Inspiration for this week\’s post comes from a gentleman called Edgar Guest, an American poet born in England in the late nineteenth century, who penned some 11,000 poems and went on to become known as the People\’s Poet.
As humans we are often easily dismissive of tough challenges, finding it far easier to justify why things can\’t be done rather than knuckling down to find a way through.
If you\’re facing a challenge or considering some change in your life that seems like a mountain to climb, take heart from Edgar Guest\’s powerful message.
Know, with confidence, that no matter how difficult the challenge you may be considering, there is a way. You can do it!
[box type=\”shadow\”]“The brick walls are there for a reason. The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to give us a chance to show how badly we want something. Because the brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t want it badly enough. They’re there to stop the other people.”
― Randy Pausch[/box]
It couldn\’t be done
Somebody said that it couldn\’t be done,
But, he with a chuckle replied
That \”maybe it couldn\’t\” but he would be one
Who wouldn\’t say so till he\’d tried.
So he buckled right in with the trace of a grin
On his face. If he worried he hid it.
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn\’t be done, as he did it.
Somebody scoffed: \”Oh, you\’ll never do that;
At least no one we know has done it\”;
But he took off his coat and he took off his hat,
And the first thing we knew he\’d begun it.
With a lift of his chin and a bit of a grin,
Without any doubting or quiddit,
He started to sing as he tackled the thing
That couldn\’t be done, and he did it.
There are thousands to tell you it cannot be done,
There are thousands to prophesy failure;
There are thousands to point out to you, one by one,
The dangers that wait to assail you.
But just buckle right in with a bit of a grin,
Just take off your coat and go to it;
Just start to sing as you tackle the thing
That cannot be done, and you\’ll do it.
Dealing with people is about 80% of a manager’s responsibility. This also includes dealing with difficult people. Fortunately, the law of nature dictates that the majority of people are normal and only a few are difficult but the difficult ones can easily consume 80% of the manager’s time and energy if such manager has no clue on how to manage people. The fact is; difficult people are high maintenance and costly and must never to allowed to get away with such attitude at the cost of the company. It is the manager’s duty to convert as many if not all difficult people to positive highly motivated people. Some people are difficult due to lack of knowledge and insight about what is expected of them, but some are difficult just because they want to be difficult. Again fortunately, very few people are purposely difficult and the vast majority of difficult people are such due to lack of knowledge and insight; and this falls in line with the manager’s duties i.e dissemination of information. People have to know what is expected of them and how they are performing against what is expected of them. Fortunately, 99% of human beings are motivated by their good performance i.e if they know they are doing well, they are motivated to do more. Conversely, if they are told they are not doing well, they are determined to improve but need some guidance on how they can start doing well and required regular feedback. This is where coaching and mentoring come in. 95% of difficult people convert to good productive contributors through their superviser’s effective coaching and mentoring skills and the remaining 5% remain high maintenance and these eventually lead themselves to the risk of losing their jobs unless they make a personal decision to comply i.e purposeful change of attitude from negative to positive.
In conclusion, the manager must be sufficiently equipped with people skills i.e consistent collaboration, integrity, direction, fairness and holding people accountable while also assisting them where they need genuine assistance.
Hi Reuben, it seems like you have posted this comment against the wrong blog article??
Marvellous! Love Edgar Guest!
How about Kipling’s `If” as an inspirational piece sometime??
Love your blog.XX
Diana
Good one … and thank you!
it could be a short mission statement “JUST DO IT’
Thanks Bill,
I know for sure, these words are absolutely true. I have achieved so much in life already simply because people have told me “it cannot be done”. I will not accept those words because they are a huge lie.
However, I did need this bit of encouragement as I have been sick and motivation low, I know it can be done, just have to keep pushing on.
Thank you for being such an inspiration to us all.
Thanks Carole – and here’s hoping the motivation returns soon!
Thanks for this Bill. Truly inspirational and it has arrived at absolutely the right moment!.
Jorge
Timing is everything 🙂
Wow! Truly inspired stuff! Bill, singing goes a long way towards crowding out the naysayers and giving one energy to buckle down and do it, with a grin! Thanks for the poem!
Thanks Zandi!
What an inspiring poem on the key to living a life of fulfilment -an unwavering sense of self belief! And how much more powerful is this key ingredient when one accompanies it with some form of music for the soul!
A good one to put up on the wall as a reminder, I think
Absolutely brilliant, Simply Love it, Thanks Bill
🙂
Brilliant! Am submitting this to my teenage son’s school for their annual poetry reading competition. This concept of not quitting and giving up when things become challenging should be in every school’s curriculam especially teenagers!
Great point!
Light hearted but so true. Thanks for this Bill.
You’re welcome … I’m just not sure about the singing bit!
Powerful stuff indeed. Thanks for the inspiration Bill.
Pleasure Eddie 🙂