A la manera de un pastor

July 19, 2004
The contrivance of this leadership handbook is a story-within-a-story: when a newbie business reporter snags an interview with a powerful CEO, the businessman takes the journalist under his wing and reveals the seven secrets he learned from his own mentor many years ago. These"secrets" turn out to be the very same principles that drive other leadership books: respect your employees and they will follow you; know their hopes and personalities; instill a sense of group identification and trust; give 100% from the heart at all times. What's unique about this leadership manual is its view that"people are a lot like sheep," leading to an overarching sheep metaphor that drives the entire book. In the chapter on direction, for example, the mentor urges shepherd-managers to lead with gentle nudges of the staff before employing the heavy-handed, painful prodding of the rod. The chapter on company identification talks about the need for"tagging" the sheep so they are instantly recognizable as a cohesive flock. And who knew that the phrase"pull the wool over his eyes" originated in actual shepherding techniques?

August 9, 2004
The contrivance of this leadership handbook is a story-within-a-story: when a newbie business reporter snags an interview with a powerful CEO, the businessman takes the journalist under his wing and reveals the seven secrets he learned from his own mentor many years ago. These"secrets" turn out to be the very same principles that drive other leadership books: respect your employees and they will follow you; know their hopes and personalities; instill a sense of group identification and trust; give 100% from the heart at all times. What's unique about this leadership manual is its view that"people are a lot like sheep," leading to an overarching sheep metaphor that drives the entire book. In the chapter on direction, for example, the mentor urges shepherd-managers to lead with gentle nudges of the staff before employing the heavy-handed, painful prodding of the rod. The chapter on company identification talks about the need for"tagging" the sheep so they are instantly recognizable as a cohesive flock. And who knew that the phrase"pull the wool over his eyes" originated in actual shepherding techniques?

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