First, Do No Harm

When the components of a manager's record are tallied and assessed, it may be that success was obtained not so much from taking positive actions but from refraining from doing negative ones.

Every day, the ledger of our lives has two columns: behavior that builds is on one side and that which is self-destructive is on the other. The latter may be barely discernable and yet, in time, lethal. Just as dieters will carefully consider the number of calories or carbs or sugars, so too should anyone ask, "Is this behavior positive or self-destructive?"

Too often, we are so absorbed with the positive actions that we overlook the poisonous ones that are taken, sometimes at the same time.

Stopping that consumption is a major factor in assuring success. As the medical maxim goes, "First, do no harm."