Monday 28 November 2016

Hear the Unheard

Back in the third century A.D., King Ts’ao sent his son, Prince T’ai, to the temple to study under the great master Pan Ku. Because Prince T’ai was to succeed his father as king, Pan Ku was to teach the boy the basics of being a good ruler. When the prince arrived at the temple, the master sent him alone to the Ming-Li Forest.
After one year, the prince was to return to the temple to describe the sound of the forest. When Prince T’ai returned, Pan Ku asked the boy to describe all that he could hear. “Master,” replied the prince, “I could hear the cuckoos sing, the leaves rustle, the hummingbirds hum, the crickets chirp, the grass blow, the bees buzz, and the wind whisper and holler.” When the prince had finished, the master told him to go back to the forest to listen to what more he could hear. The prince was puzzled by the master’s request. Had he not discerned every sound already?
For days and nights on end, the young prince sat alone in the forest listening. But he heard no sounds other than those he had already heard. Then one morning, as the prince sat silently beneath the trees, he started to discern faint sounds unlike those he had ever heard before. The more acutely he listened, the clearer the sounds became. The feeling of enlightenment enveloped the boy. “These must be the sounds the master wished me to discern,” he reflected.
When Prince T’ai returned to the temple, the master asked him what more he had heard. “Master,” responded the prince reverently, “when I listened most closely, I could hear the unheard—the sound of flowers opening, the sound of the sun warming the earth, and the sound of the grass drinking the morning dew.” The master nodded approvingly. “To hear the unheard,” remarked Pan Ku, “is a necessary discipline to be a good ruler. For only when a ruler has learned to listen closely to the people’s hearts, hearing their feelings uncommunicated, pains unexpressed, and complaints not spoken of, can he hope to inspire confidence in his people, understand when something is wrong, and meet the true needs of his citizens.
The demise of states comes when leaders listen only to superficial words and do not penetrate deeply into the souls of the people to hear their true opinions, feelings, and desires.
The real challenge of leadership lies in the intangibles.  Our senses are not tuned to ‘hear the unheard’The real challenge in organizations comes from the units that are generally silent, not vocal and who even when neglected never crib nor complain. As leaders we tend to take silence for granted or wrongly believe that all is well
** This is a Chinese Parable which has been translated by W Chan Kim.

  • Sunday 6 November 2016

    Ten signs that your employee is planning to Quit


    The other day a worried manager asked me ...


    "How do I know if my employee is planning to quit or not ? Attrition is a part of my KRA ... and I need some signs to know the intention of my team member so that I can take preventive measures so that I do not lose good people ..."

    So, here you go :


    Ten signs that your employee is planning to Quit

    ·         Exhibiting  less effort and work motivation than usual.

    ·         Their work productivity has decreased more than usual

    ·         They tell you about major changes on their home front

    ·         They approach conflict differently – they are disengaged

    ·         They are acting  less like a team player than usual.

    ·         They have been doing the minimum amount of work more frequently than usual

    ·         They are now not interested in pleasing their manager than usual

    ·         They are less willing to commit to long-term timelines than usual

    ·         They are exhibiting a negative change in attitude

    ·         They are less focused on job related matters than usual

    ·         They have expressed dissatisfaction with their current job more frequently than usual

    ·         They have expressed dissatisfaction with their supervisor more frequently than usual

    ·         They are leaving early from work more frequently than usual

    ·         They have lost enthusiasm for the mission of the organization

    ·         They have shown less interest in working with customers than usual

    ·         Demonstrating a drop in work productivity

    ·         Suggesting fewer new ideas or innovative approaches
    ·         You have a gut feeling


    Hope this helps !