom’s company name, so John didn’t get the benefit of adding the two Fortune 500 companies to his client list. He also ended up doing most of the “grunt work” on the assignments, because Tom held the purse strings.

In retrospect, John wished he had either:

(a) insisted on a written agreement with Tom, or
(b) turned down the work.

He’s since had two opportunities to do work with friends again. Both
times, he’s been firm on having a written contract before proceeding. One friend was somewhat offended, asking John to “trust me.” John politely declined the assignment. The other friend was perfectly understanding, and they worked out a contract within one week, and have an ongoing
working relationship to this day.

Had John not paid attention to what went wrong in his work with Tom, he might have gotten burned again and again. Sometimes we have to own that “I made a mistake –- oops. How can I not do that again?” When it happens, of course make the best of it. Reaping some success out of a failure is one of the most important skills there is. However, there’s no shame in making and admitting mistakes. In fact, it’s a critical part of moving forward.

Across the USA

Magellan Enterprises has now included clients from 10 different states – CO, MA, NY, DC, VA, FL, OH, NC, GA and NJ. One of my practice goals for the year 2000 is to expand my geographical coverage, to include 10 more states. I of course appreciate all referrals, but as you speak with friends and associates in other states or countries, please let them know that I coach many people by phone, with the same excellent results. Thank-you for continuing to contribute to my success!

Communication

If you need to communicate something of timely importance with me, such as rescheduling your session, please CALL. I just had an experience where my email was down for 2 days, and it is not as reliable as voicemail. I can also check voicemail when traveling. Thanks for your cooperation.

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E-mail: ginger@magellangj.com
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