Are you a deer or lion?...a HR insight

Strength and stamina seldom co-exists in any single species. This management message the corporate leaders must understand and recognize. People who show enormous speed and reflex in understanding things may not and need not be effective contributors with reference to the long term ambitions of the organization. For the over all growth and success of the organization, both kinds of people are necessary.

Look at the animal kingdom. All predators have enormous strength. On the other hand, the prey animals have high level of stamina. A deer can run fast and can sustain the speed for long distance and time. But the predators too can run fast but for short distance as they cannot sustain the speed for long time and distance. However the predators have enormous strength to pull down prey animals that are double their size.

Nature has given the above two success traits separately to two different species of animals and has ensured the success of both groups of animals. Comparison is never made between strength versus stamina.

When a deer find its strength in its stamina, lion finds its stamina in its strength.

Corporate must find a corollary to the above. Understanding and intelligence are the two elements that can be compared to strength and stamina.

Certain people operate from the domain of greater understanding while some from the premises of their uncanny intelligence. If we compare and ask whether understanding or intelligence is superior, we may land up in confusion.

We should not misunderstand the fact that people with understanding do not have intelligence or intelligent people do not have understanding. Animals with stamina do have strength and similarly animals with strength do have stamina. But the above distinction is drawn based on the relative dominance the trait and how it determines the success.

Intelligent people are quite spontaneous and quick to read the differences and also to sense even subtle changes. They also will have several ways to deal the situation.

But people with understanding on the other hand are a bit slow, will work with limited options and most of them are contextual, proven, practical and workable.

Therefore the corporate leaders must understand these differences before comparing people. Both traits are necessary for the organization so are people with both traits. The people with understanding must know how to 'use' the people of intelligence and intelligent people must know how to 'use' the understanding of certain employees.

It is not comparing but coordinating both the group of people should be the quality of a good leader to achieve the corporate goal.

Weak leaders always blame others and would engage in narcissism, on the other hand, grate leaders make more leaders and build organizations.

Dr S Ranganathan, ClinRise Derma Pvt., Ltd., Chennai

Desire, Dream and Destination – Social Entrepreneur Forum