Page 212 - How Great Leaders Build Abundant Organizations That Win

THE WHY OF WORK

disappointment means they are working on things that
matter to them.
Our self-esteem and capacity to cope have more elasticity,
or capacity to stretch without breaking in response to stress,
when we have a learning mind-set. Just as a savings account
gives us elasticity in the face of unexpected expenses,
Stephen R. Covey refers to an “emotional bank account”
that gives us elasticity in the face of unexpected setbacks of
other kinds. When people learn how to learn from mistakes,
they can cope better with the stress of change. Setbacks
become opportunities to grow rather than reasons to give
up. Leaders build this elasticity, this sense of having enough
stretch and to spare in one’s emotional bank account when
they teach employees how to learn from both good and bad
experiences. A learning focus puts new meaning on failure
and change in general, turning it from a threat to an oppor-
tunity. This learning focus, rich with meaning making, is a
key building block of the abundant organization.

Learning

Think of someone you would characterize as a gifted learner.
Why? What are this individual’s personal attributes? What
can this person do?
Rand is one of our most precocious learning friends, as
he exemplified when traveling with us to a foreign coun-
try. First, he was constantly inquisitive, engaging the local
residents to find out more about their lifestyles and beliefs.
Second, he wanted to try new things: on our one-week
trip he learned the alphabet of the local language and
began to learn the basics of the language so that he could

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