Never good enough

Here is a crazy story.

A butcher in his shop, who is working really busy, notices a dog in the shop. He shoos him away. Later, he notices the dog is back again. So he goes over to the dog, and notices he has a note in his mouth. He takes the note, and it reads “Can I have 12 sausages and a leg of lamb, please.”

The butcher looks, and lo and behold, there is a fifty-dollar bill. So he takes the money, and puts the sausages and lamb in a bag, placing it in the dog’s mouth. The butcher is well impressed, and since it is closing time, he decides to close the shop and follow the dog.

So, off he goes. The dog is walking down the street and comes to crossing. The dog puts down the bag, jumps up and presses the button. Then he waits patiently, bag in mouth, for the lights to turn. They do, and he walks across the road, with the butcher following him all the way. The dog then comes to a bus stop, and starts looking at the timetable. The butcher is in awe at this stage. The dog checks out the times, and then sits on one of the seats provided. Along comes a bus. The dog walks around to the front, looks at the number, and goes back to his seat. Another bus comes. Again the dog goes and looks at the number, notices it’s the right bus, and climbs on. The butcher, by now open-mouthed, follows him onto the bus. The bus travels through the town and out into the suburbs, the dog looking at the scenery. Eventually he gets up, and moves to the front of the bus. He stands on two back paws and pushes the button to stop the bus. Then he gets off, his groceries still in his mouth.

Well, dog and butcher are walking along the road, and then the dog turns into a house. He walks up the path, and drops the groceries on the step. Then he walks back down the path, takes a big run, and throws himself – Whap! – against the door. He goes back down the path, runs up to the door and – Whap! – throws himself against it again.

There’s no answer at the house, so the dog goes back down the path, jumps up on a narrow wall, and walks along the perimeter of the garden. He gets to the window, and beats his head against it several times, walks back, jumps off, and waits at the door. The butcher watches as a big guy opens the door, and starts laying into the dog. Kicking him and punching him, and swearing at him.

The butcher runs up, and stops the guy. “What the hell are you doing? The dog is a genius. He could be on TV, for the life of me!”

To which the guy responds, “You call this clever? This is the second time this week that this stupid dog’s forgotten his key.”

End of story.

No amount of good this dog can ever do to make the master satisfied right?

Do you know that there are bosses like that in the work place? No amount of good their people do will ever get praise, a compliment or even a tap on their shoulders or thumbs up sign and everything they do is never enough.

Those bosses are not attuned to the times. They actually drive young talented people away.

The number one challenge of the business world is engagement. Many senior managers do not know how to engage their new young talents and actually drive them away.

Business is competitive. People drive business. Hard hitting managers who know sticks more than carrots behave this way because they get it from their hard nose bosses who behaved the same way. They simply pass on what they received.

These managers and bosses need to be retrained in their leadership skills. And many have and their colleagues and bosses have attested that by simply upgrading and updating their leadership skills, they have not only increased their people’s productivity but their lives both personal and business have actually improved.

Formal education can produce fantastic skillful managers and they have but leadership skills involve a lot more heart and soul especially when dealing with the young and new generation of today.

Well, leadership skills are actually life skills and the more equipped we are at it; the better life turns out to be.

(Bring your leaders to the brand new Shangri-La Hotel at the Fort and experience two inspiring days of leadership training with Francis Kong in his highly acclaimed and updated Level Up Leadership on July 18-19. For further inquiries contact April at +639285591798 or Success Options at 7270291 / 7275692 or register online at www.levelupleadership.ph)