So many article, blogs, books, presentations etc are based on the proposition that we can learn from ‘world class operators’ – if they can do it, so can you; if you just model how they do it, you can do it too, that sort of territory. Some NLP’ers even propound the view that “if anyone can do it, you can do it”.
I want to open an enquiry into the legitimacy of that view.
World class operators are, by definition part of a very small tail in a statistical distribution of performance, and many (most?) of these outstanding performers have physical or mental attributes that I cannot attain:
- Usain Bolt is blessed with a super-abundance of ultra-fast-twitch muscle,
- Richard Branson is dyslexic and didn’t really get on well at school,
- many others around the world had ‘challenging’ childhoods.
So some have physical advantages that no matter how hard I try or visualise or set challenging goals I will never be able to replicate and others have a past that I managed to avoid. Moreover, their performance is so far removed from mine that it lies well outside my comfort zone, maybe even in the “Here be Dragons” territory that is more disabling than empowering.
What if we were to challenge ourselves with performance that lies in the stretch zone instead? What of we were to model our performance on those who perform 10/20/30% better than ourselves, rather than the zillion% outperformers whose achievements are practically unobtainable?
Now, let’s be clear here – I am not saying that these people cannot be and are not inspirational, what I am suggesting is that their performance is so far from the norm that us mere mortals might be better off concentrating our learning on how our local business, charity, church, theatre etc leaders do it. When I look for a book on “What you can learn from you above-averagely successful but not world-class leader” they don’t seem to be there.
Is this a field for research? Do you find such global inspirations too far out of sight as to be really helpful? What do you think of this topic generally? Go on, comment away…
Hi Geoff
I think what you are saying makes a lot of sense. Whilst I will continue to be inspired by such as Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King, I can learn more from someone who is better than me by a little but not ‘world-class’.
An old colleague of mine Michael Gelb effectively modelled the Great Leonardo Da Vinci, wrote a book on the subject, earned a fortune and enlightened literally thousands of people at seminars all over the world.
Modelling anything is the oldest learning method known to the human race, and why you should ask would you want to model failure when so their is so much success to choose from.
Thanks for your comment David – however, nowhere did I say you should model failure. My enquiry (not suggestion) is whether we might have more or more appropriate learning from more accessible role models.
I have at times during my career looked at people I aspire to and asked myself what it is about them that makes them so good. At the same time I’ve acknowledged that I don’t have the same skill sets and what I need to do is maximise my own potential. The danger of trying to emulate people you see as great is that of becoming a poor copy. Even if you could emulate someone effectively that ignores the fact that part of their success might have been down to being new and fresh at the time they were developing, and of course in copying you are totally missing that possibility.
I think there are some skills and traits that seem to be common amongst effective people, but I would want to leave space to allow my own personality, skill sets and experience to enable me to be something a bit different, whether that’s better or worse!
Excuse me butting in on my first visit…
I feel Geoff is making a very good point, if I’ve understood it correctly. I do find modelling works very powerfully. The trick is (a) knowing where you want to be and (b) knowing where you are.
The implication of Geoff’s post is surely for us to model people who are doing what we want to do – not something else – and at the point they did it, not some other place in their lives.
For example, for a recent short film I modelled one of my favourite directors, Bob Altman, at the point when he had already made one feature (which is where I am). More useful than modelling him when he’d already made a dozen and was world famous.
I didn’t find I was copying him at all – I did find it was like having him on set with me, sharing his experience and expertise.
Ditto, I’m writing my first novel, and modelling top novelists at the point of writing their first books. (I’ll tell you how I get on…)
No excuse needed Charles, I think you have added a new dimension – WHEN to model people. Thanks.
Hi Geoff.
My view is that ‘world class leaders’ is essentially about values; it is about the extent to which individuals are committed to a wider interest, rather than just their own. This approach means that you can find ‘world class leadership’ everywhere — if we are lucky. It can occur whenever decisions are taken, however small.
Some of these ideas are developed further in the paper below.
http://www.wabccoaches.com/bcw/2009_v5_i2/
Hope this helps.