Ducks In A Row: People Are Like Bats
by Miki Saxon
Did you know that as nimble as an ordinary bat is when flying it can’t take off from a level place?
If it is placed on the floor or flat ground, all it can do is shuffle about helplessly and painfully until it reaches some slight elevation from which it can throw itself into the air. Then it takes off like a flash.
That’s also a good description of what happens to workers who aren’t given what they need to succeed.
Whether it’s coherent instructions, correct and complete information, additional training, viable feedback, or something else, without it they struggle to survive, let alone thrive.
If you want your people to perform and succeed then it’s your responsibility to provide the slight elevation from which they can launch themselves.
Identifying and providing that slight elevation is your responsibility, whether you consider yourself a leader or a manager.
That small height isn’t one-size-fits-all nor is it necessarily what works for you, which means you need to learn through interaction and discussion what constitutes a feasible elevation for each individual and provide it.
That’s your job, whether you are a CEO, team leader or anything in-between, that is what you are paid to do.
So if doing it doesn’t float your boat and give you an adrenalin rush every time someone takes off you’re in the wrong position. You may like the paycheck, but you’re leaving your people to shuffle in circles and setting them up to fail.
And doing so will come back and bite you at some point.
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Image credit: ZedBee|Zoë Power on flickr
December 15th, 2009 at 2:03 am
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