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The POWER to
SEE OURSELVES
, . .
is vital to the fidfillnievt of executive poleiituu
By Paid ]. Brouwer
A psychological fact is that manager develop-
ment means change in the manager's self-con-
cept. Each of us, whether we realize it or not,
has a self-image. W e see ourselves in some way
— smart, slow, kindly, well-intentioned, lazy,
misunderstood, meticulous, or shrewd; we all
can pick adjectives that describe ourselves. Th is
is the I beh ind the face in the m irror, the
that thinks, dreams, talks, feels, and be-
lieves, the I tha t no one knows fully. In this
article we will explore the meaning of the self
image, particularly in relation to ehanging be-
havior in the growing manager, and how changes
in sell-concept come about.
One reason this self-concept is crucial is that
it has a great deal to do with manager develop-
ment — with being a growing person and
eventua lly realizing one's self-potential. No te
the term manager development rather tban
management development; tbe purpose of sueh
development is to help individual managers to
grow . After all, they have to do most of the job
them selves. As a m em ber of a firm of consult-
ing psychologists to mana gem ent, 1 can report
that fact from experience — and add the fur-
ther observation that no one can tell a manager
exactly how to grow. Ra ther , the most one can
AUTHOR'S
NOTE: This article is drawn from material
that will appear as a chapter in Managers for Tomorrow
do is to help the manager understand himsel
in his own situation, and then trust him to find
the best direetion himself.
Filters for Reality
In the first plaee, the self-concept is im
portant beeause everything we do or say, every
thing we hear, feel, or otherwise perceive, is in
fluenced by how we see ourselves. For ex am ple
A businessman, who had traveled in many par t
of the world, was incorrigibly curious about th
customs, speech, local places of interest, history
and traditions of any place he visited. H owev er
on a one-week visit to London — his first — on
delicate mission for his company, he might just a
well have been in Indianapolis for all he learne
of Knglish ways of life. Being on a busin ess tri p
he saw
himself
as a businessman, and actually pe
ceived little of w ha t ^vas aro un d him . But as
vacationer in London he would have seen Englan
in depth, because he would have seen himsel
to London for tbat purpose.
Photographers often slip a reddish filter ove
the lens when snapping pictures of clouds o
black and white film. T'he filter prevents som
of the light rays from reaching the film, so tha
tbe final picture shows much darker skies an
more sharply whitened clouds. The self-con
cept is like a filter that screens out what we d
not want to hear and see, passes through wha
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direetion, it gives an idiosyncratic flavor to our
behavior. W ho among us doesn't usually pick
his name out of a jumble of words on a page?
Or hear his name announced at an airport
amidst all of tlie other announcements that he
fails to hea r? Th is is called selective listening ,
and it is a function of our self-concept. T hu s,
how we see ourselves determines generally what
we react to, what we perceive, and, in broad
terms, how we behave in general.
And this shows up in business situations too.
Imagine two executives, A and B, in identical
situations. Eaeh calls in a subordin ate and dele-
gates an assignm ent. Th e italicized words be-
low give partial indications of their self-concepts.
Executive A says:
Tom, I'm concerned about our relations with
tbe XYZ Gonipany. Its purchases from us bave
fallen off lately and
rather abruptly.
You know
our bistory with it. Will you investigate and find
out the cause of tbe reduced volume?
l.et me know
if you run into anytbing you don't understand.
Executive A is confident of his ability to han-
dle the situation. He sees himself as unthrea t-
ened, able to cope with whatever Tom's investi-
gation discloses, and willing to delay action un-
til the facts are gathered and studied.
Executive B, on the other hand, says:
George, th e XYZ Gompany has cu t back its
purchases from us for the third month in a row.
We ve got to get on this and quick.
N ow , you go
visit it. J wish 1 could but I jn tied down here.
Talk to the purchasing agent — ub, what 's bis
nam e again? Uh . . . (shuffling papers ) . . .
h e re i t is . . . Ba il ey . Se e B ailey . O h . . . a nd
you'd better see tbe cbief engineer, a nice guy
- . . n a m ed . . . u h . . . h is n a m e slip s m e for
the moment
. . . you ean ge t i t f rom Bailey . B ut
don 't go nea r Sam Aw ful — h e'll cover up w hat-
ever 's happening anyway, and might use your visit
as a sign we're scared of old XYZ. Vve got to have
some answers on this one, George. The boss is on
my neck but good. So. , . .
Exec utive B is obviously less confident. H e
feels threaten ed by the situation. He doesn't
trust George to use his own common sense —
as indic ated by his explicit do s an d don 't s
-~ probably because he himself lacks confidence.
Co n t i n u i n g Ch an g es
Although the self-concept is important in
Poiver to See Ourselves
development, whe re change s in behavior are
objective. As a m atte r of eold, hard , psycho
cal fact, a change in behavior on the job,
better or worse, means a change in self-conc
T h u s ,
we are dealing with an immensely
immediately practical consideration.
Human beings constantly change their
havior, as we see if we examine ourselves (
others) critically en oug h. It is a superf
observation to say that so-and-so is the s
person he was five years ago. Tee hnie ally,
isn't exactly the same today as he was e
yesterday. For one thing , he is one day oi
He has learned something new, however
ligible, that becomes incorporated in his ap
eeptive mass. As a result, his percep tion
today's events is different, however slig
and undetectably, from what it was yester
He may have had nothin g significant hap
to him — no promotion, no accident, no s
searching upset — but he will be different, e
though only a person with Solomon's wisd
would know it. Ch ang e in behavior is const
The difficulties managers have in think
about changes in behavior come from their
ability to detect change, and from fuzzy th
ing behind such comforting, though fallacio
notions as, You can 't teach an old dog n
tricks, He was born that way, or He's b
like that ever since IVe known him.
On tbe other hand, sometimes superficial
havior changes are erroneously thought to
basic.
For exam ple, consider the simplest l
of ehange in behavior, whieh is brought ab
by increased knowledge or skill:
The newly appointed foreman learns his n
duties, dons a white shirt, delegates jobs he u
to do himself and learns to participate in
superintend ent's meetings. His company prov
him with instruction through manuals, books, c
ferences, sessions witb bis boss, and managem
training courses. He joins the National Foreme
Association, attends lectures, and may even be s
to a two-week seminar at tbe local university.
learns much and becomes suitably skillful in d
charging bis new functions. This new way of
changes the foreman's behavior, of course; but o
peripherally, just as living in a new house does
basically alter the marriage relation. He kno
more, sees more, has more and better skills.
If companies do wa nt such simple-lev
changes, and only these, then management tra
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158 Hansard usiness
learns the policy manual; and the new vice
president of manufacturing learns how the
company's controller figures costs. These speci-
fic learnings are the objectives of tra-ning, and
can become ehanges in behavior produced by
training.
Keystone for Growth
If, however, a company wants growth in tbe
deeper sense, then something more subtle and
basic in its impact is called for in the manager
deve lopm ent effort. Such deep er growth is, of
course, a change in self-concept. Th e m anager
who once was unreliable in his judgment or wbo
laeked drive
grows
toward reliability in judg-
m ent or toward stronger drive. Grow th in this
sense brings observable changes in outward be-
havior, because each person is no\v inwardly
different — different, for example, in his per-
ception of himself, in his attitude toward his
job and his eompany as both relate to his own
life,
or in bis feeling of responsibility for others.
Uut experience shows that such growth is as
difficult to achiev e as it is des irab le. It dem an ds
the fuU-fiedged participat'on of the manager.
Actually the trite expression, "Management
development is self development," is psychologi-
eally sound. The growing manager changes
beeause he wants to and because he has to in
response to new insights and understandings
tha t he gains on the job. He does not change
because he is told to, exhorted to, or because
it is the thing to do.
Such growth implies changes in the man him-
self — in how he uses his knowledge, in the
ends to whieh he applies his skills, and, in short,
in his view of himself. Th e point is clear that
tlie growing person examines
himself;
and as he
docs so, he emerges with new depths of motiva-
tion, a sharper sense of direetion, and a more
vital awareness of how he wants to live on the
job.
Gro wtb in this sense is personalized and
vital. And such growth in self-concept is at the
heart of a real manager development effort.
Uut growth in self-concept is not always
simple and clear.
Conflicts in Self-Concept
Each h um an being is several selves. He lives
comfortably in the role of father, husband,
businessman, president, golfer, bridge player,
the life of the party, and so on. Bu t if there a re
it such dynamics as tension, guilt feelings, and
eompe nsation. Let us illustrate with a fam iliar
example:
A man sees bimsdf botb as a good father and as
a good businessman. As a father, he spends time
witb his children; but as a businessman, he finds
the demands on his time overwhelming. Now
what does he do? He obviously cannot be bome
most evenings with his family and also be out of
town on necessary business trips, li e canno t real-
ize both self-concepts simultaneously. So wh at
happen s? He compromises by giving his business
his time Monday through Friday, and his family
tbe weekend.
This seems like an easy resolution. W ha t, then,
is the problem? Th e man in our example has had
to modify both self-coneepts and may feel deeply
dissatisfied vvith such a necessity. So his dissatis-
faction, his psychological discomfort, his basic
conflict in self concepts, may show in his behavior.
He may be unduly critical of business associates
(or subordinates) who will not follow bis example
and give up their family life during the week. Or
he may resent his children, who blithely go about
their own activities on the weekend, ignoring him.
And if by chance his tccn-age son develops any
emotional problems which are ascribed to "parental
neglect," our man really hits the ceiling "Neglect?
How can that be? Haven't I given my boy every
weekend?" he asks.
In the deeper sense, conflicts lie behind many
self-concepts, but it is beyond our scope to ex-
plore them . In an indiv idual case, this is a
matter for professional study and expert han-
dlin g. By definition, effective, con sisten t be-
havior is integrated behavior, while unln-tegrated
behavior is the behavior of conflict.
Unrealism in Self-Concept
In addition to conflicts between self-con-
cepts as a cause of ineffective behavior, there is
the crucial matter of disparity between "how I
see
myself
and "how others see me." Un-
realistic self-appraisal has cost many a manager
his job. Th ink of men you know who have
been fired, eased out, or moved laterally be-
cause they no longer "seemed up to the job."
Has there not been in many sueh cases the sub-
tle flavor of unadaptability, of a rigid Inability
in a manager to adjust his sights to a new role
as times have changed?
Most familiar are the unnecessarily tragic
cases of men who cannot grow old gracefully.
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w orth . For exam ple, take the good vice presi-
dent who flunks as president because he never
realized his inability to endure the rigors of
being top m an. Th ere are endless instances
of failures owing to a disparity between "who
I am" and "who I think I am."
Unfortunately, not only outright failure may
come from disparities in self-concept; more in-
sidious is the effeet of partial or fuzzy solf-ap-
pra isal. In fact, if the proposition is right th at
realism in the individual's view of himself has a
one-to-one relationship with effectiveness on tbe
job,
then it surely folloAvs that all of us can im-
prove our effectiveness by the simple expedient
of developing a more realistic, more accurate
self concept
In short, the more realistic one s view of him-
self
the more guaranteed is personal cffect'\e-
ness. Here is an example that underscores this
point :
George H., the vice president of sales for a S50-
million company with a staff of 250 sales and
service men, was in serious organizational trouble.
The group hati increased in size so rapidh that it
had long since outgrown its organizational pattern.
There were constant complaints such as: "Whom
do I work for?" "Nobodv knows wh ether I'm
doing well or poorly." "We hav en't any system to
follow in service to custom ers." The executives
under George tried manfully to do twice and three
times as mu cb as they had always done. The
situation was, frankly, a mess.
George as a person was well liked and respected.
He was democratic, attentive to others, soft-spoken,
unlikely to "order," always likely to "suggest," and
unsure of himself as an adm inistrator . In i^encral
he was a man who saw himself as a stimulator and
coordinator of his men, an excellent personal sales-
man, but not a supervisor. Somehow he had com-
pletely missed sensing that his men waited for
directions from h im. He felt tha t a sensible dis-
trict sales manager should know what to do. His
own perception of himself and his men's percep-
tion of him as vice president of sales were poles
apart.
The impasse was breached when an outsider
on whom George relied heavily (and who aiso
had the confidence of the top men in the depart-
ment) finally told him bluntly, "George, your
people arc waiting for you to clear the air. They 'll
follow any organizational plan you want them to.
Th is step only you can take. They respect you
and want your leadership. They value you. Don't
ask them; tell them, for goodness' sake, how you're
going to organize their activities."
Potver to See Ourselves
15
extreme and "got tough." He made explicit, direc
tive demands; he swore; he told everybody, i
effect, "I want wbat I want wben I want it — and
that's right now " But soon he abandoned hi
pretense and absorbed into bis self-concept th
ne\v "take-charge" aspect of his functioning. H
defined an organizational plan, set up policie
and procedures which sorted out sales and servic
duties, discussed them fully with all involved, and
said, in effect, "Th is is it. Let's go."
This example is, of course, an oversimplifica
tion; it highlights the fact that disparity in per
ception can reduce managerial effectiveness
What George saw himself to be in the office o
vice president of sales precluded his seeing th
nee ds of his m en. And this blind spot nearly
cost him prolonged chaos, if not the loss o
his job.
Finally, it is manifestly clear tbat change in
self-concept as a function of executive growth
has a payoff. Recall situations whe re a critica
appo intm ent has to be ma de. W ho gets the nod?
Usually it is the man who as a person is though
to have potential and wbo is able through hi
style of life on the job to make a contribution to
the "mix" of key executives. Co nseq uently
many companies, in selecting their handpieked
future executives, feed in "trainees" with libera
arts degrees. Th ey are looking for the man no
his know ledge or special skills. By the same
token, as the young man grows, it is his self
concept that will ehange and come more into
line with what he is beeoming in relation to his
po tentia l. It is on the basis of.h is self-concep
tba t he emerges as a top exee utive. To twist an
old adage, it isn't what you know that finally
counts; it's who you are.
Natura l Res i s t ance
But there is still one big question to answer
If changes in the self-eoncept of the executive
arc desirable, just what brings them about? In
fact, are chan ges in self-concept possible? Of
course changes are possible, but there is one
obvious bloek to growth.
Even when executives want to change, the
lurking suspicion that such effort is futile tends
to Vitiate the process of cha nge . Fa int m uttcr-
ings of self-discontent tend to get quashed by
the notion that "an old dog can't learn new
tricks." And the basic comfort of the status quo
seems to outweigh the value of the new mode of
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160 Harvard Business Review
that, psyehologieally, the mature person resists
change.
By
definition,
the
self-concept
is an
organization or patterning of attitudes, habits,
knowledge, drives, and the like. And also, by
definition,
the
fact
of
organization means
a
cementing together of all these complex com-
ponents.
For example, the man who for many years
has been highly
and
aggressively competitive
cannot, except with diffieulty, either suddenly
or gradually become insightfully cooperative; he
will still tend to see himself as needing to sur-
pass the other fellow. The individual retains
his pattern, his consistency, his basie character-
istics; and in tbis sense resists chang e. Inde ed,
this
is a
good thin g,
or we
still would
all be
going
through the throes of finding ourselves as we
did
as
adolescents.
W h e n tbe mature person changes, therefore,
he does
so
against
a
natural resistance;
but
whether this resistance is a deeply stabilizing
inffuenee tbat helps him to retain his basie
direction and character, or whether it is a cocoon
that makes him unreachable , is a moot ques-
tion. Resistance, though built in, may thus be
either a roadblock or a gyroscope.
W e ha e noted that changes in the self con-
cept of the executive are gut-lcvel, not ]K'ri-
pberal. They
are
changes
in
perception
and
attitude and understanding, not changes in
knowledge
or
experience
or
skills.
So tmr ex-
ploration of how change occurs mu st include
those factors whieh seem to operate more dccjily
witliin the individual and whieh polarize new
directions and behaviors. We arc looking for
those basic, vital faetors which, as they operate,
really change the person lieyond his power of
dissimulation
or
pretense. This
is
change
in the
fundamental makeup of the person, not change
in
bis
apparel. W hen such changes occur,
the
man is different.
Steps to Maturity
Let
us be
clear about
one
point. Gro\
th
does
not proceed in clear cut, discrete, logical steps.
Sometimes it occurs in Inexplicable spurts; at
other times, with agonizing slowness. Th ere
are eases where real learning is so deeply un-
conscious that no overt behavioral change
shows
up for a
long time. Even regressions will
oecur, as when an adolescent girl, perhaps
growth is a nebulous, multifaetored, fluid, dy-
namic process, often astounding, and usually
only partially controllable.
But
for the
sake
of
discussion,
and
under-
standing, we can postulate a sequence of steps.
Se l f -Examina t ion
If we were to attempt a systeiiiatie analysis
of what happens when growtli in a manager
occurs, we would need to begin with self-ex-
amination. For here the individual first knows
he do esn t know
or
first gets
an
inkling that
he
wishes his behavior were different in some re-
spect. He is foreed, either by eircumstance or
his
own
conscious introspection,
to
look
at him-
self critically. This is what happens when
a golfer sees movies of his swing, or when a
mother scolds her child by saying, Just look at
yourself
— all
dirty.
Or
when
the
supervisor's
thinly veiled anger over a subordinate's sloppy
work finally becomes kno wn . Every man sees
himself each time
he
shaves,
but
does
he
real-
ly examine what he sees? Does he appraise
and evaluate and study what manner of man
be is?
The function of self-examination is to lay the
groundwork
for
insight, without which
no
growth can occur. Insight is the ob, sec now
feeling which must, consciously or u nconscious-
ly, precede chant^e
in
behavior. Insights
—
real, genuine glimpses of ourselves as we really
ai-e -I arc reached only with difliculty and some-
times with real psychic pain. But they are the
building blocks
of
growth. Th us self-examina-
tion is a preparation for insight, a groundbreak-
ing tor the seeds of scl t 'undcrslanding which
gradually bloom into changed behavior.
Sclf-Fxpectat ion
y\s an individual raises his sights for himself
as he gets an insight into the direction in which
he wants
to
grow',
as he
sees himself
in a par
ticular respect that he does not like, then he i
changing his self-expectation. (T his is the nex
step.)
NeW'
demands
on
himself
are set up, no
by anyone else, just by himself. This is anothe
w'ay of saying what the theologians insist on
namely, that a conviction of sin precedes salva
tion. Or, as the psychologists put it, first accep
the fact that
yon
have
the
problem
— not any
one else — and then you are ready to find
solution. Here are two cases that illustrate th
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C John P . was a chronic complainer. Notbing
was ever his fault. He frequently and sclf-pity-
ingly inveighed against his boss, his subordinates,
his peers, and tbe competition. He was capable,
knowledgeable, a hard w orker, critical. And never
once, when he sang the old refrain, Why docs
this always happen to me? did an inner voice
whisper back, It's no different for you, old boy,
than for anyone else. It's just the way you take
it.
Efforts by his boss and his friends to develop
some insight in John seemed wasted. Logical
explanations, patiently made, were of course futile.
Anger toward him only proved to him he was
picked on. Gentle tolerance only save him a biaeer
pooi to wallow m.
One day in a meeting of executives to find
answers to a particular crisis that had hit every-
one (an unexpected price slash by a major com-
petitor), he held forth at length on the usclcssness
of market research, on the futility of keeping a
pipeline on the competitor's situation, on how
his department (sales) couldn't be blamed for not
anticipating the vagaries of the competition's pric-
ing policy, and so on. He finally stopped. And,
as though by prearrangement, the whole group,
perhaps in complete disgust at his immaturity and
irrelevance, sat in stony silenee.
At length the silence became so oppressive that
it suddenly dawned on the complainer that he was
just that — an imm ature comp lainer. He recalled
the words of his colleagues and his own dim aware-
ness that he did complain a lot. Insight finally
occurred.
At long last be was ready to begin to grow out
of his immatur ity. He saw (and disliked) himself
at tbis point. Now his growth eould become self-
direeted; he could easily find many opportunities
to quash feelings of self-pity and to face reality in
a more statesmanhke fasbion, because now he ex-
pected more statesmanlike attitudes of himself.
€ Pete B ., age 58 , was vice president of en-
gineering of a company that made fine-quality
capital goods equipm ent. He had been with his
company
5
years. He was a good enginee r, who
knew the product inside out; and through the
years he had learned to know the customers, too.
He felt proud of and personally involved in each
installation of tbe product. It was not unu sual
to see him on an evening, coatless and with his
tie loose, perched on a stool before a drafting
board, surrounded by young engineers, digging at
a tough installation problem. W hile some thought
Pete did too much himself, others felt tbat with
him on the job tbe customer would be satisfied.
About four years ago, however, the presi-
Power to See urselves
1
wholly owned subsidiary. One allied product li
was acquired, then ano ther. Finally Pete's depa
ment was asked to do the engineering work
.several subsidiaries that were not set up to
their own.
Now Pete's job had cbanged, subtly but sure
and trouble began to brew for Pete because
couldn't seem to ehange with the situation.
Psychologically, Pete saw himself as a one-m
department (with assistants as trainees) who pe
sonally engineered tbe product for the custom
his friend. He resisted the impersonality of wo
ing on engineering problems of sister ccmipanic
whose customers and products be barely kne
and eared less abou t. The new-fangled syste
of a home office engineering vice president w
was staff seemed to him just another unnece
sary complication. Nothing worked the way
used to. He saw himself bypassed by progress an
change.
So,
unconsciously, he began to resist and
fight. His yearning for the <;ood old days su
consciously forced him to run faster and faster
order to know more customers and more produ
lines; to work more evenings; to press new system
into the form of old procedures. And, of cours
he began to slip, and badly. Grad ually, Pete w
view ed by his superiors as good old Pete, but le
not get him in on this matter or he'll have to tak
it over himself and we'll get bogged down, an
by his subordinates as a fine fellow, but stodg
and old-fashioned.
Fortunately, before tbe situation compelled
major organizational shift, Pete took stock of h
situation , and really saw himself as he was. l
got the insight that his self-image of a kind o
personal engineer was no longer applicable to th
corporation's greatly expanded needs. And rig
then, with this new glimpse of himself (and th
courage and self-honesty to face it), he began
ehange . He started by focusing on how his yea
of experience could be applied to the coaching o
his subordinates. He put himself in the sho
of the staff vice president and could then see ho
to mesh gears better . Th en he stopped resistin
the new-fangled data processing and automatio
procedures. His growth began with a new se
expectation.
Ch an ge in S elf-Expectation
How does one get a new self-demand, a new
self-expectation? How does one find ou t tha
his pre sen t self-eoncept is inad equ ate? How
does one know not only that he can be differen
but should be as well? Un fortuna tely for thos
who like recipes or formulas, sueh questions ar
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162 Harva rd Business Revieii7
W h a t can be done to stimulate change in
self-expectation besides honest, realistic, self-
appraising introspection? In the business con-
text, the constructive pointing up of an execu-
tive's needs for growth by his superior is a tre-
mendous source of insight. The emphasis, of
course,
is on the
word constructive which
means helpful, insightful ideas from the su-
perior and not, as so often hap pen s, a cere-
monial, judgmental, I'll tell you what 1 think
about you appraisal.
A further source of insight is wives — the
perceptive ones, that is. Perccjitive wives have
unique ways
of
jerking husbands
up
short when
their self-images become distorted.
In fact, anything which enables the man to
ge t a new perception
—
reading, observing,
studying, going
to
conferences, attend ing meet-
ings, and participating in clubs — can provide
insight into himself.
Out of
insight comes
change
in
self-expectation.
And, of course, life situations which are
kaleidoseopic always enable the perceptive per-
son to sec himself in a new light. He re is an-
other example:
Paul W. was acutely self-critical, often to the
point w^here his fear of failinx immobilized him.
He delayed decisions, fussed endlessly with details,
and generally strained
to be
perfect.
In
time
his
relation with the psychologist, who genuinely ac-
cepted him without criticism, praise, blame, or
hostility, enabled him to sec how his self-criti-
cal attitudes really stemmed from his self-pride.
He felt
he had to be
perfect because
it was
safer
to be free from criticism and failure. But he
finally rejoined the human race and demanded
of himself only that he do his best. The insight
that he was human afler all freed him to change
his self-expectations.
Self-Direction
A man is master of his own destiny in the
sense that he takes charge of his own devel-
opment if he wants to grow. No thing can be
done to him to make him grow; he grows only
as he wants to and as his own insights enable
him
to.
The change in self-concept that an executive
undergoes must continue primarily through his
own self-direction. It is clear that many de-
velopment programs miss their mark badiy at
this point. The y make
the
naive assumption
that exposure to experiences or people or books
as he reaches out and appropriates something
— a bit of wisdom, a new idea, or a new con-
cept — that stretches him, and gives him an
answer to his own self-generated prob lem.
Put another way, we might say that, just a
learning is impossible without motivation, so
real executive development
is
impossible unless
the executive seeks it. Furthermore, the strength
of bis desire is infinitely stronger if he seeks de
velopment because he wants to develop than i
he is merely trying to please his boss or do wha
is expected of him. As any teacher knows, the
pupils
who
listen
and
learn merely
in
order
to
pass the course are far poorer learners than
those who want to learn.
Fundamentally, this is the age-old problem
of motivation, of keeping steam up in the boiler
The maintenance
of a
growing edge,
as an ex
ecutive emerges from insight to insight to realiz
his potential, is a consequence of intrinsic moti
vation. He is driven to^vard unrealized objec
tives, perhaps toward unrealizable goals; this i
what keeps the executive honing his growin
edge.
After he develops Insight into himself
in
relation
to
what
he
wants
to be
the power tha
keeps him growing is the veritable necessity o
doing something that to him is intrinsically
basically,
and
lastingly wo rthw hile. Grow in
executives are so because they derive th ei
strength and desire and drive from inner, un
aehievcd goals; and their satisfactions from self
realization. This is intrinsic motivation as i
relates to self-eoncept.
Broadened Percept ions
The dynamics of this factor of growth ar
very clear: anyone must
see
himself
in
relatio
to his environment, both personal and imper
sonal,
and
must develop
bis
image
of
himsel
partly in response to what he sees around him
So if he sees a very small world (as a child does
his concept of himself must necessarily be nar
row; if he sees himself as a citizen of the worl
(as a world traveler might), his self-concept em
braces tbe world. This is the difl'erenee betwee
the real provincial, such as a hillbilly, and th
true sophisticate.
A most common complaint of superiors is tha
a subordinate is too narrow in his oudook. Fo
example,
the
sales manager promoted
to
vic
president of sales irritates his peers in manu
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supervisor, now a vice president, is derided by
the people in sales for his attitu de of W e'll
make it at low cost; it's up to you to sell it,
and don't bother me with speeial runs for
special customers or model changes — sell 'em.
Both men suffer from constraint of the self-con-
cep t: they perceive their jobs (and themselves)
too narrowly. For instan ce:
A vice president of sales was brought in from
outside tbe eompany to gear up the effort of mer-
chandising a new line of produ cts. He did a mag-
nificent job, old pro that he was, of shaping up and
vitalizing a sales force. Volume of sales pieked up
excellently, and he was the hero of the hour.
But after a year, when he felt on top of his job,
some of his attitudes and habits reasserted them-
selves, annoying others and stalling progress. For
instance, he persisted in making frequent refer-
ences to his former (and larger) company. He
climbed on manufacturing for delivery delays, and
on research and engineering for perfectionism be-
fore releasing the specifications for w-hat he felt
were needed produc t changes. Th e time it took
to explain to him, pacify him, and argue with him
was ill-spent and futile. He was rapidly becoming
a block in the path of progress.
One day the president approached him directly.
George, said the president, what's your title?
\Vhy, said George, puzzled, vice president
or sales.
Right. And what docs vice president mean to
you?
George paused. W hat was the president getting
at? W ell, he said, it means lots of things, I
guess. Responsibility for sales, buildin g a. . . .
Stop right there, interrupted the president.
Responsibility for sales, you say. True in a way.
But the sales manager also has this responsibility,
doesn't he?
Well, yes.
Then what does the word
vice president
mean
in your title?
Oh, I see. . . . Well, I guess it means see-
ing or having responsibility for the sales function
of the company from the point of view of the
conipany . . . tha t part of your office.
You got my point before I mentioned it,
George, said the presiden t. A vice president
speaks from the company point of view, not just
that of his depa rtme nt. He tries to keep the over-
all good of the conipany in mind.
George thought this conversation over. He got
the point. He realized the narrown ess of his own
view. He had been thinking of himself as on
loan from his former employer to straighten
tilings out here. As he pondered the pre sident's
comments, he broadened his perception of his job
Power to See urselves
165
— and of himself And sometime later he began
to act as an officer of the total company.
Self-Realization Power
It is not enough, however, just to see our-
selves as we are now. Sueh und erst and ing is a
necessary starting point, or basis on whieh to
build. But we m ust also see w ha t our real selves
cojdd
be, and grow into that.
The strong men of history have had one psy-
chological characteristic in common: they seem
always to have been themselves as persons —
. . . Michelangelo, fighting against odds for
a chance to sculpt;
. . . Beethoven, continuing to compose after
he became deaf;
. . . Milton, who didn't allow blindness to
interfere with his writing.
Such men have given meaning to the phrase,
fulfilling one's destiny.
In less dramatic form, any strong executive
fulfills himself as he lives a life that is an un-
folding of his potential. He must be himself
In this sense, the self-eoncept of the strong ex-
ecutive is a constantly evolving, changing thing
as he continuously realizes
himself
This is, in-
deed, genuine growth and the kind that con-
tinues until senescence sets in.
Can all men aspire to be tbis strong — to ac-
complish such self-realization? Of course not.
But a growing person (by definition) has un-
realized power if his self-eoncept, his self-ex-
pectation, his self-direction, and his constantly
broadening perceptions (wisdom) allow him to
find it. T he difl'erence betw een a strong ma n
and a weak man may not be a difference in
ability, for many clerks have keen intelligence;
or in drive, for many ambitious men get no-
where; or in opportunity, for somehow, strong
men nmke opportu nity. N o, the difference lies
in self-concept. How m uc h do I value my life?
W hat do I wan t to do with it? W hat m ust I do
to be myself? Strong men have emerged w ith
clear-cut answers to such questions; weak men
equivocate and temporize and never dare.
Thus growth, finally, is the evolvement of
personal goals and the sense of venture in pur-
suing them. Th is is the mean ing of the dedi-
eated man . His personal goals, his company
goals, and his job goals have eoincidence to a
great extent; and his personal power is directed
single-mindedJy toward seeing himself in rela-
tion to the fulfillment of his executive potential.
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