A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

220 ■ A CLASS WITH DRUCKER
A few days later the troops confronted a well-entrenched enemy
whose position would have to be attacked. The general issued the
following individual orders:
To Colonel A (who wants to do everything himself):
“My dear Colonel A, I think we will attack. Your regiment will
have to carry the burden of the attack. I have, however, selected you
for this reason. The boundaries of your regiment are so and so.
Attack at X hour. I don’t have to tell you anything more.”
To Colonel C (who opposes everything):
“We have met a very strong enemy. I am afraid we will not be
able to attack <strong>with</strong> the forces at our disposal.”
“Oh, General, certainly we will attack. Just give my regiment the
time of attack and you will see that we are successful,” replied
Colonel C.
“Go, then, we will try it,” said the general, giving him the order
for the attack, which he had prepared sometime previously.
To Colonel B (who must always have detailed orders), the attack
order was merely sent <strong>with</strong> additional details.
All three regiments attacked splendidly.
The general knew his subordinates; he knew that each one was
different and had to be handled differently in order to achieve
results. He had estimated the psychological situation correctly. It is
comparatively easy to make a correct estimate if one knows the person
concerned; but even then it is often difficult, because the person
doesn’t always remain the same. He is no machine. He may react
one way today, another way tomorrow.
Soldiers can be brave one day and afraid the next. Soldiers are not
machines but human beings who must be led in war. Each one of
them reacts differently at different times and must be handled each
time according to his particular reaction. To sense this and to arrive
at a correct psychological solution is part of the art of leadership. 4
Von Schell’s example shows us how important it is to treat your people
individually. This is not only true in battle, but as Peter understood, in
business, too. In fact, in all organizations.
But the biggest mistake that leaders make is not even understanding
what motivates most of their followers most of the time. As Peter said
more than once, motivation by material rewards is not the whole story.