Don't Tell Me!

At a training program a few weeks ago I was sharing a story about a friend who had suffered a heart attack and what he had learned in cardiac rehab that I know is beneficial to the rest of the group in reducing stress. Before I could get past the part about the heart attack, one of the meeting participants said, "Don't tell me he died!" The gentleman was visibly shaken. After the program I talked with the man and he apologized for the outburst. He simply said it "hit" too close to home.

It's easy to try and avoid facing the results of poor choices for our lineup. We reason that we are the one person who will beat all the odds and not have a similar outcome. Just like the circus, however, we can't continue to have poor quality acts and expect to get a standing ovation from anyone, especially ourselves.

The next time you are faced with the realization that a poor act could have negative consequences for your circus, don't ignore it. Learn from it, and change your lineup.