Are you getting promoted? Have you recently been promoted? Would you like to receive a promotion? Then determine which water you want to become.
Often, people believe the best thing they can do when getting promoted is to impose their will upon those they are managing. Their responsibilities shift and, so too, does their demeanor. They do their best to prove they were rightfully promoted. To show that that they’re leaders who know what to do all the time, they push those below them to act. These recently promoted people act like a tsunami, hoping to pound those now below them into submission. To talk like them, act like them, think like them, and will knock them down with brute force and unending instruction to cower to their newfound positional strength. Do not be a tsunami unless you were specifically promoted to be a tsunami.
Instead, when choosing what water you should become as a manager, I strongly suggest being a little wave. While tsunamis come once in a blue moon, leaving behind devastation in their path, little waves are far more regular. Far more consistent. Little waves lap upon the shores of the employees, moving them bit by bit in the direction it wants them to move. It doesn’t overwhelm them, or drown them. Little waves, over time, move mountains, carve new channels, and with consistency, create new environments.
Today’s hires seek direction, not instruction. They seek feedback, not orders. They yearn for a leader as adaptable and consistent as water, but not as forceful as a surging tidal wave, crashing them into the surf. I didn’t simply learn this from getting promoted myself in the past, but this is one element that good trainers and consultants realize as well. You cannot come into a store all Miley Cyrus, insisting they follow your orders or asserting your dominance. You have to adapt to the environment, the same way Bruce Lee philosophized about being like water, formless, resilient, and able to move around, while eventually breaking down, any and all obstacles. It takes time, not temper.
The power of water is immense. It has the ability to slam into shores, decimate homes and take lives. However, it also has the ability to grow, nurture, and bring life into a surrounding. When getting promoted, you have a choice as to what water you want to be. It is clear as Evian what I recommend.
