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Visionary, Consistent and Persistent
MOMENTS THAT TRANSFORM US.
Know where you are heading.
Be consistent and persistent.
Be patient. Listen to your environment.
This is another precious moment that transformed me into a better manager and a better person. It occurred to me recently after having been promoted to Associate Director in a big company, the first management level where you spend more time with the top executives than with the people in the floor.
I was buried in reading reports in my office. The door was opened. A visiting colleague, Director in the other size of the ocean passed by, knocked at the door, and asked if he could come in. His name was Al. I was glad to greet him and invited him to sit down and tell me about his whereabouts. He started by congratulating me for my promotion and asked me right away how I was doing. I knew I could open myself to Al and told him my neck was aching. He stared at me a bit surprised expecting some explanation about what I meant.
I told him I felt uncomfortable at work for the first time in my life because I knew my job was now to look up and manage my bosses, whereas all my life before I was looking at my peers at eye level and at my subordinates from a different perspective. Nobody had prepared me to spend my time looking in a different direction.
Al smiled and asked me a question: “do you know Ayers Rock?” I said I had seen pictures of it, but I had never been to Australia.
He said Ayers Rock is the biggest rock known on Earth and asked me to think about it as if it were the company in which both of us were working. Big, heavy, solid, impressive. Then he said: “your job now is to move it with the tip of your finger”. I opened my eyes in awe and asked him how I could do that. He answered it is actually easier than what it looks like. I just had to do three things.
The first one is to decide in which direction you want it to move. This is critical, because once it starts moving it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to change the direction because of the huge mass and inertia. So, take your time to develop a vision of where you want to go.
The second one is to put the rock on a bath of mercury. Mercury is denser than calcium carbonate; hence the rock will float on it. The mercury is your social work, what you do to build relationships and trust with the people around you who are relevant to achieving your goals and getting closer to your vision.
Then he got up of the chair and put the tip of his finger on my shoulder, applying a little pressure that I could feel but did not hurt.
The third one is to just start pushing in the direction you chose, not hard, letting people feel the pressure of your finger but without hurting. All you must do is keep pushing in that direction, one day after the other, and then the following day. In the way you will eventually move to avoid feeling my finger bothering you, I guarantee you that if you do this consistently day after day, one day you will see how the rock starts moving following your finger without any resistance in whichever way you push it.
Such a powerful story has guided my actions as an executive ever since. I never took notes of that conversation and I never forgot it. Thirty years later, I still feel Al’s finger on my shoulder.
If you like the story and think it could help someone to avoid having a pain in the neck, please reshare this post to let others read it. Thank you.
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About Me
AGUSTIN RAMOS
Agustin is a leading coach and mentor for managers and entrepreneurs. He helps them overcome all challenges, achieve top results with their company in line with their values, grow personally and live a happier personal life.
Copyright 2024 by Agustin Ramos. All rights reserved.