Yesterday my friend and colleague, Dr.Gopinath, invited me to his lecture on Leadership. He spoke about Field Marshal Montgomery ( Monty ), a Brit, who was a brilliant strategist and turned the tide of WW 2, in favor of the Allies, by defeating Erwin Rommel's Afrika Korps. Rommel himself was no spring chicken.
Monty was a man who was loved by his troops and the quintessential leader. You want to talk leadership, and then you head for Monty, no questions asked. Montgomery showed an ability to stay on top of the details under pressure that suggested he was suitable for high command.
Winston Churchill was convinced that the battle of El Alamein marked the turning point in the war and ordered the ringing of church bells all over Britain. As he said later: "Before Alamein we never had a victory, after Alamein we never had a defeat."
Monty was a dandy and much admired man. Just to ingest a little interest, I spoke a little about General Patton, the American tank commander. Abrasive, tough and rigid Patton was generally disliked by everybody. However without exception, soldiers wanted to serve under his command, because the causalities that he took in war were the least. He trained his troops very well, indeed!
The question is, 'Do you want to work with a tough, hard driving boss, who will guide you well and protect you or a boss who will be soft upon you?'Not to suggest that Monty was soft!
I left the class on that note.............a tough question to answer!
I explore the last frontier..............humans!
1 comment:
I think a soft boss can also be protective and guide us.... while an overbearing boss might be intimidating. There is not an archetype of Boss which can be uniform for people. It all depends on a person's people skill and attitude as to how he/she wants to develop the relationship. I am talking of a situation where in the employee is working with will.
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