Excuses and reasons

Here is a classic story.There’s a guy with a Doberman Pinscher and a guy with a Chihuahua. The guy with the Doberman Pinscher says to the guy with a Chihuahua, “Let’s go over to that restaurant and get something to eat.” 

The guy with the Chihuahua says, “We can’t go in there. We’ve got dogs with us.”

The guy with the Doberman Pinscher says, “Just follow my lead.”

They walk over to the restaurant, the guy with the Doberman Pinscher puts on a pair of dark glasses, and he starts to walk in. A guy at the door says, “Sorry, mac, no pets allowed.” 

The guy with the Doberman Pinscher says, “You don’t understand. This is my guide dog.”

The guy at the door says, “A Doberman Pinscher?” He says, “Yes, they’re using them now, they’re very good.” 

The guy at the door says, “Come on in.” 

The guy with the Chihuahua figures, “Why not,” so he puts on a pair of dark glasses and starts to walk in. 

The guy at the door says, “Sorry, pal, no pets allowed.” 

The guy with the Chihuahua says, “You don’t understand. This is my guide dog.” 

The guy at the door says, “A Chihuahua?” 

The guy with the Chihuahua says, “You mean they gave me a Chihuahua?” 

People who break the law explain the reason why they had to and this is called an “excuse.” People who do not perform in business organizations when confronted by their bosses or HR will give plenty of reasons why they did not perform. These may be “excuses.”

The word origin for Excuse--taken from Oxford Dictionary comes from the Latin word “Excusare” meaning “free from blame.”

It’s amazing to note that when people do their jobs diligently, give it all their might, make use of their time REALLY working even when they do not meet targets or objectives, they do not give excuses, but they will arrive at the real reasons why they were not able to finish or complete the task.

On the other hand, people who have not used the time diligently to do work; do other things apart from work, and when they cannot catch up with the requirement, and fail to meet work expectations, they give the most ridiculous excuses ever as to why they failed.

Look at how great people have a disdain for excuses:

Benjamin Franklin says: “He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else.” 

The legendary basketball coach John Wooden says: “Never make excuses. Your friends don’t need them and your foes won’t believe them.” 

Florence Nightingale says: “I attribute my success to this – I never gave or took any excuse.”

Excuses upset me as a leader and an entrepreneur because the real problem of an issue is always shoved under the rug and when it is not addressed will cause long-term harm.

Business leaders and owners really want the bad news, but what they hate is to be surprised by a defect or fault that has been kept hidden and when revealed as it eventually would, cause irreparable harm.

We can be extremely creative with giving excuses, but the real harm is that the character of the person is compromised. The personality is weakened and the credibility is eroded. When you add up all these things, the excuses are simply not worth it.

There is a wicked thing that stands in between what was promised and the excuse/s given, and that wicked thing is called a lie. So speak the truth at all times.

(Experience two inspiring days with Francis Kong learning leadership and life skills in his widely acclaimed Level Up Leadership on Sept. 13-14 at Makati Shangri-La. For further inquiries contact Inspire at 6310912, you may also call Jen at +639178173736, April at +639285591798 or register online at www.levelupleadership.ph)