Elephants aren’t bad to have around and can be managed, but only if you know they are there. They communicate by infrasound and seismic communication, neither of which is detectable to the human ear. This explains why sometimes it is hard to tell if there is an elephant in the room!
Every day in our lives we are faced with a variety of situations that we manage, some that we own and control, some that outside influences make it difficult for us to manage.
Most of our ‘Elephants’ are the result of communication, or the lack of. As George Bernard Shaw once said, “The single biggest problem in communication is the illusion that it has taken place.”
In our personal lives and in our work world we encounter many different situations and personalities, each requiring differing communication. Unless we give and receive information that is ‘heard’, there may be Elephants. Most of us have encountered this in our personal lives, and sometimes the Elephant has won!
In our work lives, Elephants can take many forms; office politics, lack of information, misinformation, bullying, but mostly a lack of knowledge on how to communicate. Communication becomes especially important in work teams and understanding different personality types and their communication needs can tame the Elephants. If managed properly, the Elephants can enrich the work of a Board or strategic work team by being acknowledged, ensuring that everyone is heard and all input has been put on the table before the important work is done.
For more on becoming a Mahout in your organization, contact us for a free consultation.
