Manager Efficiency and Killing the Dragon
In an article about work efficiency of managers in the Swiss-German newspaper “Der Bund“, Heike Bruch, professor of Leadership and Human Resources Management at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, stated that their research has shown: “Normally a manager just works seven minutes running.” Only one out of ten managers has enough energy and focus to do effective work.
Often when difficult decisions have to be made they tend to do substitute acts. Many lose themselves in daily business and as a consequence their focus is suffering. They entertain many interactions with co-workers and customers instead of concentrating on long-term or strategic tasks. They prefer working like fire extinguishers. Although they often have the choice of setting their priorities, many find it difficult to do so. The very efficient ones mostly show a predilection for one or two projects on which they focus with all their will-power and leave other things aside.
At St. Gallen university they have done energy profiling for different sections or whole enterprises: There is a direct correlation between the measured energy level in an enterprise and its economic success. When the energy level is very low, a short term strategy is “killing the dragon”, basing on the fact that an external menace releases energies. If an enterprise is in a crises, the heads do well to show to the employees how serious the situation is. If all are pulling into the same direction, a turnaround can come about. But “killing the dragon” doesn’t work as a long-term strategy. For this leadership and innovation are needed on all levels, not only at the top.
Killing the Dragon – Scene on the wall of the Münster at Basel, Switzerland.
In spirituality the dragon is a symbol of wisdom or energy enchained in matter. Killing the dragon means, overcoming the conditioning of personality to get back into contact with the soul. From there the energy will flow in. Through a re-alignment of our lives towards higher goals we get energy and inspiration. In management language this is taking to the “leadership” of the soul and the “innovation” of a re-oriented direction of life. As per the symbol of the dragon see the Lunar Messenger on “The Mystery of the Serpent“.
The problem of not being able to focus on one thing for a longer time or getting lost in daily business has to do with an overactive mind. It is an experience that people used to regularly exposing themselves daily to periods of silence by meditating calm down the “overdrive” of mental activity.
