John C. Maxwell - Dont Send Your Ducks to Eagle School: Lesson 10 from Leadership Gold

2008, 2012 by John C. Maxwell

This ebook is derived from Leadership Gold, by John Maxwell, 2008, 2012 by John C. Maxwell.

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ISBN: 978-0-7852-1411-3 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-4185-7113-9 (ebook)
ISBN: 978-1-4002-7593-9 (ebook of chapter 10)

CONTENTS

DEDICATION

Leadership Gold is dedicated to Ella Ashley Miller, our fourth
grandchild. Her gentle nature continually draws us to her. We pray that
as she grows older she will mine the gold out of the lessons of life.

Thank you to
Charlie Wetzel, my writer
Stephanie Wetzel, who proofs and edits the manuscript
Linda Eggers, my assistant

DONT SEND YOUR DUCKS
TO EAGLE SCHOOL

My wife, Margaret, and I love Krispy Kreme doughnuts. When we pass a Krispy Kreme shop, we always look for the red neon Hot Doughnuts Now sign that tells potential customers that the doughnuts have just been made and are coming off the assembly line, hot and fresh and delicious. Although we do not allow ourselves to indulge often, occasionally we cant help but give in to temptation. If we see the red light on, one of us will say, Its a sign from God that we should stop and buy a doughnut!

One evening when we were approaching a Krispy Kreme shop, we could clearly see that the light was not on, but we decided to stop anyway. Much to our delight and surprise, the doughnuts were just coming off the conveyer belt, hot and gooey.

You forgot to turn on the sign to let the customers know the doughnuts are warm and fresh, I said to the young lady who waited on us.

Oh, I dont turn that sign on a lot of the time, she replied. The moment I do, people come into the store and we get too busy. If I keep the sign off, its less hectic.

I was stunned. I wondered, Why would she think like that? At first it didnt make sense to me. But then, as I thought about it, I realized it was a matter of her position influencing her perception. She was an employee who didnt want to be inconvenienced. Certainly if the owners had been there, they would have turned the sign on! They wouldnt be hoping for conveniencethey would have the success of the whole business and all of its employees in mind.

WHY SOME DONT SOAR

For more than three decades, I have hosted conferences and written books with the purpose of adding value to people. Experience has taught me a valuable lesson: no matter what I do or how hard I try to help people, not everyone will respond in the same way. Some people will attend a conference and their lives will start to turn around. Others will come and tune out everything I say. Some will change; some wont. That has always frustrated me. I want everyone to learn, change, grow, and get better!

I experienced a eureka moment not long ago when I read something by speaker and consultant Jim Rohn. The article brought me great clarity on this issue. He has given me permission to share his words with you:

The first rule of management is this: dont send your ducks to eagle school. Why? Because it wont work. Good people are found, not changed. They can change themselves, but you cant change them. If you want good people, you have to find them. If you want motivated people, you have to find them, not motivate them.

I picked up a magazine not long ago in New York that had a full-page ad in it for a hotel chain. The first line of the ad read, We do not teach our people to be nice. Now that got my attention. The second line said, We hire nice people. I thought, What a clever shortcut!

Motivation is a mystery. Why are some people motivated and some are not? Why does one salesperson see his first prospect at seven in the morning while the other sees his first prospect at eleven in the morning? Why would one start at seven and the other start at eleven? I dont know. Call it mysteries of the mind.

I give lectures to a thousand people at a time. One walks out and says, Im going to change my life. Another walks out with a yawn and says, Ive heard all this stuff before.Why is that?

The wealthy man says to a thousand people, I read this book, and it started me on the road to wealth. Guess how many of the thousand go out and get the book? Answer: very few. Isnt that incredible? Why wouldnt everyone go get the book? Mysteries of the mind....

To one person, you have to say, Youd better slow down. You cant work that many hours, do that many things, go, go, go. Youre going to have a heart attack and die. And to another person, you have to say, When are you going to get off the couch?What is the difference? Why wouldnt everyone strive to be wealthy and happy?

Chalk it up to mysteries of the mind, and dont waste your time trying to turn ducks into eagles. Hire people who already have the motivation and drive to be eagles and then just let them soar.

Jims perspective explains why the worker at Krispy Kreme didnt turn on the sign, and why I was so surprised. While I was thinking about generating income and maximizing profits, she was thinking about avoiding too much work.

THREE REASONS NOT TO SEND YOUR
DUCKS TO EAGLE SCHOOL

For years my problem was that I believed that if I worked hard and taught the right things, I could turn ducks into eagles. It just doesnt work. I have to admit, this has been a hard lesson for me. I place a high value on people. I sincerely believe that every person matters. And for years, I believed that anyone could learn just about anything. As a result, I repeatedly tried to send my ducks to eagle school. Heres why I no longer do that.

1. If You Send Ducks to Eagle School, You Will Frustrate the Ducks

Lets face it. Ducks are not supposed to be eaglesnor do they want to become eagles. Who they are is who they should be. Ducks have their strengths and should be appreciated for them. Theyre excellent swimmers. They are capable of working together in an amazing display of teamwork and travel long distances together. Ask an eagle to swim or to migrate thousands of miles, and its going to be in trouble.

Leadership is all about placing people in the right place so they can be successful. As a leader, you need to know and value your people for who they are and let them work according to their strengths. Theres nothing wrong with ducks. Just dont ask them to soar or hunt from a high altitude. Its not what they do.

Author, pastor, and Dallas Theological Seminary chancellor Charles Swindoll illustrates this principle in his book Growing Strong in the Seasons of Life when he writes,

Once upon a time, the animals decided they should do something meaningful to meet the problems of the new world. So they organized a school.

They adopted an activity curriculum of running, climbing, swimming, and flying. To make it easier to administer, all the animals took all the subjects.

The duck was excellent in swimming. In fact, he was better than his instructor was! However, he made only passing grades in flying, and was very poor in running. Since he was so slow in running, he had to drop swimming and stay after school to practice running. This caused his webbed feet to be badly worn so he became only average in swimming. But average was quite acceptable, therefore nobody worried about itexcept the duck.