In the future, it will become increasingly obvious that your competitors are just as clueless as you are.
– Scott Adams, Dilbert creator
So, you want to be a leader at school, work, ball team, or church? Do you have the right stuff? More and more, the ‘right stuff’ is getting in touch with your inner child. This is called sensitivity training and it’s even being done for first line supervisors to senior executives to even generals.
The US Army is doing a great job developing sensitive leaders (even though this sounds like an oxymoron). Army sensitivity training for wannabe generals means getting in touch with their ‘inner jerks’ and is mandatory boot camp for today’s military leaders.
Army generals must now attend charm school where they learn leadership principles and practices. This includes understanding and losing the ugly side of their personalities. The days are gone when a general could command his subordinates without considering the military’s many stakeholders from congressmen to journalists. If male generals are not sensitive to the issues of ‘booze, broads, golf, money, and airplanes,’ then they’re told ‘you will adapt or you will perish.’
On-the-job sex has especially become a critical issue for these generals. Keep the zipper zipped the generals are warned. If you get into trouble, don’t think that 25 years of service entitles you to anything, the generals are warned. ‘The Army owes you absolutely nothing: zero, zip, nothing.’
Life Lesson Earned: Pay attention. This story applies to CEO’s, all professionals, and first line supervisors. The above story applies to all of us. This is today’s irony. We have to make the numbers, but do it nicely. If you’re clueless on values and how to do the right things right, find a mentor. Get a career coach. If they have it in your organization, go to ‘charm school.’