Eagles & Ducks
August 22, 2008 by dr. lam
I was asked to give a lecture in Vegas a couple of months ago (perhaps you saw it in my video lecture section?) on corporate culture and leadership. Of course, coming up with a new blog idea that is worth reading every day and now 2 blogs every day one for LFP and one for spawb is quite a bit of work. So I thought about a concept that is VERY important to me that I assume you know already. But you know what happens when you assume.
I want to give proper credit where credit is due. I think Ken Blanchard’s book Leading at a Higher Level , (I heard Ken talk 2 years ago in Austin and it was amazing) talks about two types of managers: eagles and ducks. An eagle is a boss who inspires his/her staff to be greater, i.e., when an eagle soars, it inspires all others to soar. A duck is a robotic individual who follows rules, rules, rules and all you hear is him or her quack. What happens to those who follow a duck? They quack too. Here is a typical duck response: “I am sorry. We just can’t do that for you. It’s in our rule book.” Here is a typical eagle response: “I’m sorry that happened to you. Let me see how personally I can fix that situation for you and make sure it is right.” Who do you work for? An eagle or a duck? Who are you? An eagle or a duck?
I think the most important thing that I have learned about being a leader is not micromanaging those under me. I have hired people with incredible talent who can soar like an eagle if just given the chance to do so. I hear all the time, “Wow, your staff is amazing.” That’s because all of them are eagles. Are they perfect? No. Am I perfect? No. However, we all try to make your experience the best that we possibly can. We also have fun doing it.
The classic Nordstrom employee, or Nordie, is focused on excelling and having the freedom to do so on behalf of the customer. My staff has made many autonomous moves to help the customer and to make sure that that individual is happy and remains happy with our services. You have all heard the old story of the Nordstrom employee who took back snow tires from a customer even though they had never sold snow tires at Nordstrom’s. Or the one of the Nordie who helped a customer wrap a gift that he had bought in another store in the mall. These stories are legend.
There is a good saying, “You join a firm. You leave a manager.” Remember that all of us have spheres of influence on those around us. Don’t think that if you are not the “boss” that this blog has no bearing on you. If you quack, you are probably a duck. You are probably also making everyone around you quack. It’s not easy to soar particularly if your superior is a duck but if you are a natural leader (in whatever position in life, seriously), try to present yourself as an eagle and soar no matter how much quacking is going on around you. If you can’t take it anymore, go find some eagles to soar with.
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