Credit

A frog asked two geese to take him south with them. At first they resisted as they could not see how it could be done. The amphibian suggested that the two geese hold a stick in their beaks and that he would hold on to it with his mouth.

So the threesome took off, flying south over the countryside. It was quite a sight. Crowds looked up and expressed great admiration at this demonstration of innovative and effective teamwork.

 Someone shouted, ‘It's wonderful! Who was so clever to discover such a fine way to travel?’ Immediately, the frog opened his mouth and said, ‘It was I,’ and plummeted down to his death.

 So often, we find people clamouring for claiming credit in a team performance. There is no place for ‘I’ in a team. While the idea-creator is important, ideas that are not implemented are of no relevance.

 In team, there are different roles: someone suggests a plan, someone takes it forward and makes it a plan of action, there others who take actions to implement the plan and there yet others who support in lesser or greater ways.

 When ‘I’ takes sole credit, it is unfair to all others who contributed to the successful performance. True leaders share credit with the team. They acknowledge every effort in a fair manner. They use the word ‘We’ instead of ‘I’.

 Share credit, don’t seek sole claim

‘We’ is spot-on, ‘I’ is illusory fame!

 - Pravin K. Sabnis