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The Joys of a Thick Skin & a Thin Skull

by Rick Baker
On Jul 26, 2011
If I prick you, you better not bleed.
William Shakespeare wrote something near-opposite to that about 400 years ago.
Shakespeare wrote, "If you prick us, do we not bleed?"
That question gets to the obvious point: people are people…we all bleed.
Sure we do.
And all that bleeding and all those stories about bleeding makes for great literature and theatre.
But…
Bleeding's not going to help you one iota if you are a business Leader.
Actually, if the Leader is going to be bleeding all over the place then that will likely put some people off. And, other people will play follow the Leader and they will start bleeding all over the place too. Other people, the shark-like people, will smell the…[never mind…that would be getting too carried away]
Here’s another way to look at it –
You're the Boss.
Some people are going to be pricking at you….take that as a given.
So, with that a given, thicken up your skin.
Accept the fact followers, at least from time to time, will challenge you, take some stabs and cheap shots at you, etc.
In fact, every once in a while followers will do some things to you that will be downright annoying!
Annoying to you if you have thin skin, that is.
Do not have thin skin.
Leaders: Take steps to ensure your skin is sufficiently thick.
PS: And, while you are working at that, also work at keeping your skull thin. That will help you keep an open mind...for example, to embrace other's ideas.

Tags:

Habits: Good Habits, Bad Habits, & New Things | Thick Skin & Thin Skull

Comments (4) -

rick baker
5/26/2013 8:07:48 PM #

"If anyone can refute me - show me I'm making a mistake or looking at things from the wrong perspective - I'll gladly change. It’s the truth I'm after, and the truth never harmed anyone. What harms us is to persist in self-deceit and ignorance."

Marcus Aurelius
'Meditations', (170's)

rick baker
8/14/2013 10:13:42 PM #

"Whenever anyone has offended me, I try to raise my soul so high that the offense cannot reach it."

Rene Descartes
French Philosopher & Mathematician, (1596-1650)

rick baker
9/21/2013 4:42:39 PM #

“Tips for Receiving Feedback

•  Don’t be defensive. People will be reluctant to share feedback if they are afraid of hurting your feelings or having to justify their perceptions.
•  Listen carefully. Relax and actively listen to understand what the other person is trying to tell you; be sensitive to how your nonverbal communication is affecting the other person’s willingness to share with you.
•  Suspend judgment. Listen, don’t judge. Don’t worry about what you’re going to say, but rather work to understand what the other person is trying to tell you. Be welcoming and assume that the information is intended to help you be better rather than anything otherwise.
•  Ask questions and ask for examples. Make sure you understand what is being said and learn about the context as well as the content.
•  Say thank you. Let the other know that you appreciate his or her feedback and that you can’t get any better without knowing more about yourself and how your actions affect others.”

Kouzes & Posner
'The Leadership Challenge', (2012)

rick baker
8/2/2016 3:21:35 PM #

"The objections and reluctances I met with in soliciting the subscriptions, made me soon feel the impropriety of presenting one's self as the proposer of any useful project, that might be suppos'd to raise one's reputation in the smallest degree above that of one's neighbours, when one has need of their assistance to accomplish that project. I therefore put myself as much as I could out of sight, and stated it as a scheme of a number of friends..."

Benjamin Franklin, 'Autobiography' (1784)

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