Hi folks,
I just came thru an aricle that is interesting in view of the
training fraternity & I thought of sharing with you professionals. Read
on........
DO PEOPLE CHANGE?
(Each Person Is True To His Unique Nature,
Great Managers Are Those Who Accept This)
An old parable will serve to introduce the insight great managers
share. There once lived a scorpion and a frog. The scorpion wanted
to cross the pond, but, being a scorpion, he couldn't swim. So he
scuttled up to the frog and asked:
"Please, Mr. Frog, can you carry me across the pond on your back?"
"I would," replied the frog, "But, under the circumstances, I must
refuse. You might sting me as I swim across."
"But, why would I do that?" asked the scorpion, "It is not in my
interests to sting you, because you will die and then I will drown."
Although the frog knew how lethal scorpions were, the logic proved
quite persuasive. Perhaps, felt the frog, in this one instance the
scorpion would keep his tail in check. And so the frog agreed to
ferry the scorpion across the pond. The scorpion climbed onto his
back, and together they set off across the pond. Just as they
reached the middle of the pond, the scorpion twitched his tail and
stung the frog. Mortally wounded, the frog cried out:
"Why did you sting me ? It was not in your interests to sting me,
because now I will die and you will drown with me."
"I know," replied the scorpion, as he sank into the pond. "But I am a
scorpion. I have to sting you. It's in my nature."
Conventional wisdom encourages you to think like the frog. People's
natures do change, it whispers. Anyone can be anything they want to
be if they just try hard enough. Indeed, as a manager, it is your
duty to direct those changes. Devise rules and policies to control
your employees' unruly inclinations. Teach them skills and
competencies to fill in the traits they lack. All of your best
efforts as a manager should focus on either muzzling or correcting
what nature saw fit to bestow upon them.
Great managers reject this out of hand. They remember what the frog
forgot: that each individual, like the scorpion, is true to his
unique nature. They recognize that each person is motivated
differently, that each person has his own way of thinking, and his
own style of relating to others.
Great managers also know that there is a limit to how much remoulding
they can possibly do to someone. But they don't bemoan these
differences and try to grind them down.
Instead, they capitalize on them. They try to help each person
become more and more of who he already is. They work on honing each
individual's strengths so that he can perform his assigned role
better. And when each employee performs his role better, it
naturally adds to the organisation's productivity.
Simply put, this is the one insight we heard echoed by tens of
thousands of great managers: People don't change that much. Don't
waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what
was left in. That is hard enough.
This insight is the source of their wisdom. It explains everything
they do with and for their people. They recognize employees' inborn
strengths and focus their energies on exploiting those. They do not
waste time and effort trying to instill qualities in their employees
that they know cannot be planted externally. The deep understanding
that they are able to develop about each employee is the foundation
for their success as managers.
This insight is revolutionary. It explains why great managers do not
believe that everyone has unlimited potential; why they do not help
people fix their weaknesses; why they insist on breaking the `golden'
rule with every single employee; and why they play favourites. It
explains why great managers break all the rules of conventional
wisdom.
Simple as it may sound, this is a complex and subtle insight.
Applied without sophistication, it could fool you into believing that
managers should ignore people's weaknesses and that all training is a
waste of time. Neither is true. So before you blindly take to the
path to great leadership, ask yourself: Do I really understand each
employee's strengths? How can they best be chanelled ? What does it
mean for the company?
From India, Pune
I just came thru an aricle that is interesting in view of the
training fraternity & I thought of sharing with you professionals. Read
on........
DO PEOPLE CHANGE?
(Each Person Is True To His Unique Nature,
Great Managers Are Those Who Accept This)
An old parable will serve to introduce the insight great managers
share. There once lived a scorpion and a frog. The scorpion wanted
to cross the pond, but, being a scorpion, he couldn't swim. So he
scuttled up to the frog and asked:
"Please, Mr. Frog, can you carry me across the pond on your back?"
"I would," replied the frog, "But, under the circumstances, I must
refuse. You might sting me as I swim across."
"But, why would I do that?" asked the scorpion, "It is not in my
interests to sting you, because you will die and then I will drown."
Although the frog knew how lethal scorpions were, the logic proved
quite persuasive. Perhaps, felt the frog, in this one instance the
scorpion would keep his tail in check. And so the frog agreed to
ferry the scorpion across the pond. The scorpion climbed onto his
back, and together they set off across the pond. Just as they
reached the middle of the pond, the scorpion twitched his tail and
stung the frog. Mortally wounded, the frog cried out:
"Why did you sting me ? It was not in your interests to sting me,
because now I will die and you will drown with me."
"I know," replied the scorpion, as he sank into the pond. "But I am a
scorpion. I have to sting you. It's in my nature."
Conventional wisdom encourages you to think like the frog. People's
natures do change, it whispers. Anyone can be anything they want to
be if they just try hard enough. Indeed, as a manager, it is your
duty to direct those changes. Devise rules and policies to control
your employees' unruly inclinations. Teach them skills and
competencies to fill in the traits they lack. All of your best
efforts as a manager should focus on either muzzling or correcting
what nature saw fit to bestow upon them.
Great managers reject this out of hand. They remember what the frog
forgot: that each individual, like the scorpion, is true to his
unique nature. They recognize that each person is motivated
differently, that each person has his own way of thinking, and his
own style of relating to others.
Great managers also know that there is a limit to how much remoulding
they can possibly do to someone. But they don't bemoan these
differences and try to grind them down.
Instead, they capitalize on them. They try to help each person
become more and more of who he already is. They work on honing each
individual's strengths so that he can perform his assigned role
better. And when each employee performs his role better, it
naturally adds to the organisation's productivity.
Simply put, this is the one insight we heard echoed by tens of
thousands of great managers: People don't change that much. Don't
waste time trying to put in what was left out. Try to draw out what
was left in. That is hard enough.
This insight is the source of their wisdom. It explains everything
they do with and for their people. They recognize employees' inborn
strengths and focus their energies on exploiting those. They do not
waste time and effort trying to instill qualities in their employees
that they know cannot be planted externally. The deep understanding
that they are able to develop about each employee is the foundation
for their success as managers.
This insight is revolutionary. It explains why great managers do not
believe that everyone has unlimited potential; why they do not help
people fix their weaknesses; why they insist on breaking the `golden'
rule with every single employee; and why they play favourites. It
explains why great managers break all the rules of conventional
wisdom.
Simple as it may sound, this is a complex and subtle insight.
Applied without sophistication, it could fool you into believing that
managers should ignore people's weaknesses and that all training is a
waste of time. Neither is true. So before you blindly take to the
path to great leadership, ask yourself: Do I really understand each
employee's strengths? How can they best be chanelled ? What does it
mean for the company?
From India, Pune
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