Let me pick up where we left off last time, discussing how your team wants to help, wants to contribute, but for various reasons, they’re unsure how.
So if you haven’t listened to episode 10 yet, go back and hit that.
I want to pick back up where we were:
Your team wants to help.
Most people aren’t lazy.
They’re not checked out.
They’re not trying to underperform.
But they are trying to survive…
…and when systems start to break, it gets easier and easier to reach for an excuse.
And here’s the part that’s hard to admit:
It’s not just your team giving excuses.
You might be making them too.
You might be accepting them.
You might be explaining around them.
You might even be padding the real issue with empathy that feels kind—but leaves the problem untouched.
I’m James Mayhew—and this is Leadership in 5.
Before we go any further, I want to say something clearly:
What I’m about to share isn’t criticism. It’s care.
It’s perspective.
It’s a way forward if you’re willing to be honest about what’s actually happening inside your company right now.
We tell ourselves we’re just being gracious.
That we’re protecting the team.
That we’re trying to lead with compassion.
But over time, those good intentions start to suffocate execution.
They hide the truth.
They delay the hard conversation.
They keep the real problem just out of reach.
Let me give you a few examples:
You say,
“She’s just overwhelmed right now.”
Okay, but if that’s true, why haven’t we adjusted the workload or restructured the role?
You think,
“He’s going through a lot at home.”
And yes, that matters. But if we’re constantly planning around it, month after month, have we put him in a seat that actually works for him and the team?
You tell yourself,
“I haven’t had time to address that yet.”
But that means you’ve chosen to tolerate the impact. Whether you meant to or not.
See, excuses don’t always sound like excuses.
They sound like compassion.
Or strategy.
Or “just giving it some time.”
But here’s what I’ve learned the hard way:
Excuses — whether given or accepted — don’t protect your people.
They protect the dysfunction.
And when you protect the dysfunction, you ask everyone else to work around it.
To carry the weight. To pick up the slack.
Eventually, it’s not just one person underperforming.
It’s the whole system holding its breath.
Waiting for something to change.
Suffocating under silence.
So here’s the question I want you to wrestle with today:
What excuse are you still holding onto—because it’s easier than addressing the real issue?
Let that sit with you.
Because the moment you stop giving and accepting excuses is the moment the system can breathe again.
And that’s worth thinking about today.
