THE GREAT MOUNTAINS

I read a book recently, the author described great leaders as great mountains. He said some mountains are so sharp and rocky at the top that it made people feel uncomfortable standing at the top of the mountain. Nevertheless, there are a handful of the great mountains that are flat at the mountain top. People feel comfortable and may not even realize they are standing at the top of the mountain.

I can’t help but to agree with it. A great leader is like a great mountain, knowledgeable, powerful, talented and strong! However, there are so many that made their subordinates, peers and others feel uncomfortable, forceful or inferior. However, a true leader is of course equally strong, influential and knowledgeable. But what made them different is others feel comfortable being with them. What is the missing link? These leaders generally are humble and considerate.

I have met many great mountains recently. I was invited to conduct a Train the Trainer Program in China twice recently. The training aims to transition a 6 days Management Program to the local Chinese trainers.

There are altogether 11 Chinese trainers, 5 ladies and 6 men. Guess what… there was 1 with a PhD degree, a few who have conducted Train the Trainer themselves, 2 with many years of Human Resource experience and have seen many great trainers and many more….

Well, with such background, I went in with great caution! …. To my surprise, I was greeted with warm welcome and smiling faces. These trainers are very knowledgeable but humble at the same time. They are willing to put themselves down as a student while learning and yet when being asked questions or invited to share thoughts, they are able to provide meaningful insights into the subject matters. Overall it was a very successful train the trainer program and all of them enjoyed and provided very good feedback about the training.

I can’t help but to recall the above story and at the end of the session share with them my feeling of them.

A GREAT MOUNTAIN, WITH GREAT ATTITUDE!

To my surprise, during the same session, many of them feedback and told me…

“Bryan, it was your sincerity that touched us,
it was your willingness to share that created these results!”

That’s where I realized the true meaning of The Great Mountains!

A Great Mountain - A Sincere Heart!