Dealing with a Snake Person on your Management Team by following the Way of Lao-Tzu
If I were king,
I would walk with Tao and govern according to Tao.
My only fears would be becoming boastful,
Messing things up and
Leading the people astray and losing Tao.
It is not difficult to get right with Tao,
The path is straight and smooth,
Yet people are easily distracted,
They prefer the side roads and sideshows.
In the real world, the courts and their grounds are well kept and well stocked,
But the fields are full of weeds,
And the granaries are empty.
In the real world, kings and queens wear elegant robes,
And carry sharp knives.
They pamper themselves with food and drink.
They live the high life.
They own more than they can ever use.
They are nothing more than thugs and thieves.
This is not Tao.
Lao-Tzu, Verse 16,
Tao Te Ching: The Old Man's Guide to the Virtuous Path
Having a snake for a boss sucks. They will stab you in the back and take credit for what you have done. Having a snake for a co-worker sucks. They will stab you in the back and take credit for what you have done. Having a snake on your management team sucks. They will stab everyone in the back and leave them for dead.
A snake is a snake is a snake and cannot change.
The problem with a snake is that they are so mesmerizing. They are intelligent, and provocative, and charming, and alien and it is easy to lured into a false rapport with this contemplative mystic. The snake knows it's mesmerizing. It knows it is charming. It knows it can lure the weak-willed team members into its intrigue.
And that's when all hell breaks loose.
The snake as an employee is good to have, but not on a team. They need to be put in a glass box so others can see them, admire them, be amazed by their alien ways but the snake cannot interact with them; cannot get to them a work its magic on them.
The snake people are best left alone. They seldom let anyone know what they are truly thinking and are known to be secretive. It is hard to judge a person when they always have ulterior motives. It is hard to trust someone who won't be honest with you. That is why it is important to put them in positions that use their analytical mind, intelligence, their passion for precision and minute details and not in positions that tempt their nature.
Everyone prospers when a snake is kept its place. A snake in the wrong place can only lead to disaster. Making a snake play nicey-nice on a management team where individual achievements take a back seat to the overall achievements of the team invites the snake to show it true self. If you rouse the wrath of a snake and have suffered the horrific consequences of a misplaced snake you quickly learn to arm yourself against them.
It is a natural reaction to want to lash out at any snake once you have been bitten by one. But this is not the way Lao-Tzu teaches us in the Tao Te Ching: the Old Man's Guide to the Virtuous Path to react. Lao-Tzu tells us in verse twelve: Do not think about yourself. Think of others first. Be kind to the good, be kind to the bad, thus kindness multiplies. Be faithful to the faithful, be faithful to the faithless
thus faithfulness multiplies. The world should see you as detached and humble, and often confused. Yet, they will listen because of your child-like innocence.
Our natural impulse to react harshly, violently, only fuels the snake's wrath and compounds the problem. As the team leader, it will serve you well to follow Lao-Tzu's ways. As the team leader you are the king. As the king it falls to you to set the example of how to deal with a snake on the team. You should walk with the Tao, manage, supervise, and lead according to the Tao. Your only fear should be in leading people astray; leading them down a path that is counterintuitive to the Tao. If you have ever dealt with trying to pick up the pieces after a snake has run rampant through a management team you were on it is understandable that you do not want to put yourself in harms way again. But you have to think of others first. Put the needs of the team first. Be kind to them all equally and kindness multiplies. You have to be willing to be bitten again. You have to be willing to suffer to protect your team.
If you walk the path of the Tao, you are upright and virtuous, and the venom of the snake cannot harm you. It is not difficult to get right with Tao, the path is straight and smooth. Lao-Tzu's words are easy to follow. You must diligently study the Tao Te Ching: the Old Man's Guide to the Virtuous Path, to learn the ways of the Tao. You will become the example by which others on your team will follow and things will return to normal on their own.
Lao-Tzu says in verse twenty:
A country can be ruled with rules,
A war can be won with strategy and war-craft,
But everything can be had by doing nothing;
By being free of action and purpose.
How do I know? I know because I know.
The more rules to follow the poorer the people.
The more weapons they have the more unruly they are.
The crazier their thoughts, the weirder the stuff that happens.
The more laws that are passed, the more thugs and thieves arise.
A wise leader does nothing
And the people transform themselves.
A wise leader says nothing
And the people straighten themselves.
A wise leader controls nothing
And the people prosper by themselves.
A wise leader wants for nothing
And the people become simple themselves.
As the team leader it falls to you show the other team members how to carry themselves when under attack from a snake. More importantly, it is up to you to remove the snake from the team so the team can transform, straighten, and be prosperous for themselves without having to second guess their actions.
You can keep telling your teammates to brace themselves for the snake bite or you can take preemptive actions to remove the snake even before the backstabbing can begin. Once your snake has been safely removed, but into an isolation chamber, job duties reassigned that keep the snake busy and alone, the rest of the team can move towards getting things right with the Tao. It takes a great deal of perseverance to out wit, out last, and out smart a snake person on your management team. But by keeping your focus on the Tao and what's best for the team as a whole, the opportunity to remove the snake and reposition them elsewhere in the company will present itself. By following the ancient wisdom of Lao-Tzu, you can follow the Tao and be above reproach when the snake comes after you.
About the Author
Mr. Young is a nationally certified activity director working at his local nursing home. He is currently working towards improving his state's education requirements for becoming a certified activity director. He has completed his master's level advanced coursework for his ACC certification.
He is an ordained minister and holds a MetD degree in metaphysics.
He consults with other nursing homes about how to meet spiritual needs and improve their activity programing.
Laos Nature
laos nature
No comments:
Post a Comment