Issue 151
“When the going gets tough, the tough get going”, according to a million car stickers, postcard slogans and management manuals. So the response to challenge, difficulty and setbacks is to rise, overcome and reverse, resulting in a successful turnaround of the problem. The rugged individual or team receives its awards and goes on from strength to promotion.
But what if you’re not that tough? What if you flourish best not when the battle is fiercest but in a peaceful, affirming environment? Some of the tough guys would probably suggest you get going – out of the door, because this line of work or style of operating is not for you.
But this is to diminish resources. It is to assume that the quieter, milder individual does not have a unique set of gifts of their own which, if ignored, impoverishes the whole group.
The problem with the high-achieving, goal-orientated, hard-nosed approach to work is that it ignores the fact that success is not just about where we get to, it’s about how we travel. The way we treat others along the way is part of the project. When the going gets tough, perhaps the tough should help the not so strong, enabling them to make their contribution to the solution in a less spectacular but no less significant way. In this way, both the tough and the weak enrich each other, motivated not just by self-interest but by the interests of others. One day we will all be weak anyway.
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Work well
Geoff Shattock
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