Sending Your Ducks to Eagles School

     The title of today's blog came from a discussion I was in with some business owners.  The key point to the discussion was that there is real value in taking individual contributors who may need some additional skill training and sending them to schooling focused on higher level individual contributors.  OK, what does this all mean?
      Remember the duck-- it is slow, waddles and barely flies off the ground.  Contrast that to the Eagle-- Graceful, flies high, can swoop down low, gather a fish or other prey and fly back high again.  Now, can the duck do that?  Well, probably not!  The duck is built much differently than the Eagle-- the duck has different feet than the Eagle, HOWEVER, there is bound to be something that the Duck can learn from the Eagle.
     The same is said about all of your team members-- each team member (individual contributor) has a unique skill and ability-- that is why he/she is on your team.  However, you can enhance and enrich each individual contributor's skill and team contribution by allowing them to be pushed-- try things that are difficult and hard.  Although they may struggle and have difficulty at first, they will probably pick up some skills that they did not think they were able of achieving.  Additionally, each Duck is bound to teach the Eagle's something as well.  Think about it-- pushing everyone on your team, even those that are sure they can not do a task will yield wonderful results!  Try it!