A water bearer in India had two pots attached to each end of a pole. He would sling the pole over his shoulders to carry water from the stream to his house every day. One of the pots was cracked and leaked water. The other one was perfect. One day the cracked pot spoke to the water bearer about its shame and apologized for dripping water while the other pot never lost a drop. The water bearer replied to the pot, "Yes, you are cracked and do not carry water as well your brother pot. But you have an ability that he does not have. Did you notice there were flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw and took advantage of it. I planted flower seeds on your side of the path and every day while we walk back from the stream you have watered them."

Strong leaders know that we're all cracked pots. Perfect people are in very short supply! In fact, that may be just as well: As Abraham Lincoln once said, "It has been my experience that men who have no vices have very few virtues."

Such human traits can, however, cause problems, especially in the workplace. And when performance problems arise, they need to be confronted. Like porcupines in love, such discussions are painful for both parties. That's often why managers avoid them. Leaders, however, know that poor performance is like a highly contagious disease. The longer it goes unchecked, the more everyone suffers. As Publius Syrus said, "He harms the good who spares the bad." Here is what some of today's experts have to say about the subject:

• "Keeping poor performers means that development opportunities for promising employees get blocked, so those subordinates don't get developed, productivity and morale fall, good performers leave the company, the company attracts fewer 'A' players, and the whole miserable cycle keeps turning… Refusing to deal with underperformers not only makes your best employees unhappy, but it also makes them think the company is run by bozos… Successful companies deal with underperformers systematically, every day; unsuccessful companies don't." — Geoffrey Colvin, "Make Sure You Chop the Dead Wood," Fortune
  
  
• "I feel there is no greater disrespect you can do to a person than to let them hang out in a job where they are not respected by their peers, not viewed as successful, and probably losing their self-esteem. To do that under the guise of respect for people is, to me, ridiculous." — Debra Dunn, senior executive Hewlett-Packard
  
  
• "Easing someone's path does not mean simply providing the path of least resistance. Sometimes the best way to help people is to hold them responsible; accepting no excuses can sometimes be the best kind of aid we can offer." — William Bennett, The Moral Compass
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In The Contrarian's Guide to Leadership, Steven B. Sample, President of the University Of Southern California explains that leaders sometimes need to adopt a hands-on approach to inspire their teams:

"If a would-be leader wants glamor, he should try acting in the movies. However, if he in fact wants to make a consequential impact on a cause or an organization, he needs to roll up his sleeves and be prepared to perform a series of grungy chores which are putatively beneath him, and for which he'll never receive recognition or credit, but by virtue of which his lieutenants will be inspired and enabled to achieve great things."

Jim Clemmer’s practical leadership books, keynote presentations, workshops, and team retreats have helped hundreds of thousands of people worldwide improve personal, team, and organizational leadership. Visit his web site, http://jimclemmer.com/, for a huge selection of free practical resources including nearly 300 articles, dozens of video clips,  team assessments, leadership newsletter, Improvement Points service, and popular leadership blog. Jim's five international bestselling books include The VIP Strategy, Firing on All Cylinders, Pathways to Performance, Growing the Distance, and The Leader's Digest. His latest book is Moose on the Table: A Novel Approach to Communications @ Work.

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3.25 Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved."