Leadership thinking and ‘riches of the mind’
Posted on June 19th, 2009 by MichaelSir Robert Menzies, 12th Prime Minister of Australia on leadership thinking:
“A man may be a tough, concentrated, successful money-maker and never contribute to his country anything more than a horrible example.
A manager may be tough and practical, squeezing out, while the going is good, the last ounce of profit and dividend, and may leave behind him an exhausted industry and a legacy of industrial hatred.
A tough manager may never look outside his own factory walls or be conscious of his partnership in a wider world.
I often wonder what strange cud such men sit chewing when their working days are over, and the accumulating riches of the mind have eluded them.”
June 27th, 2009 at 4:45 am
It is easy to fall into the trap of focusing on your career/work to the exclusion of everything else. I have been there. Along the way, a little voice kept whispering that there was more to life.
I have taken a different path in my later years and have found a new world to address.
June 22nd, 2009 at 9:21 pm
It brings to my mind and I know I misquote “is it only when we have fished the last fish, chopped down the last tree and polluted our waters and air…will we discover that we can’t eat money”.
June 22nd, 2009 at 7:26 pm
Hello,
Yep thats whay I learn to draw, learn to paint, learn to play a guitar, have had singing lessons and have a stab at different languages.
I work as a geologist in a coalmine and am well aware of the pressures put on people to ensure profits are made.
Regards
Bill
June 22nd, 2009 at 3:07 pm
A very different side of Menzies that I have previously encountered.
June 22nd, 2009 at 2:52 pm
I’ve had managers like that. The “leadership” both at the local and national level of my organization fit that profile quite well.
Shining examples all of how not to manage for the long-term.
It’s amazing how often that focus on the long-term vision allows quite adequate short-term performance, as well.
However, focus on short-term performance often damages long-term results.