Print edition: 
You have to be careful in this economy ... What with this economy and all... Especially in this economy...
Enough already. It is time for the business leaders of this community to stop making excuses. Excuses rooted in a lack of personal responsibility. Excuses that are damaging the morale of your company at the very least and stifling innovative thought and execution at worst.
I just returned from a national conference in Las Vegas, where I finally started to see the tide turn. The tide I am talking about is that of blaming everyone and everything for our lack of business performance. It is time to stop the blame game and begin to pull our collective heads out of the sand in order to do something, anything, just to stop sitting there, blaming.
I have a fundamental belief that there is opportunity in every economy. When times are good, companies are looking to innovate and take advantage of opportunities. When times are bad, companies are still looking to innovate and take advantage of opportunities.
You see, opportunity lurks in many places. Maybe it is a new product line. Maybe it's the acquisition of a weak competitor. Perhaps there is talent available that will propel your business to new heights.
I am tired of the doom and gloom. Walking in business circles is like the movie "Dawn of the Dead," with zombies as far as the eye can see.
It does not have to be this way. And let me tell you, for many Wichita companies it is not. I work with many organizations that had their best year ever in 2009, even those on the periphery of devastated industries like commercial construction and leisure travel.
To the credit of the leaders of these companies, they don't make excuses; they take action. Their goal for 2009 was not to simply "make it through" or to "remain stable." They have been measured, yet assertive. And you and your company can be too.
You must decide right now, today, this minute, that you no longer will blame your lack of business performance on the economy. Your excuses, heard by your employees and customers, are devastating. You must immediately take personal responsibility for the financial health of your company or the part of the company in which you work. If you need to make hard decisions, make them. If you should be taking a risk, take it. If a problem needs to be eliminated, eliminate it. Just stop doing nothing.
As business owners we are 100 percent responsible for the health and continued growth of our organizations. Some company in your industry is No. 1; why is it not you? Someone is talking to and attempting to take your customers; what are you doing about it? Someone has stopped blaming the last president and the new one; what are you doing? Blaming or executing? If I were a fly on the wall of your office, what would I hear? A leader or a blamer?
Now is the time to begin to identify opportunity and plan for the growth of the economy, or at the very least, plan for the growth of your economy. You should be investing in advertising, making strategic plans to siphon off customers from weak competitors that are struggling, you should be training and arming your people with the improved skill sets they will need in this new reality. But please, I am begging you, stop blaming and start doing.
