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Rajat Joshi
101

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
Atomleaf
11

Hi Rajat,
Thats "Practical Explanation"...
Rajat you have revealed out the secrets...
truly there lies the difference between common thinking and an sophisticated one...
good article...
:) :) :)
Regards

From India, Madras
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