The Spirit of an Organization

It’s the abilities, not the disabilities, that count.

Two sayings sum up the “spirit of an organization.” One is the inscription on Andrew Carnegie’s tombstone:

Here lies a man

Who knew how to enlist

In his service

Better men than himself

The other is the slogan of the drive to find jobs for the physically handicapped: “It’s the abilities, not the disabilities, that count.” A good example was President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s confidential adviser in World War II, Harry Hopkins. A dying, almost a dead man for whom every step was torment, he could work only a few hours every other day or so. This forced him to cut out everything but truly vital matters. He did not lose effectiveness thereby; on the contrary, he became as Churchill called him once, “Lord Heart of the Matter” and accomplished more than anyone else in wartime Washington. Roosevelt broke every rule in the book to enable the dying Harry Hopkins to make his unique contribution.

Action point: Figure out what each of your employees’ or colleagues’ strengths are and develop these strengths to help people perform better.

The Practice of Management

The Effective Executive

Peter Drucker

inscription: ~write

tombstone: feathering

handicapped: disable

confidential adviser: secret adviser