Santa the Strength-Blind Leader

Year after year, Christmas after Christmas, I've watched the Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer TV special and cringed at the atrocious leadership displayed by nearly every adult character.

Donner rejects his son. Santa ignores Rudolph's obvious leaping skills because of his nose. The workshop foreman ridicules Harvey (the elf with dentistry aspirations).

Of course, you know how things work out. Santa studied his Peter Drucker:

The effective executive makes strength productive. He knows that one cannot build on weakness. To achieve results, one has to use all the available strengths–the strengths of associates, the strengths of the superior, and one’s own strengths. These strengths are the true opportunities. To make strength productive is the unique purpose of organization. It cannot, of course, overcome the weaknesses with which each of us is abundantly endowed. But it can make them irrelevant. Its task is to use the strength of each man as a building block for joint performance.

~ -The Effective Executive

Do you build on your team's strengths or do you waste strength, time, and energy focused on "weaknesses"? Let Santa be your guide.

Santa the Strength-Blind Leader

Santa, the strength-blind leader
Had a special flying deer,
But if you can believe it
Santa wouldn’t let him near.
All because his nose was red
Santa wouldn’t let him work;
He never valued Rudolph
In fact he was quite a jerk.
Then one foggy Christmas eve,
Santa came to see.
Strengths are all you really need,
Weakness is a waste to heed.
Then how the Reindeer loved him
As they flew around and beamed.
Santa, the strength-based leader
Built a real productive team...

Take care and happy holidays!