“Great leaders find a way to win, poor leaders lose and find someone to blame.”

Success in any endeavor is determined by leaders who avoid excuses and excel in finding solutions. Almost anyone can lead under ideal circumstances, but “ideal” doesn’t exist.

There is no comprehensive list of leadership success principles. Every leadership opportunity comes with its own particular challenges. However, there are three common principles that apply regardless of the situation.

These three principles will help you stand out from the average leader. First, seek and take responsibility for your actions, no excuses. Second, celebrate who you are, never make excuses for who you are not. Third, make self-improvement a way of life, not a goal to be reached. Never excuse yourself for your lack of passion and effort to get better.

Leadership without excuses does not mean you have a zero-defect mentality. It means you are not going to excuse yourself from accepting blame for not winning. It also means you continue to lead with energy and integrity until you find a way to win.

Delayed victory should never mean defeat. Mentally and emotionally mature leaders never burn any bridges that lead to accepting failure and offering excuses for not winning.

In today’s culture the trend is to equalize everyone. There are no winners or losers, just participators. Poor leaders downplay the exceptional in order to protect the feelings of the average.

People will never have self-esteem and confidence if there is no effort and struggle in their success. The sooner you learn that no one wins every time but that never means you quit and no longer compete.

Losing does not make you a looser. All great leaders have experienced how it feels to lose but they never accept it as a way of life. They see it as another opportunity to find a way to victory.

The only difference between a looser and a winner is the winner keeps getting up till he wins. Winning and loosing start on the inside before they become a reality.


Defeat does not have to be final and winning is not always certain. Great leaders never give excuses for falling and staying down. They just keep getting up until they find a way to win.