“If things were easy, I wouldn’t have had the need for you (managers). I would have just hired robots.” I’ve heard many things from my superiors before, but this was probably my biggest takeaway from my two-year stint in Cebu. While I have always believed that the “human resource” was a company’s biggest asset, those words from our chief executive gave me a different angle to the concept. Running a business is hard. Management is hard. Leading people is hard.
All these years, I have been telling my team leaders, peers, and friends that people are “tricky.” People don’t always do as they’re told, no matter how clear and sound your instructions are. This is one of the reasons why not everyone can be a team leader or a manager. Most don’t appreciate this human element–not their tendencies to disobey nor ignore specific instructions–but their need to do things which they believe is the right way, anyway.
Some think they should be leading people, but they don’t have the prerequisite skills and, more so, the patience to develop those who they intend to lead. While many of the basic “techniques” to leading people and managing teams are easily learned, e.g., identifying certain tasks and assigning them to certain people (delegating) and setting deadlines, the more important skill of getting the most out of their staff needs a lot more talent and focused effort.
I probably should define what I mean by “getting the most” out of people. I am referring to the core of humanistic management, i.e., human dignity. Humans should not be treated as a means to an end but rather as “an end in themselves.” Humans must be allowed to flourish. Managers should therefore focus on human development.
Companies must create an environment where employees can achieve their full potential and live dignified lives. As Mea & Sims concluded, when employees are flourishing, profits and sustainability will come naturally. Therefore, it is critical that if a business is to succeed, its leaders need to develop their staff.
Kubicek & Cockram’s “The 100X Leader” was inspired by Sherpas taking climbers to summit Mt. Everest. While each leader must first develop their skills to reach the peak, a world-class leader must come down that mountain and help others summit themselves. A leader must develop people to become leaders as well. This leads me to this article’s title.
Many Star Wars fans would gravitate towards either Luke Skywalker or Darth Vader. The latter, of course, is the greatest villain, while the former is its main protagonist and the symbol for all that is good in the Star Wars universe. For me, I like Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Obi-Wan Kenobi is not, by any measure, the most powerful of all Jedi. That title, I would argue, belongs to Luke Skywalker. He also is not the best in wielding the lightsaber as that would be Mace Windu. Lastly, most Star Wars fans would contend that he’s not the wisest. That title would be Grandmaster Yoda’s. However, I regard Obi-Wan as the greatest of all Jedi. Why? Because not only did he teach the two strongest Jedi ever, but perhaps more importantly, that these two became opposites of each other. Yes, Obi-Wan taught both Luke Skywalker and (spoiler alert!) Darth Vader. It is easier to teach two apprentices to be the strongest and be on the same side, but it is more challenging to teach students to be equally strong yet having opposing views.
Each manager should strive to be like Obi-Wan. The greatest Jedi taught his apprentices everything, imparted to them all his knowledge and skills. Never did he hold back from his “Padawans.” Managers ever so often tend to keep certain things to themselves for various reasons. Some, unfortunately, withhold knowledge from their subordinates for fear that one day, their staff would be better than them, take their job, or even leapfrog them. In my professional career, I have seen this regrettable behavior a few times. Luckily, I have also seen the opposite, albeit in a lot fewer instances, where the subordinate exceeded his superior and even later became his boss. In both cases, the former superior was happy and even proud that the “apprentice” surpassed the “master.”
I urge every manager to strive that their staff would eventually be better than them. Imagine running a company or a project where everyone was better than you. You would have a team who would deliver on time, quality, and most efficiently every time. You can just sit back, relax, take it easy, and be assured that every deadline will be met, and every client would be satisfied and even delighted. Now imagine the opposite–where everybody is less capable than you are. You would struggle to accomplish your tasks, your products and services would have, at the very least, inconsistent “quality,” and it will take you much longer to achieve your goals and even miss your customer-promised lead time. This, of course, means everything will be costlier than it should be, and therefore, profitability will suffer, and nobody is getting salary increases nor bonuses. It is simply not in the best interest of everyone. The company nor the employee will not flourish. I remember very fondly during one of our meetings with a previous company. Our vice president once uttered: “God help us if I am the smartest man in this room.”
Finally, every manager should create an environment where everyone can be the best employee, the best human being. Perhaps the more significant reason Obi-Wan is the greatest Jedi was the fact that his two apprentices, for better or for worse, became opposites of each other (don’t fear–spoiler alert—Darth Vader eventually turned back to the light). The master allowed his apprentices to have their own minds and be who they thought they should be.
Be like Obi-wan. Strive that your “Padawans” be better than you and create an environment where they can be who they want to be.
Soren Mateo is a Doctor of Business Administration student at the Ramon V. del Rosario College of Business, DLSU. He is currently the Country Manager for Anthesis Consulting Philippines, Inc.—a global sustainability company in Pasig City. You may contact him at soren_mateo@dlsu.edu.ph.
The views expressed above are the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official position of DLSU, its faculty, and its administrators.
