I thought you might find these tips on how to Avoid Trouble useful.
Half of your success will be attributed to avoiding trouble and people that bring trouble. When hiring people, picking business partners, buddies or even your spouse it is vital that you avoid trouble. Every single personal and business problem I have had in my life came from me getting involved with troubled people. And in every case those people provided me with clear, obvious warning signs that I ignored.
When you know who to associate with and who to avoid, success becomes possible. Bad things happen to good people when good people get themselves involved with those that create and attract trouble.
Here is a short list of signs of trouble:
1. Over spenders – When a person over spends he/she is validating that they will compromise their personal integrity. If a person is unable to control their spending or demonstrate discipline they will bring trouble into their lives and yours. I don’t want to hire this person, date them and certainly don’t want to make them a business partner. Discipline and doing the hard thing are good characteristics and the inability to do either with regards to money is an indication of trouble.
2. Unable to finish tasks – Those afflicted with the inability to bring projects to completion are magnets for trouble. These are the idea people, always talking about a ‘better’ way to do things, talking above everyone’s heads, pontificating of the great possibilities but never able to bring the idea across the finish line. They will bring confusion and a lower morale to your business and they will never be able to finish on time, if ever at all and will always go over budget.
3. Critical – Criticism of another’s shortcomings and/or mistakes are common traits of those that bring trouble. Unable to talk about their own shortcomings and in order to hide their own mistakes, troublemakers spend their time talking about the shortcomings of others. In an interview, if the candidate becomes critical of their previous employer I immediately end the interview as I know better than to waste time on people stuck on excuses, blame and in the past.
4. Litigation – We live in an out of control environment where lawsuits are the solution for lots of people. Those that are troublesome love litigation and this makes it easy to see them stand out. Had I avoided every person involved in initiating litigation against others over the past 30 years I would have saved myself unbelievable amounts of time, frustration and money.
5. Accidents – Just a simple sign that things are not going well for this person. Regardless of who’s fault the accident is or was it is still an accident. Treat people having accidents the way the insurance company does. They don’t care who was at fault they raise the premiums; another accident and they could drop you or deny you coverage. They seek to avoid losses and you should too.
6. Avoid Self-Improvement – Another very clear sign of troubled people is they are unable to make time to improve themselves. They may have even given up on the idea that books or courses can improve people. Even when they do attempt to improve themselves they probably won’t complete it anyway (#2 above) or become critical of the instructor or material (#3 above). This indication is another great warning sign that you are dealing with someone that will bring trouble to you and your organization.
Ask any rich person the key to financial success and they will tell you that avoiding losses is the number one most important policy. The second half of success is investing time and energy in the improvement of your attitude and skills. I am convinced that avoiding trouble and not getting involved with troubled people is vital. Create an organizational environment that is committed to self improvement and watch for those that exhibit the warning signs of trouble. They will stand out like a sore thumb and you will know who not to have in your organization.
Check out my online platforms for more information… Cardone On-Demand for automotive companies or Cardone University for all others that sell B2B or straight to consumers.
Have a great week!
