The can do attitude of many of us in the realm of business.  Going above and beyond.  Trying to soar like an eagle.

My favorite quote from a Ken Blanchard seminar on managing in the early 90’s was it is hard to fly like an eagle when you are getting beat up by a bunch of ducks.  That was one amazing seminar as I was fresh in my career.

That is the disheartening thing about the can do attitude of some.  We have seen it in the “real world” a lot.  Guy comes in ready to make a difference in the world.  Then he hits the bureaucracy which crushes his spirit and drains his life force.

Many of us have hit that life sucking point in our careers, but we get back up, dust ourselves off, and proceed on knowing we will take the bureaucratic beating again.

Going back to the seminar and showing the ducks in action.  I was actually in the front row with much of our department.  My boss and one of the leads happened to be just a few seats away during the first session.  I always thought it was fascinating to watch them go buy the books in the lobby, but they chose to sit in the back near the door in the afternoon session to “get out of there easily”.

Needless to say, my days with them did not last with their duck-ish leadership style.  Since then, I tried to remain an eagle and take the beatings of the ducks.