Managing a Killer Whale

We have spent some time this weekend visiting our son in San Diego.  Of course, we wanted to do some tourist things, so we went to Sea World.  If you go to Sea World, you have to see Shamu and it got me thinking about management challenges.

During the show, there is a time for questions and answers.  One of the questions was very obvious, "how do you train a killer whale."  The answer was very insightful, here are the main points of the answer.

1.  The trainers earn the whale's trust.
2.  The trainers always show respect.
3.  The trainers never make them do anything, they ask them very nicely.

Let's talk about these answers.

Trust:  Like anything else in life, if you want to earn trust - you have to trust others.  People will never trust you as a person just because you are the manager or the boss or the parent.  Those amazing killer whales couldn't care less that "the trainers" are the trainers.  But once they learned that the trainers would feed them,  care for them, and actually wanted what was best for them, they built trust.

What about you?  Are you a leader or just a manager?  If you were paid by the number of people who would really follow you, would you like your paycheck?  If trust is a the first part of training a killer whale, it seems like a good place to start in managing people.

Respect:  The trainers always show respect.  Now, it is not hard to understand why you would show respect to a killer whale, but what about the  people you lead?  Respect is a key part of getting the most out of their ability.  Here is the best way to show respect.

1.  Explain to them why they need to do something. Give them why it is in their best interests to do what you are asking them to do.  One hint,  if you are saying to do it just because you are the manager, there is not a lot of respect or trust being built with your team.


2.  The trainers take care of the whales by feeding them.  Take care of your team.  (Chances are you won't need to feed them - but you do need to keep them motivated)

3.  Listen.  You can learn a lot about your team by listening to their questioning and point of view.  Additionally, always remember, you are the leader.  It is up to you to adjust to your team, not for them to adjust to you.  Your team will always be made up a number of different personalities.  Work with those personalities.

4.  Always have their best in mind.  At the same time, explain how their best benefits the company.

Ask nicely:  This one is tricky.  There are times to be direct.  At the same time you can be direct and nice.  Nice is a good thing and always remember you can destroy a lot of trust very quickly by not being nice.

Training, leadership, and being "the boss" can be very tricky.  It takes a lot more than just having your title printed on a business card.  However, if you want your company to grow and build a foundation, it is up to you build trust, show respect and be nice.  After all, if it works on killer whales - it should do great with your team.

Think about the team that you are trying to lead....your family, your division, your team....and learn from the people who train killer whales.  Have a great week -- I will see you later.

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