Don't Let Shortcuts Stymie YOU Personally or Professionally

This week...for the first time I can remember... I got a Stye in my eye.

I could feel my eye lid getting sore on Sunday and by Monday afternoon my eye was tender...red and swollen. A quick visit to the Little Clinic near us confirmed it and I got some antibiotic ointment. The only other advice was to apply a warm compress regularly... I should be all cleared up in a week to ten days.

Any Help Google?

I really believed I caught it early and the thought that I would have to weather a week or more with this seemed ridiculous. So I took to Google to see if there were shortcuts I could take. The internet disappointingly seemed to validate what my medical professional told me... go figure??!! ... so I begrudgingly buckled down to follow the instructions that I had been prescribed.

Old Wives Tales

As I shared my predicament with several friends and complained about the inhumanity of it all... more than one said immediately... "rub a gold ring lightly on the Stye and it will clear up in no time".

I laughed as I went back to Google to try and find the science behind such a treatment. Turns out... it is an "old wives tale" (Can anyone come up with a better way of describing it...pleeeaaassse!!??) which has proven to clear up a Stye quickly. For as many articles as I found that declared it FALSE were those who emphatically declared it worked. Logically it made no sense to me but somehow over the years there were those that tried it and it just so happened to work...so it became a "thing".

One of my dear friends was so passionate about it...we reached a point of almost bullying to get me to do it. So reluctantly...to preserve the friendship.... I sterilized my wedding band and did the thing.... I had nothing to lose.

You'll be shocked to know... it did nothing... which... according to my friend was due to my lack of commitment to do it several times a day. I declared a one and done to the voodoo but saved the friendship.... phew!

It Takes as Long as it Takes

So as I ride out the final few days of my uncomfortable predicament... it is a humbling reminder that some things take as long as it takes. Here are a few similarities to things we face at work...

Seek Help Early When Things Start to Get Uncomfortable. When you know you are about to "go through some things" best to check in with experienced... reliable sources to understand more about what you are about to face

Buckle Down and Ride it Out. You most likely "won't like the answer" or the timeline presented to you. Ask as many questions to clarify as you need to and be sure to understand the signs that things may be getting worse...not better

If It Seems too Good to be True it Probably is! There are lots of people who will have ALL the answers for a miraculous recovery to the situation. It's important not to dismiss their suggestions out of hand...after all the people that came before us weren't stupid... yet... be factual and firm about the probability of the shortcut working or the impact to the current course of action

Plan for the Worst and Hope for the Best. Set expectations for yourself and others on what has to be done and in what timeline. Maybe you can get through it faster but most likely it takes as long as it takes. The sooner you are honest with yourself and those around you... the better off you will be

In Closing...

This week...both personally and professionally... has been a humbling reminder that we all have times where we have to push through the uncomfortable. We don't like how long things take... how ugly it is to go through it... or how tired we are working our way through it. It's best to take the challenges head on and do what has to be done. The sooner you face up to the reality of the remedy the faster you will have the tough parts behind you.

No matter how many times I have wished for shortcuts or miraculous fixes... my experience has taught me a few lessons...

• Face up to your reality as quickly as possible

• Enlist others and take time to get everyone on the same page

• Be open to suggestions yet be realistic about their ability to remedy things faster

• Consistent effort and transparent communication is key

• Don't sugar coat the road ahead yet recognize when things are showing incremental improvement along the way

• It's a marathon not a sprint so pace yourself

• Slowing down can sometimes help you speed up

So don't let the allure of shortcuts stymie YOU personally or professionally. This too will pass and you will be back on track before you know it!

Leadership Questions of the Week for YOU:

• What are YOUR best "old wives tales" to remedy a Stye?

• How do YOU handle situations where well meaning people come with shortcut suggestions? Do YOU make time to try them or how do you evaluate them without taking your current course off track?

• Do YOU subscribe to the concept of "It Takes as Long as it Takes?"

• Do YOU sometimes back down and agree to sign up to a shortcut timeline because those around you "can't believe or accept" it takes as long as it takes?

• What are YOUR lessons learned when shortcuts are presented to situations you have already researched? How do YOU enlist others to get everyone on the same page?

Thanks for reading….and remember…YOU make a difference!

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