COMMUNICATION RULE 7

Own the Problem—Don’t Blame or Make Excuses

The best years of your life are the ones in which you decide your problems are your own. You do not blame them on your mother, the ecology, or the president. You realize you control your own destiny.

—Albert Einstein

There are two types of blame: throw-people-under-the-bus blame and excuse making. Each one is a powerful tool we use to hold people or outside circumstances responsible for our actions. These two 50-50 accountability behaviors guard us against being blamed and held accountable.

You may be thinking, “Yes, this is great. I need to know how to deal with people who blatantly blame me for their mistakes and who always have excuses for everything.” If this is true for you, ...

Get Speak Up, Show Up, and Stand Out: The 9 Communication Rules You Need to Succeed now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.