Over the years, we’ve worked through a Bob Jensen kind of truth- telling, soul-searching session with hundreds of executives, profes- sionals, friends and family. Every situation is different, every person is unique, but everyone reaches a critical moment when he or she recognizes having been stuck in the victim cycle. Take a minute to think about what happened to Bob Jensen. For 12 months he honestly believed he could not control his circumstances. Dwelling upon the bleakness of the situation, he chose to think he couldn’t do anything about it, that no one could expect him to fix all the factory’s long- standing problems overnight. As a result, Bob had languished, unhap- pily and unproductively, until he recognized he was ducking respons- ibility by blaming former directors and other managers, asking the corporate management team to tell him what to do, claiming that he couldn’t do anything more than what he was already doing, and waiting to see if things would get better on their own. Fortunately, when he finally saw how he’d become stuck in the victim cycle, he could commit himself fully to helping everyone at the factory solve their problems and obtain better results.
Like Bob Jensen, every human being can fall Below The Line from time to time, but whenever you do so, you can’t get back on track until you first acknowledge that you’re incurring a high cost for functioning Below The Line. That’s when you begin assuming a See It attitude that gives you the perspective you need to get Above The Line and start climbing the accountability ladder. You’ll begin reading about the See It rung on the Steps To Accountability in the next chapter, but before you do, you should pause here to examine your own position within the victim cycle. We have put together a checklist you should find useful for spotting Below The Line attitudes. Take a few minutes to examine your experiences by honestly answering these questions:
VICTIM CYCLE SELF-EXAMINATION
Answer the following questions either “yes” or “no,” depending on whether the scenario in a given question has ever happened to you.
As you read each question, be sure to ask yourself “Has this ever happened to me?” or “Have I ever felt this way?” Try to play your own best friend, answering the question as frankly as possible.
1. Were you ever surprised by negative feedback from someone else when you thought all along you were doing your very best to solve a problem?
Yes _____ No _____
2. Have you ever spent time blaming others and pointing fingers when things did not go the way you wanted them to go?
Yes _____ No _____
3. Did you ever suspect something would become a problem for someone else or for your organization but did nothing about it?
Yes _____No _____
4. Have you ever spent time “covering your tail” just in case things went wrong?
Yes _____No _____
5. Have you ever said, “It’s not my job” and expected someone else to solve a problem?
Yes _____No _____
6. Did you ever feel totally powerless, with no control over your circumstances or situation?
Yes _____No _____
7. Have you ever found yourself “waiting to see if” a situation would miraculously resolve itself?
Yes _____No _____
8. Have you ever said, “Just tell me what you want me to do and I’ll do it?”
Yes _____No _____
9. Have you ever felt that you would have done things differently if it were your own company?
Yes _____No _____
10. Do you ever tell stories about how someone took advantage of you (a boss, a friend, a contractor, a salesperson, etc.)?
Yes _____No _____
Once you have completed the Victim Cycle Self-examination, total up your scores. Give yourself one point for every “Yes” response and no points for every “No” response. After totaling your points, compare your total to the scoring table that follows.
Scoring
If you scored “0” points: You are not being honest with yourself.
Go back and try it again, but this time sit in a closet so no one can see your results.
If you scored only “1” point: You know you are capable of falling Below The Line, but you probably do so more often than you’re willing to admit.
If you scored “2-4” points: You should take some satisfaction from the fact that you’re only human.
If you scored “5-7” points: You realize that you can easily fall Below The Line.
If you scored “8-10” points: You are very honest, pretty normal, and should be extremely interested in the rest of this book!
Your actual score matters less than the recognition that, as a normal human being, you can be tempted at almost any time to avoid ac- countability for the false security and imagined safety of the victim cycle, where it’s always someone else’s fault that you’re not getting results. The recognition that you have the capability to fall Below The Line sets the stage for you to experience The Oz Principle: to rise above your circumstances and achieve the results you desire.