Why Some Don't Soar

In John Maxwell’s “Leadership Gold” Jim Rohn shares a chapter titled “Why Some Don’t Soar.”

The first rule of management is this: Don’t send your ducks to eagle school.
Why? Because it won’t work. Good people are found, not changed. They can change themselves, but you can’t 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 7am while others start at 11am?

At our leadership events we deliver as much content as possible. Why do some walk out and say “I’m going to change my life” while others walk out and yawn and say – “Yeah, I’ve heard all this before.”

If someone from leadership says – “Boy, I just read this amazing book and it will help you.” – why do some distributors go buy it and read it that weekend and the majority not?

It's a mystery – or maybe it isn't? Don’t waste your time trying to turn ducks into eagles. Associate with people and pour energy into people who already have the motivation and drive to be eagles and then just let them soar.

Chris Prefontaine