One day, an old umbrella-mender was working on a broken and torn umbrella. He seemed to take unusual pains testing the cloth, carefully measuring and strongly sewing the covers.
An old woman who was looking at his involvement remarked, “You are unusually careful”.
“Yes,” the man said without looking up, “I try to do good work”.
But the woman said, “Your customers will not know the difference until you are gone. Perhaps you expect to come back this way again someday”.
“No, I shall probably not come back,” he said.
“Then why are you so particular?” said the woman
He said, “So that it will be easier for the person who follows me. If I put shoddy cloth or do bad work, my customers will find it out in a few weeks and the next old umbrella- mender will get a cold shoulder”.
Moral of the story: in our all walks of life, we do leave a distinct trail when we move forward and the more favorable trail we leave behind, that better for the person who follows us at a later point of time. When a person who mends simple umbrellas can be so meticulous, why not we, especially those of us at the front end of the Business?
From India, New Delhi
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425An old woman who was looking at his involvement remarked, “You are unusually careful”.
“Yes,” the man said without looking up, “I try to do good work”.
But the woman said, “Your customers will not know the difference until you are gone. Perhaps you expect to come back this way again someday”.
“No, I shall probably not come back,” he said.
“Then why are you so particular?” said the woman
He said, “So that it will be easier for the person who follows me. If I put shoddy cloth or do bad work, my customers will find it out in a few weeks and the next old umbrella- mender will get a cold shoulder”.
Moral of the story: in our all walks of life, we do leave a distinct trail when we move forward and the more favorable trail we leave behind, that better for the person who follows us at a later point of time. When a person who mends simple umbrellas can be so meticulous, why not we, especially those of us at the front end of the Business?
From India, New Delhi
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After reading nice motivational episodes by learned poster,let me add one more:(all credit for this story to original writer,i am just reproducing it for benefit of all)
As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
My view;
Be bold and dont loose heart,make failure a stepping stone to success.
Let nay sayers keep saying what they want,but you must try to move ahed towards yyour goals.
From India, Pune
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As a man was passing the elephants, he suddenly stopped, confused by the fact that these huge creatures were being held by only a small rope tied to their front leg. No chains, no cages. It was obvious that the elephants could, at anytime, break away from their bonds but for some reason, they did not.
He saw a trainer nearby and asked why these animals just stood there and made no attempt to get away. “Well,” trainer said, “when they are very young and much smaller we use the same size rope to tie them and, at that age, it’s enough to hold them. As they grow up, they are conditioned to believe they cannot break away. They believe the rope can still hold them, so they never try to break free.”
The man was amazed. These animals could at any time break free from their bonds but because they believed they couldn’t, they were stuck right where they were.
Like the elephants, how many of us go through life hanging onto a belief that we cannot do something, simply because we failed at it once before?
Failure is part of learning; we should never give up the struggle in life.
My view;
Be bold and dont loose heart,make failure a stepping stone to success.
Let nay sayers keep saying what they want,but you must try to move ahed towards yyour goals.
From India, Pune
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Dear Friends, Both the stories are very informative. Regards, PBS KUMAR
From India, Kakinada
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From India, Kakinada
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A motivated employee is worth his weight in gold.
A motivated workforce is a real competitive advantage for any company.
Getting people to give their best output is a difficult task, even for the best manager.
One must try to understand why people do things they do.
If one could decipher what motivates an employee, then he will be one step closer to achieving his goal.
Workplace indication of how motivated the workforce is can be seen from engagement, satisfaction, commitment, and intention to leave the job (employee turnover).
The output or results of an organization having a motivated workforce can easily be noticed as different from any lackluster organization where employees come, work, and go.
Both the organization as a whole and managers as individuals must work towards strengthening factors that motivate people.
The armed forces are examples where motivation plays a vital role. I analyze it this way:
People who join the Armed forces have a compelling purpose - patriotism, etc.
There are challenging goals that armed forces people often face - flood relief, insurgency threats to the nation, etc. This brings out the best in most personnel.
Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined in the armed forces, leaving no scope for confusion. Every member knows his role and how it is linked to the overall purposes of the unit/battalion, etc.
No individual member would like to do his job sloppily because it affects the team, the unit, and so he puts in 100% without someone breathing down his neck.
The role of officers and JCOs is to remove any obstacles faced by the lower ranks and give them the psychological reason - for example, battalion name, regimental pride to do well.
The armed forces do the ultimate act of motivation in that many brave people are ready to even lay down their lives in case of war.
Every manager can do his bit to bring about bonding among workers/staff, recognize merit and good performances, and ensure fair treatment of those working under him to boost motivation.
From India, Pune
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A motivated workforce is a real competitive advantage for any company.
Getting people to give their best output is a difficult task, even for the best manager.
One must try to understand why people do things they do.
If one could decipher what motivates an employee, then he will be one step closer to achieving his goal.
Workplace indication of how motivated the workforce is can be seen from engagement, satisfaction, commitment, and intention to leave the job (employee turnover).
The output or results of an organization having a motivated workforce can easily be noticed as different from any lackluster organization where employees come, work, and go.
Both the organization as a whole and managers as individuals must work towards strengthening factors that motivate people.
The armed forces are examples where motivation plays a vital role. I analyze it this way:
People who join the Armed forces have a compelling purpose - patriotism, etc.
There are challenging goals that armed forces people often face - flood relief, insurgency threats to the nation, etc. This brings out the best in most personnel.
Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined in the armed forces, leaving no scope for confusion. Every member knows his role and how it is linked to the overall purposes of the unit/battalion, etc.
No individual member would like to do his job sloppily because it affects the team, the unit, and so he puts in 100% without someone breathing down his neck.
The role of officers and JCOs is to remove any obstacles faced by the lower ranks and give them the psychological reason - for example, battalion name, regimental pride to do well.
The armed forces do the ultimate act of motivation in that many brave people are ready to even lay down their lives in case of war.
Every manager can do his bit to bring about bonding among workers/staff, recognize merit and good performances, and ensure fair treatment of those working under him to boost motivation.
From India, Pune
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Employee Motivation.ppt
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Employee Engagement Study.doc