No one formula

Here is an old story credited to anonymity. An old man seated in the doctor's waiting room, when called in to see the doctor, slowly got up, and, grasping his cane and hunching over, slowly made his way into the examining room. After only a few minutes, the man emerged from the room, walking completely upright! A patient who had watched him hobble into the room all hunched over, stared in amazement.

“That must be a miracle doctor in there!” he exclaimed. “What treatment did he give you? What's his secret?”

The old man looked at him and said, "Well, the doctor looked me up and down, analyzed the situation, and gave me a cane that was four inches longer than the one I had been using."

How often do we give everyone the same length cane; that is, the same answer for every problem? Then there are those people who see every problem as a nail for which they have only one cure — a hammer!

When HR people or organizers get me to be keynote speaker for events, the professionals would always make sure that there is an alignment between what their clients want and what I have to present.

I love doing TNA (training needs analysis) with clients. I have so many ideas to share, but if the message provided does not meet their needs, then my ideas are mere rhetoric, and motherhood statements which do not benefit the client, that for me means I have failed.

Clients pay me well, but I feel like I have done a misdeed and have short-changed them. The philosophy behind the practice is very simple. Prescription without diagnosis is malpractice.

I have also, on many occasions, discussed the needs of the client and upon my recommendation and professional opinion suggested another course of action and politely declined the client’s desire for me to speak to their teams knowing that in doing so, the solution would not be provided. There is no such thing as a “one-answer-fits-all.” These are called “pat answers.”

The cause of problems can be complex and multiple and this is why professional consultants have to make sure they are able to address their client’s needs.

Similarly, people within the organization may not be able to “see” the cause of their company’s challenges and they need an outside perspective or intervention to be able to address their problems and come up with an unbiased course of action to take.

There are no “pat answers” to life’s problems either. There is no one formula for all that parents can administer to their children when all kids are different in personality and demeanor.

Likewise, it is not fair to bunch up the millennials as one single group and stereotype them in such a way as many speakers and many trainers do. Sometimes some senior manager read up on an article about a generational group; conclude what they have read represents the profile of every single millennial they manage, and come up with a standardized recipe in managing them to the consternation of the many and then they drive the good young people away.

HR people know that managers should be trained in leadership skills not by adopting any technique of formula and then employ it on everyone, but to first and fundamentally understand the mindset of their people and to be equipped with various approaches on inspiring, leading and mentoring them to become the next level leaders they can be.

Similarly not all leaders are the same. There are many leaders out there who are so good at handling their people, they show genuine care and concern and are on a quest to build up their people and provide them with a very successful career path. There are young people who choose to stay with them despite high salary offers coming from other sources. And this wonderful thing happens, you see the business grow, the people show high engagement level and are actually happy with their work.

Leadership is a skill that has to be developed, upgraded and updated. The world continues to change at breakneck speed and it is accelerating at a pace that leaves us perpetually breathless.

Heavyweight boxing legend Muhammad Ali says: “I hated every minute of training, but I said, suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.” And he did.

In business I have a better proposition for you. Develop yourself to be a champion, learn and be trained to produce more champions in your organization and bring your business to the next level.

(Experience two inspiring days with Francis Kong learning leadership skills in this year’s first run of Level Up Leadership March 15-16 at Makati Shangri-La Hotel. For further inquiries contact April at +63928 559 1798)