An old grandfather lived with his son, daughter-in-law and four-year old grandson. Every night the family would eat together at the dining table. Since the grandfather was frail & weak, he was unable to eat as neatly and cleanly as the others. He was noisy, always dropping food, spilling water and making a mess on the table. This irritated his son and daughter-in-law to such an extent, that one day, they decided to do something about the grandfather’s noisy & messy eating habits. They set a small table for him in the corner of the room, and from that day onwards the grandfather ate his dinner all alone, away from the rest of the family. As the grandfather had earlier broken a dish or two, his food was served in a plain wooden bowl. The grandfather was heartbroken at this new arrangement but his son & daughter-in-law did not care and in fact, continued to admonish him sharply if he dropped food or spilled water. In the meantime, the four-year-old grandson watched it all in silence.
One evening before dinner, the father noticed his son playing with wood scraps on the floor. He asked the child sweetly, "What are you making?" Just as sweetly, the boy responded, "Oh, I am making a little bowl for you and mama to eat your food from when I grow up." The four-year-old smiled and went back to work.
Children are remarkably perceptive and closely follow what their parents are feeling, saying & doing, and then copy them – monkey see, monkey do.
Team members are also equally perceptive, which is why leaders wanting to build respectful & collaborative teams, must necessarily set right examples:
1. Practise DE&I
2. PoSH
3. Equal opportunities
4. Altruism
5. Emotional intelligence
6. Active listening
7. Agree to disagree
8. Discuss not argue
9. Walk the talk
10. Encourage
11. Accountability
12.Continuous learning
No wonder then, ‘boss has the title, leader the people’ (Simon Sinek).
Workshops on Leadership Skills & Giving Feedback, Tenneco
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