Clyde Howell shared with us his story of Army duty. He revealed that
though directed to love the troops, he found them unattractive, base,
crude individuals whom he could never really like much less love. He then
disclosed how he came to love them through understanding what it took them
to do their jobs and their pride in professionalism.
Clyde has certainly disclosed a key issue, one which must be addressed by
every aspiring or existing boss. Society prepares most of us to look down
on the troops with arrogance rather than to first respect and love them as
fellow human beings, no more and no less important than we ourselves.
Companies must understand this societal tendency and be prepared to
counteract it. Fortunately for Clyde, he was in an outfit which has always
realized that loving the troops is prerequisite to being an effective
boss.
Fortunately, it is not necessary that we love the troops in the beginning.
What is necessary is that we learn how to support them and then use them
as the judges of the quality of that support in order to improve its
quality. Determining the complaints, suggestions and questions of juniors
and fixing problems or answering questions to their satisfaction is a big
part of the formula for success. What's more, it does not depend on the
personality or beliefs of the boss. Action is what counts. Beliefs as in
Clyde's case will come later.
Unfortunately, society and businesses will only change when there is a
legitimate need. I don't know what that will be for society, but for
business it has to relate to competitiveness. Actually, the leader in
loving people will probably be business since the churches and the schools
seem more interested in politics than in learning or values.
Thanks to Clyde for sharing.
Regards, Joan
Joan Pomo The Finest Tools for Managing People
Simonton Associates Based on the book
jpomo@gate.net "How to Unleash the Power of People"
--"jpomo@gate.net" <jpomo@gate.net>
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>