A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

SELF-CONFIDENCE MUST BE BUILT STEP-BY-STEP ■ 33
<strong>Drucker</strong> told the class that the colonel glared at him for what seemed
like a long time and then responded: “Young man, don’t be impertinent.”
“By which,” <strong>Drucker</strong> told us, “I knew that he didn’t know what a management
consultant did, either.”
Peter knew that someone who did know what was expected of a management
consultant had made this assignment. Having lived in England
and read Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories, <strong>Drucker</strong> knew
what a “consulting detective” did. With that knowledge, and the insight
that the colonel did not know anything about management consulting,
<strong>Drucker</strong> asked direct questions about the colonel’s responsibilities and
problems. Peter then laid out some options about what should be done
and the work, he, <strong>Drucker</strong> should do. The colonel was interested and
clearly relieved. He accepted Peter’s proposals in their entirety. This proved
to be <strong>Drucker</strong>’s first successful consulting engagement. So, Peter <strong>Drucker</strong>
was not only the Father of Modern Management; he may have been the
father of modern management consulting as well.
Moreover, if you consider the fact that <strong>Drucker</strong>’s writing career was
built on his consulting practice, and that during sixty-five active years
of consulting, <strong>Drucker</strong> consulted for some of the world’s largest corporations
and nonprofit organizations—including the governments of the
U.S., Canada, and Japan, this meeting <strong>with</strong> the colonel was clearly a
pivotal point in his career. Therefore, though the lesson was not
explicit as to what we were supposed to learn, and <strong>Drucker</strong> said no
more on this subject, this story and its hidden lesson is of some value
and significance.
Where Did <strong>Drucker</strong> Get His Self-Confidence?
I pondered <strong>Drucker</strong>’s story for quite some time afterwards. Usually
Peter was quite unambiguous in disseminating his knowledge. He
would state his proposition clearly, and then give examples to support
his thesis. On occasion, the order was reversed—the story came first,
followed by his thesis. But the lesson or lessons were always explicit.
This time his lesson was not immediately apparent and the inherent
wisdom was hidden.
I could imagine the young Peter <strong>Drucker</strong>, a new immigrant to the
United States in time of approaching war, and not only born in what had
become part of the potential enemy’s country, but actually in Austria.