Several years ago, one of my mentors gifted me with the book You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School by Mac Anderson. It's an excellent little book filled with many effective leadership gems to help managers build and grow dynamic teams. I really liked it, but I always took exception to the title. To me, it implied there are only two kinds of people in this world: ducks and eagles.
I'm a sucker for an underdog and I can't get enough of stories about ugly ducklings becoming beautiful swans. I mean, just try to tell Beethoven you can't compose brilliant music if you're deaf, Rosa Parks she needs to sit in the back of the bus, or little David he can't beat Goliath. Yes, our world is full of eagles, but these perceived ducks are the ones who hold the highest places of honor in history.
So, what do stories about these unlikely heroes tell us about the formula for success? I believe they reveal it's not about how God made you, but who He made you to be. There's no doubt if you were built to be 6' 7", you were primed to have a significant advantage over most people on the basketball court. However, if you aren't fueled by an inner purpose to dominate the game, a determined 5' 9" duck with an unstoppable outside shot is going to be wearing your championship ring.
Therefore, if you're a hiring manager, teacher, coach, or anyone trying to get the best out of people, it's important to learn that the journey to success begins with will and not skill. Far too much time and money are wasted on only trying to find or teach the skills needed for excellence. There's a reason why the overwhelming majority of people who go to training classes return to their old habits when they get back to their job. And, I've got news for you: We've cracked the code on weight loss. The skills needed are diet and exercise. You can be taught 1,000 different ways to do both, but until you connect to that inner drive that pushes you through the uncomfortable pain of change, you'll never reach your goal.
So, if you've made a resolution to change something about yourself, start the process with this question: "Am I not the person I want to be because I don't know how to get there (skill) or because I have lacked the desire to push through the pain to get there (will)?". If you're a hiring manager, stop asking if your candidates have the skills to do the job. Instead, start asking questions that reveal their will to be successful. Believe me, it's far more difficult to get someone connected to their inner desire to succeed than it is to teach a person with a burning desire to succeed new skills for the job.
The lesson of the book You Can't Send a Duck to Eagle School is definitely intended to be: If a person doesn't have the will to soar like an eagle, they will spend most of their time waddling like a duck. On that point, I completely agree. However, I believe with everything that I am that God made each of us with the ability to soar. If you're ever tasked with the responsibility to draw the best out of people, remember that. If you want to help people grow, stop wasting all your time trying to teach them the skills you think they don't know and first partner with them to connect to the will to succeed that God has placed inside them.