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brothers – but I am the eldest brother.” He could hardly have expressed more
clearly that for him the responsibilities are clearly distributed and who has the
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are currently taking place in the world are so im
mense and unique that we can only guess what we
can expect to happen in the next few years and de
cades. We all know that the whole of human history has been
a history of constant development and so constant change but
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speed as today and have even the smallest changes had global
effects. Also never before have values that had developed over
centuries or even millennia been so suddenly and radically
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arising from this or whoever ignores them and does not react
appropriately will fall by the wayside. That applies to every
single one of us, but it applies particularly to all those carry
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managers and executives.
and the experiences made fruitfully in everyday life. The idea
was more than simply another “exotic variant in the jungle of
management seminars.” The initiators had – independently
of each other – long observed that in America it was common
practice to arm executives for everyday life through what were
called “outdoor training sessions.” In some companies even at
that time this form of training was even compulsory for staff
from the upper echelons – and with great success!
But what can a modern manager whose life is played
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portant tools are the laptop and the cellphone learn
from Nature?
Let us assume you are a mountain climber and you want to
climb Mont Blanc or the Matterhorn. You recruit a team, you
make sure that the best possible equipment is available and
you plan the route as carefully as possible. You break down
the goal into individual stage goals and you run through the
individual stages precisely with your fellow climbers. Then you
all begin to train together. In spite of the best preparation you
will on the way to the summit encounter numerous unfore
seen imponderabilities, so that the original plan will have to
be corrected again and again and under certain circumstances
you will also have to put up with massive delays. Perhaps a
sudden change of the weather will even force you to bivouac.
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not go on, wants to give up and has to be remotivated from the
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coach.” The concept was developed by a management trainer
in the automobile industry together with a doctor and psychol
ogist who had studied the subject “leadership in the company
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trips to Canada. The goal of Natural Training was to confront
people in executive positions with the challenges of life in a
situation where they appear in their most elementary form –
in free nature. They should learn to use the knowledge gained
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he economic, political and social upheavals that
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goal you want to achieve. And before you stands a path that
will constantly demand new and clear decisions.
ous storm fronts so that constantly weather reports have to
be evaluated and quick decisions have to be reached if in this
plane the ladies who distribute the breakfast and lunch had
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pilot? Probably not, because only where there is a clear order
and a clear leadership is successful teamwork possible.
How do these demands placed on our mountain guide
differ from those facing a businessman in everyday
life in his company?
Only in form! The tasks facing a leader are never simple, re
gardless of whether somebody is leading a mountain climb
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to command a company, or whether you preside over a num
ber of staff members as a manager. Always two things are re
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all participants and a large amount of leadership skill in the
person in the lead.
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lot is also talked about this topic and so many books and ar
ticles have been written about the subject that it is impossible
to count them. All over the world leadership seminars are held
day after day and leadership academies are founded and the
attendance at such meetings is enormous. All of that is a clear
indication of how important this topic is.
Today a lot is talked about team building and teamwork. We
know that there is no more successful way of doing things
than when “everybody is pulling together,” in order to achieve
common goals. How that looks in practice is something com
pletely different. Teamwork is by no means the product of
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also not a modern invention, indeed it is not even an invention
of human beings, it is quite simply natural. Precisely for this
reason teamworks has functioned quite perfectly in nature for
millions of years! Let me make it clear using an example from
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master craftsman of have an academic degree, perhaps also
because you have specialist knowledge or simply because you
are in the boss‘s “good books” had he thinks you are capable of
taking over the management of a department. Also as a result
of birth or marriage you can get to this position, or because
you found your own company or take over an existing one.
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in all of these cases many positive requirements are already
present before you take over the managerial functions in the
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out doubt a distinct knowledge advantage in his specialty than
somebody who has not studied and whoever has grown up in
a business family has imbibed entrepreneurial from infancy.
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quire with great effort.
We all know that wolves are carnivores, that is they eat meat.
They live by hunting, that is their job. We also know that they
are pack animals, that means that they hunt in teams and not
individually as do, for example, cats. They are dependent on
one another if the hunt is to end successfully and so ensure
life and survival. If every wolf were to hunt just for himself the
outlook for this success would be bleak. Large animals well
able to defend themselves such as an elk or a wapiti stag could
trample individual wolves or gore them with their powerful
antlers and he would not even be able to catch smaller quick
animals. As a team, however, wolves are extremely successful.
Here it is by no means the case that the whole wolf pack runs
like a mad bunch after a stag in order to jump on him together.
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vision of responsibilities and there is one ambiguous leader.
And precisely for that reason it works. And it is no different
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However, whether you are a “born leader” or not – i.e. wheth
er you possess “natural leadership“ qualities – is something
that is played out on a completely different level. Here too we
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life I have had horses myself and I have always been interested
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I have been able to gain a lot of experience with them. Above
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serve these remarkable animals, which have always to a great
extent been raised “naturally” there., and to study their behav
ior within the group.
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With some experience it can quickly be established who has
the say in the group or herd, who the “top dog” is. Always
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does this one lead the whole herd and not another one?” What
exactly has this particular animal to offer so that all the others
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question? Is it perhaps the largest and strongest stallion who
with his most impressive manner and because of his physi
cal superiority can intimidate the others? Not at all! Because
very often a herd is lead by a markedly inconspicuous animal,
mostly a mare who possesses no physical superiority. There
fore it must be the most intelligent animal? But this also is not
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others – and this trust is gained exclusively through her be
havior in the various situations of everyday life! She takes the
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a steep mountain path, through a marshy area or when a river
has to be crossed, and ensures that also the old frail animals
and the young foals can come along without coming to harm.
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the whole herd from possible injuries.
follow her – and they do so of their own free will! Simply ask
yourself the question whether your staff have any reason at
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goal of the company and are members of staff aware of it? Do
your employees also know what is in it for them if this target
is achieved together? And do they know the route to be taken
to achieve the goal – to reach the other bank of the river, as
it were? Don they know that this route is no walk in the park,
but that they can expect many challenges and stress en route?
If your staff are not aware of these things, there is no reason
why they should be motivated to do more than exchange their
working hours for money and so take the “path of least resis
tance.”
Now here it is simpler for animals than for human beings.
They cannot pretend, they cannot lie and fool each other. In
their world the structures are clear and unambiguous, their
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beings are much more complicated, we think a lot outside the
box and with all the contemplation the objections come. “What
if my best sales consultant does not play along and in the end
leaves the company?” – “How should the young storekeeper
understand that we that we have seat a target for an opera
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euros after deductions?” – “Will the people hang on in there
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goals and to clearly describe the way that leads to a goal set.
Things are no different for us human beings!
One of the commonest complaints you hear from business
men and executives about their staff is that they “simply lack
motivation.” Nobody does more than they really have to, all
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willingly. Many are already thinking in the morning of noth
ing more than “quitting time” and avoid their superior or the
boss as much as possible, in short they do nothing more than
exchange their working hours – their presence – for money.
The success and fate of the company they work for is obviously
irrelevant for them...
We all know such misgivings and we therefore become “dip
lomatic” instead of being up front about things. But by doing
just that we pass up on everything that constitutes real lead
ership skills. On the other hand we human beings have one
enormous advantage compared with animals. In contrast to
them we have a rational mind and free will. And we should
use both of them! That means that if we want to we can learn
and develop ourselves further. When the head of a herd or a
pack is not up to the task it is replaced in no time at all and
quite simply takes a subordinate position. Here too there are
no compromises. We human beings have, however, die the
unprecedented opportunity to acquire leadership skills. It is
therefore up to us whether we develop into a leader or wheth
er we remain a “mere” manager.
Let us think again of out leading mare. She wants to lead the
herd to the other side of the river, in other words, she has a
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the other side of the river. And just as clearly she decides how
the herd should get there and that his path will demand some
effort on the part of every single horse. Here she uses no pres
sure, she does not force any animal to follow here, not even
her own foal. She also does not gloss over anything in order
to “tempt” the others, but leaves it to each individual animal
whether to follow her of to let it alone. And as a rule they all
[End of Part 1 – In the next issue read Part 2]
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