Comments

Tom--I am writing a book about leading and sage-ing and I would like to interview you as one of my "sages." To date, I have interviewed more than 60 and you would recognize more of the names. Based on reading your blog (and I have read many of your books), you should be on the list of sages. I advocate servant leadership and your comments resonate. Please let me know if this is a possibility. Jann Freed

Posted by Jann Freed at May 11, 2009 5:44 PM

This one I love.

I realized the practical value when I had a small software project development team. I had a couple of good programmers, a couple of OK programmers, and a couple of duds.

Generally, the philosophy in this organization was to drive your best workers hard. It was not seen as worth the effort to spend time with the duds (this was a government organization, which meant everyone had job security).

Well, with a little effort and attention, those duds flowered into some of our best folks. My boss who told me when I arrived that I would probably have to do all the work for "John", told me as I was moving on that he now wished he had a dozen "Johns."

If I had cracked the whip on my performing folks I would have gotten a little more out of them. But by working with those folks that had not performed well we got a huge increase in productivity (and morale).

Especially in a small team, getting one or two more folks up to full speed can have an almost miraculous impact. We cleared up in 2 years a backlog of work that had accumulated over an 8 year period.

People are the center and soul of the organization.

Posted by Bruce Benson at May 11, 2009 9:19 PM

Bruce,

I, for one, enjoyed your account above. It wasn't any shock to me to hear such a story, as it only underscores the importance of such ideas as overcoming the restraining forces that hold back productivity, as opposed to focusing all your efforts on driving forces.

Thanks for sharing it. I hope others will share their similar stories, as I know they exist and should be shared.

Posted by Dan Gunter at May 11, 2009 9:34 PM

Jann - Please send your interview request to tom@tompeters.com. Thanks!

Posted by Shelley Dolley at May 12, 2009 6:48 AM

"For who is greater, he who sits at the table, or he who serves? Is it not he who sits at the table? Yet I am among you as the One who serves. "

--Jesus Christ (Luke 22:27)

TP - Thanks for the reminder that great leaders are servants.

Posted by Judith Ellis at May 12, 2009 9:39 AM

If I were to add one CRUCIAL one to your list, it’ll be: HEIGHTENED AWARENESS.

Posted by Andres Agostini (Andy) at May 22, 2009 9:11 PM