the power to see ourselves

8/16/2019 The Power to See Ourselves

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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



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



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.



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



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



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



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



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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