That Sheep Smell

5 of us carried the torch as the scheduled Q was down with an illness and we had to go deep on the depth chart to fill in for some of the regulars who were MIA.  JJ, Stroganoff and Winehouse ran the loop while Hunchback and YHC rucked with Scrat.

Discussion this week from “Wisdom of the Bullfrog” centered on the chapter entitled “A Shepherd Should Smell Like His Sheep”.  A couple quotes:

“Pope Francis once said, ‘A shepherd should smell like his sheep.’  While it’s a relatively new saying, it mirrors the thinking of all great leaders for all time.  If you lose touch with the men and women who work for you, if you can’t relate to them because you spend too much time in the office and not enough time on the factory floor, if you don’t ‘smell’ like the people you are sworn to protect and lead, then you will be a poor leader who makes bad decisions.”

And this one:

“The officers they respected the most were the ones who showed up in the boiler room when it was 120 degrees, who got greasy and turned wrenches with them, who picked up a broom to help with evening sweep-down, who brought them water when they were painting the side of the ship, and who thanked them routinely for their efforts.  But they also wanted an officer who made the tough decisions, held them accountable, worked hard, and above all they wanted an officer who valued them for the tough work they did.”

Proximity is key with leadership.  It’s critical at work.  It’s different and difficult with our kids.  It’s important that we as leaders are adequately prepared enough to be able to make time to spend time in the fields and with the ones whom we are leading.  It lets us see their realities and it lets them see that we know our stuff.

We have to make sure we know enough that they can’t BS us.

Privileged again for another opportunity to lead.