Asking for Help Is The Biggest Step
Asking for help can be hardest when the problems we face are most personal. A problem with impaired performance can be very personal, both in terms of its causes and its consequences.
Executives and professionals are generally effective and competent people; people others expect to solve problems.
When the executive or professional has a problem, the self-expectation is that they can solve it themselves. Many times they can. But when they can’t, that same expectation (“I should be able to handle this”) can make asking for help the last thing they consider, and, to a worsening of the problem: a feeling of helplessness – and that never helps to solve a problem. The longer it takes to ask for help the more chance the problem can become ingrained and lead to long-term, negative changes.
Examined logically, after the problem has been solved with professional help, most executives and professionals will say words to the effect of: “I am expert in my field, and am fully aware that you could not do my job, or, if you could, it would take you hours to do what I can get done in minutes. You have spent decades learning about your profession, and there the same effectiveness imbalance exists, this time in your favour: you can solve performance problems that I can’t even understand. It was just crazy to put off for so long addressing this problem. I was embarrassed to ask for help, but now I feel embarrassed that I delayed – all those months of impaired performance – I can never get them back.”
Tackling problems quickly and effectively saves so much time, time that executives and professionals can use to achieve desired results.
If you have a performance impairing problem take action now.
Asking for help is the biggest step.
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