Slackers, Lions, and Leadership
Talking without action is meaningless babble. Successful leaders connect with doers.
“Do” your way out of problems, challenges, and adversity. Talking helps but only when it focuses on effective, efficient action.
An ancient proverb:
“The slacker says there’s a lion in the road.”
Slackers see lions everywhere.
Spotting slackers:
- Slackers are great talkers.
- Slackers make up reasons to do nothing. They see lions everywhere.
- Slackers talk about what they’ll do someday while doing nothing today.
- Slackers create fear in others. If we do that then this “bad” thing might happen. Ooooo! There’s a lion!
Look up the road. What do you see? Lions!?
Leaders don’t see lions up the road – they see opportunity. The trouble with opportunity is it takes work.
Worry more about things you can do and less about lions.
Listen:
Listen for individuals with “doer” talk; people who explain why and how things can be done; slackers explain why they can’t. Create teams of doers.
Slackers drag teams and organizations down. How do you deal with slackers?
“Lions and Tigers and Bears? Oh my!”. I read slackers, I think slackers, I hear slackers, I hear Strickland (the Nemesis of Marty McFly and all tardy Hill Valley students) in Back to the Future II: “Eat Lead Slackers!”. Thing is, that movie something had gone wrong: the school had got shut down, the environment was a bit like that of an earlier (darker) movie “The Principal”. Strickland was defending his property against the “free riders” of economic theory: the Slackers as defined by history’s best economists. Finding those free-riders is a tricky gig! In the UK, Her Majesty’s Parliament arranged an enquiry into those who “fiddled” their expenses, and then one into a global media empire and also one into the financial services industry that had been free-riding on vast pooled assets and transactions. Back in schools, some of the “best” were asked whether they were actually “coasting” (free-riding) courtesy of bright children from well-educated and well-off homes: was the real effort being avoided at the “best” schools which reallly ought to be “world-leading” schools? Strickland would, perhaps, have loved it. But there was more free-riding going on: moral free-riding on the echoes and ghosts of our grandparents’ morality and religiosity. Childrens’ TV and movies were free-riding on the back of past ages’ with “in-jokes” packed with assumptions about what every child knows about. Look at Shrek: then conduct a survey on how many (and which) fairy tales children have actually read and remain familiar with; do it by asking different socio-economic groups. Hey, is that a Lion? “Uh?” Say the children (who’ve not read L.M. Frank Baum or a good Fairy Tale like ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ or ‘The Boy Who Cried Wolf’): what’s a… WOOF! Arrrgghhhh! When in unfamiliar places, like the deep dark wood, its good to have read-up a bit in advance; or to have a good guide. Put that another way: you want a Lion-spotter who can get you safely past the Lions.
P.S. Try this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW_dBQPAeDY&feature=results_main&playnext=1&list=PL75F088C0AD166888
P.P.S. Please do forgive my somewhat British (or Disneyish) tendency to indirectly defend good Lions by displacing them with folklore’s wolves! Maybe there’s something in that: when Simba sees a lion ahead, he is careful to check which kind of lion it is before acting….
You are so right. It makes me mad listening to leaders’ “can’t do” lists. How can you grow if you only see obstacles?
When you have a lion/problem ahead, always come up with one solution and present it to your boss. When you team comes to you, ask them for one solution. Just by asking, you might change everyone’s thought pattern to be solution orientated.
You are so right; problem and solution(s) together make sense! Often, looking at that “Lion” in more detail reveals what’s needed. The biblical Daniel in the lion’s den surrvived with faith. Seeing not just the lion but the opportunity is key: the thorn in the lion’s foot that you can help the lion with, for example. So look closer at the lion: accept that which has been created and find out why you and it have met today. How can you help each other? P.S. In the UK, the Lions are a charitable organisation, the British Lions are a national rugby team and Lion leaders in professional services have outstanding technical ability as well as the ability to sell and lead like champions: some Lions are not slackers! P.p.s. By and large, I’m with McFly!
You are right. There are many lions that teams/leaders see along with One problem. Looking for One solution is more doirective I feel than looking for solutionS. Seeing Problem and making steps through lions is an intersting way of solving the problem that need full team work. Each lion must be considered as risk and teach a learning lessons {if lion is alive by then 🙂 }. GOOD POSTING. thank you. I learned good stuff.
GREAT POST!! Thank you.
Dan,
My favorite sentence today?
“The problem with opportunity is it takes work”. Oh yeah.
How to dissuade slackers? Pointing out things that won’t work is the booby prize.
Coming up with possible solutions or plans of action is the gold medal.
Maybe we need actual “gag” prizes. During a discussion whoever is blowing holes in an idea holds the booby prize in hand as they naysay.
A person talking solutions holds the gold trophy as they speak.
Sure it would be ridiculous. But ti might force everyone to think positively in a humorous way.
Remember I’m a teacher. I can see myself doing this in the classroom to demonstrate a point.
Dauna Easley
I appreciate the spirit of this post Dan. My blog is premised on the most fundamental concept of “doing”. It is all too easy and common place to mistake “activity” for action. I wonder how many meetings are the result of new lion sightings.
A pessimist quickly realized that all the reasons why something couldn’t be done became the list of things to overcome. Ideas are not Clay Pigeons, so stop shooting.
Slay the dragons. Thanks for sharing a great post.
Dear Dan,
Slackers are usually non-performers and they spoil work culture of any organization. They need to be brought back into the system by frequent counseling, pushing and warning.
Act before they become a liability and a slow poison refraining the organization growth. If needed, remove them.
“Listen for individuals with “doer” talk; people who explain why and how things can be done; slackers explain why they can’t. Create teams of doers.”
Great advice! Wish I had paid more attention to this in the past. 🙂
The word “babble” in the very first sentence is redundant, and therefore “babble.” That’s where I stopped reading.