What type of Leader are you,” A Brick Layer or a Stone Mason?”
by
,
Politics
Every time I think about today’s education system I hear Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall song playing in the back of my mind. I current education system was based on the needs of the industrial revolution. Factory workers needed to be made in short order that were able to read, write and perform basic math functions. Being able to memorize sequences was a necessary commodity of the day.
In today’s work force we need flexibility of skills. Chances are you are not doing the same job you did even a decade ago. There has been real progression and for many factories, automation in the world. So I ask myself, why do we still teach the way we did 200 years ago. Honestly our system while it has modernized it’s deliver method with advanced audio, video, and computer learning the message is still the same. You need to be a brick in society to be usable, hence, my reference to Pink Floyd earlier.
How do we change the system? I submit to you that the change has to come at the leadership level. Leaders must become master stone masons. When I say that think about a wall. Bricks are made uniformly and stacked neatly in rows. They are easily handled and quickly assembled.
Stones on the other hand are not uniform. They require more skill to build with and pose several other problems that bricks don’t.
So why would I want to build with stone as opposed to bricks? Stones are individual. I don’t have to have someone mold them I just have to fit them together. It also takes fewer stones than bricks to form a structure.
In conclusion, when people are trained to be bricks in a wall you only see a small part of the person and you only get limited use of that person. Most people feel underutilized at their job and I think we all can remember issues in school we had as the teachers tried to form us all into the same mold.
If we treat people like stones, individually yet working together you are going to find happier people and you will get more work done with fewer people this way. As a leader all you really have to do is take some time to find each person’s motivational point and tie it to your goals. Then be smart enough to step back and watch the magic!
When i was introduced to the SELF-LEADER SYSTEM
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I’d love to find somebody who can teach me how to sell more of my art and also perhaps help promote my business. I cannot afford to pay yet as I live on a fixed income. I could create artwork for your help.
The issue of people feeling underutilized is huge. Sometimes I think back at the time when I was just starting work. I was going to school on Saturdays and after a year, I talked my boss in to letting my friend, who was unemployed work alternately 2 and 3 days a week, while I worked 3 and 2. Maybe people could do that with friends these days in jobs which are at that level. Just a thought.