Other people want to empty their bucket into yours and make you carry it. The goal here is to keep their bucket balanced on their head and walking alongside you, sharing the load. Remember, your bucket is already full and if you try to carry it and theirs, you will get tired and forget where you are going in the first place.

You must also dodge those that would try to knock your bucket off your head, slow you down or even stop you c

I was having lunch with my good friend Pete, and we were talking about different life situations, management and people we know. Afterwards I started thinking about how we all walk around carrying our own burdens. Some are more than others.

I likened it to balancing a bucket of water on your head while you are walking down a path. Some paths are rocky, some are smooth.

In some countries this is the only way goods are moved between far flung villages. We all have seen pictures of people walking with large loads precariously balanced. Step by step they walk along their path until they reach their destination.

Management is like that. When you arrive at work everyday, you place a large bucket filled with water on top of your head and begin walking down the path. (I tried to mentally fill it with beer, however, I kept stopping for a drink and well, you know, nothing got done). Here is where it gets tricky.

Throughout the day, people are coming by and either pouring some more water into your bucket or getting a drink. (See why it can’t be beer) And other people you see want you to carry their bucket, while others are just plain trying to knock your bucket off your head. Your goal is to stay on the path and keep your bucket full.

Now I say full for a reason. You can’t have an empty bucket at the end of the day. If your bucket is empty when you come in the next day, you will not have any reason to pick it up and start walking. Other people will see this and put down their buckets and stand around waiting for something to happen.

Throughout the day, your goal is to give those that need a drink enough to quench their thirst and encourage them to find their own well and fill their own bucket. Then they need to pick up and balance that bucket.

Other people want to empty their bucket into yours and make you carry it. The goal here is to keep their bucket balanced on their head and walking alongside you, sharing the load. Remember, your bucket is already full and if you try to carry it and theirs, you will get tired and forget where you are going in the first place.

You must also dodge those that would try to knock your bucket off your head, slow you down or even stop you co

r flung villages. We all have seen pictures of people walking with large loads precariously balanced. Step by step they walk along their path until they reach their destination.

Management is like that. When you arrive at work everyday, you place a large bucket filled with water on top of your head and begin walking down the path. (I tried to mentally fill it with beer, however, I kept stopping for a drink and well, you know, nothing got done). Here is where it gets tricky.

Throughout the day, people are coming by and either pouring some more water into your bucket or getting a drink. (See why it can’t be beer) And other people you see want you to carry their bucket, while others are just plain trying to knock your bucket off your head. Your goal is to stay on the path and keep your bucket full.

Now I say full for a reason. You can’t have an empty bucket at the end of the day. If your bucket is empty when you come in the next day, you will not have any reason to pick it up and start walking. Other people will see this and put down their buckets and stand around waiting for something to happen.

Throughout the day, your goal is to give those that need a drink enough to quench their thirst and encourage them to find their own well and fill their own bucket. Then they need to pick up and balance that bucket.

Other people want to empty their bucket into yours and make you carry it. The goal here is to keep their bucket balanced on their head and walking alongside you, sharing the load. Remember, your bucket is already full and if you try to carry it and theirs, you will get tired and forget where you are going in the first place.

You must also dodge those that would try to knock your bucket off your head, slow you down or even stop you c

ne). Here is where it gets tricky.

Throughout the day, people are coming by and either pouring some more water into your bucket or getting a drink. (See why it can’t be beer) And other people you see want you to carry their bucket, while others are just plain trying to knock your bucket off your head. Your goal is to stay on the path and keep your bucket full.

Now I say full for a reason. You can’t have an empty bucket at the end of the day. If your bucket is empty when you come in the next day, you will not have any reason to pick it up and start walking. Other people will see this and put down their buckets and stand around waiting for something to happen.

Throughout the day, your goal is to give those that need a drink enough to quench their thirst and encourage them to find their own well and fill their own bucket. Then they need to pick up and balance that bucket.

Other people want to empty their bucket into yours and make you carry it. The goal here is to keep their bucket balanced on their head and walking alongside you, sharing the load. Remember, your bucket is already full and if you try to carry it and theirs, you will get tired and forget where you are going in the first place.

You must also dodge those that would try to knock your bucket off your head, slow you down or even stop you c

the day. If your bucket is empty when you come in the next day, you will not have any reason to pick it up and start walking. Other people will see this and put down their buckets and stand around waiting for something to happen.

Throughout the day, your goal is to give those that need a drink enough to quench their thirst and encourage them to find their own well and fill their own bucket. Then they need to pick up and balance that bucket.

Other people want to empty their bucket into yours and make you carry it. The goal here is to keep their bucket balanced on their head and walking alongside you, sharing the load. Remember, your bucket is already full and if you try to carry it and theirs, you will get tired and forget where you are going in the first place.

You must also dodge those that would try to knock your bucket off your head, slow you down or even stop you c

Other people want to empty their bucket into yours and make you carry it. The goal here is to keep their bucket balanced on their head and walking alongside you, sharing the load. Remember, your bucket is already full and if you try to carry it and theirs, you will get tired and forget where you are going in the first place.

You must also dodge those that would try to knock your bucket off your head, slow you down or even stop you completely. They do this by stalling, building roadblocks or setting off smoke screens. (It’s beginning to sound like a video game now isn’t it?) These people take delight in keeping you from your goals, basically because they have none of their own. They are not carrying anything. They do not have any intention of helping share the load or walking the same path. Do you have people like that in your organization?

They need a bucket.

If you have personnel walking around without carrying something (sharing the load), ask them to grab a bucket and walk the path with you. If they do not want to walk alongside you, ask them to find a new path.

One other thought. Some of you are balancing HUGE buckets on your head. If your bucket is the same as or wider than the path you are walking, you need to find a more manageable bucket my friend.

What good is a large bucket if you can’t give someone a drink for fear of tipping it over and spilling all of the contents on the ground? And what good are you to anyone else if your bucket is so large that you can’t move forward or backwards, can’t set it down and you are blocking the path?

So as you travel on your road today, look around at the buckets we are all balancing as we walk along. Keep it full, keep your feet moving and don’t carry too big of a bucket.