‘Always know the condition of your flock”—this is the first principle in the book The Way of the Shepherd. The authors, Kevin Leman and William Pentax, said one of the foremost things that any organization needs to know, rather extensively, is its very own people. It is critical for organizations to know their personnel for a more effective management and more responsive leadership. No matter how technologically equipped a company may be, it will rise and fall with its employees. After all, the soldier is the Army and no Army is better than its soldiers, according to US Army General George S. Patton Jr. Hence, it is a basic rule in leadership—know your own people first, before knowing the enemy (or the competition).
I recently attended a workshop—“Leading the Multigenerational Workforce”—that presented a lot of information about the differences among people born in different generations (traditionals, baby boomers, generation X, generation Y and millennials). Persons in each generation are generally characterized with a certain mindset or personality due to certain specific events. For instance, the advent of the Internet in the late-1990s, giving users easy and fast access to a lot of information, impacted on the millennial’s attributes of being impatient yet creative and efficient in terms of multitasking in the workplace.
The workshop also had a series of practical exercises where groups composed of members of different generations had to associate pictures of people and events with the period when they appeared or happened. The exercises somehow revealed that not all persons under one generation will exhibit the behavior or knowledge expected of them. Thus, one baby boomer participant was able to identify pictures of Cary Grant, but also identified Daniel Padilla at the same time, quite unexpectedly. A leader would err if he makes a stereotype of his people based on generational differences. Hence, as leaders, we need to get more information about our people aside from personality profiles based on generation, gender, race and religion, to name a few.
Human-resources departments have been referring to their individual employee records as 201 file without knowing why it is called as such. Interestingly, the term “201 file” originated from the Army. Form 201 in the US Army is a set of documents containing a person’s comprehensive profile, including all past and current information necessary to know almost everything about him. “But why not call it a 101 file?” someone may ask. The number 2 stands for the intelligence branch in the military. Other numbers such as 1 is for administration and personnel, 3 is for operations and 4 is for supply in the Army. I can surmise that 201 file came into being because it is the very first (01) file that the intelligence branch (2) would have on its personnel. It is the Army’s intelligence record of supposedly anything and everything about its personnel.
Some leaders rely heavily on information in the 201 file. I remember one leader who signed personnel orders based on 201-file information “interpreted” to him by his inner circle. Limiting himself within the confines of his office, he assigned, promoted, awarded and even punished his men without actually knowing much about them. But a true servant leader, one who makes the effort to identify the needs of others, engages the people around him so as to get to know them better. He talks to them. Informal and casual conversations provide honest feedback. But, a servant leader can only have these kinds of candid conversations if he is accessible.
I remember one associate, referred to as MMT in our Firm, who had difficulty with one of my law partners. No matter how hard she tried, MMT just cannot meet my partner’s standards. “I just can’t get through him,” she once told me. Upon my suggestion, she invited my partner to dinner together with some associates. Sure enough, after that relaxing dinner, things between my partner and MMT greatly improved. The professional, strictly business relationship between them became more of a personal, stewardship-like relationship.
In the Bible, John 10:14 tells us, “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me.” Our God does not need a 201 file for Him to know us. He knows our intentions, our thoughts and even our plans way beforehand. Amazingly, He knew us already since the day we were created and even before birth, as it was written in Jeremiah 1:3, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you.” Psalm 139:1-3 says it all—“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.”
As leaders, we can never come close to how much He knows us, His children. But a servant leader can always try. He always finds ingenious ways to open opportunities for others to talk to Him. And it is during those minute interactions and intimate conversations that a leader gets to really understand the needs, and more important, the aspirations of his own people. Eventually, his people will follow him, not because they have to, but because they want to. The more a leader knows about his people, the more he understands their needs.
In the Army, I tried to spend a considerable amount of time with my soldiers. I ate all sorts of talbos with them, slept in the jungles with them, played chess and basketball with them and even shared a few drinks with them on certain occasion. As I led them in combat, never did I feel the danger, confidently knowing that they have my back. Most, if not all, of my classmates in the academy would perhaps have a common aspiration to what the Bible says in John 10:27—“My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.” When a leader takes care of his people, the more they will follow him, not only because they like him, but because they trust him, just like a sheep to a shepherd. Truly knowing our people, our sheep, goes beyond what is contained in a 201 file.
For questions and comments, please e-mail me at sbmison@gmail.com.
2 comments
i just wanted to know what a 201 file is…but i got more than that. this is indeed a beautiful and helpful piece. thank you.
same here 🙂