A very interesting thing happened to an elephant out in the wild that has a lesson hidden in it for businesses.
A man had been developing a relationship with a herd of elephants for a considerable period of time. He had been following them and filming them. One of the older female elephants gave birth to a large male baby elephant. The baby elephant was experiencing a very unusual situation. He could not straighten his front two legs. He was standing with his back legs fully straight, but he was standing on his knees with his front legs. His mother was trying to get him to straighten his front legs, but he could not.
The mother elephant along with an older daughter of hers were walking along with him very slowly and he was walking on his knees with his front legs and his rear legs were straight. He kept trying to straighten his front legs. After an extended period of time, he was finally able to straighten his front legs, in a wobbly manner. After walking for a period of time his front legs became straight and stronger. He eventually could walk normally and keep up with his mother and older sister.
What had happened is that he was a little larger than normal and was constrained by the size of the womb from straightening his front legs in the womb. In other words the environment he was in was constraining him from developing properly.
The same thing happens in business. A person may not be in a specific business environment that contributes to or allows them to develop and grow in abilities. They may need to be in a different environment that does not constrain their development.
As employees, managers and even business owners, you need to be in situations that contribute to your development and do not constrain you.
The environment you are in is very significant for your learning and growth to increase your abilities. Have a pathway for all of this that is meaningful.
Garry Haggart, CPC is a management, marketing and performance development consultant and facilitator. He can be reached at 661-259-2530.