THE WAY OF THE SHEPHERD - 7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People By Dr. Kevin Leman & William Pentak

1. PRINCIPLE OF THE WAY
OF THE SHEPHERD
A perspective on the
art of leadership

2. LEADERSHIP
Every journey starts
with a first step…
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. – Lao Tzu

3. 7 ANCIENT SECRETS TO
MANAGING PEOPLE
1. Know the Condition of Your Flock
2. Discover the Shape of Your Sheep
3. Help Your Sheep Identify with You
4. Make Your Pasture a Safe Place
5. The Staff of Direction
6. The Rod of Correction
7. The Heart of the Shepherd

4. 1. KNOW THE CONDITION OF
YOUR FLOCK
• Follow the status of your people as well as the status of the
work.
• Get to know your flock, one sheep at a time.
• Engage your people on a regular basis.
• Keep your eyes and ears open, question, and follow through.

5. 2. DISCOVER THE SHAPE OF
YOUR SHEEP
• Your choice of sheep can make flock management easier or
harder.
• Start with healthy sheep, or you’ll inherit someone else’s
problems.
• Know the S.H.A.P.E. of your sheep to make sure they’re in
the right fold.

6. ABOUT S.H.A.P.E
S – Strengths
Understand the strengths of the people on your team, or the
people who are about to join it.
H - Heart
While the strengths reflect one’s abilities, the heart reflects
one’s passion. Put people in areas that reflect their passions.
A – Attitude
People with a good attitude are usually team players. They
usually have a teachable spirit. People with negative attitudes
tend to be lone rangers. You can’t teach them a thing.

7. ABOUT S.H.A.P.E
P – Personality
Each one has been hardwired with distinct personality. Put the
person in a position that reflects his or her personality.
E – Experience
Each person you meet is a product of their life experiences.
Often the key to understanding an individual and the key to
knowing where to place him or her on your team is to learn
something about the person’s various experiences.

8. 3. HELP YOUR SHEEP
IDENTIFY WITH YOU
• Build trust with your followers by modeling authenticity,
integrity, and compassion.
• Set high standards of performance.
• Relentlessly communicate your values and sense of mission.
• Define the cause for your people and tell them where they fit
in.
• Remember that great leadership isn’t just professional; it’s
personal.

9. 4. MAKE YOUR PASTURE A
SAFE PLACE
• Keep your people well informed.
• Infuse every position with importance.
• Cull chronic instigators from the flock.
• Regularly rotate the sheep to fresh pastures.
• Reassure the sheep by staying visible.
• Don’t give problems time to fester.

10. 5. THE STAFF OF DIRECTION
• Know where you’re going, get out in front, and keep your
flock on the move.
• When directing, use persuasion rather than coercion.
• Give your people freedom of movement, but make sure they
know where the fence line is. Don’t confuse boundaries with
bridles!.
• When your people get in trouble, go and get them out.
• Remind your people that failure isn’t fatal.

11. 6. THE ROD OF CORRECTION
• Protect: Stand in the gap and fight for your sheep.
• Correct: Approach discipline as a teaching opportunity.
• Inspect: Regularly inquire about your people’s progress.

12. 7. THE HEART OF THE
SHEPHERD
• Great leadership is a lifestyle, not a technique.
• Every day you have to decide who’s going to pay for your
leadership - you or your people.
• Most of all, have a heart for your sheep.

13. COST OF LEADERSHIP
A leadership comes with a high price tag for the leader.
COST:
YOUR TIME,
YOUR COMMITMENT,
YOUR INVOLVEMENT AND PERSONAL ENERGY
Great leadership is hard work. More than that, it’s unrelenting.
Those who do it well do so because they are willing to pay
the price.
What distinguishes a great leader from a mediocre one is that
a great leader has heart for his people.
Great leadership comes at a price that too few are willing to pay.

14. REWARD
The greatest reward will be your
personal accomplishment

15. THE STORY BEHIND
Theodore McBride, CEO of General Technologies,
a Texas based organization, shares the lessons he
learned as a young MBA student from his mentor –
an eccentric yet brilliant professor, Jack Neumann.
Through a series of safe and supportive mentoring sessions, most
of which revolve around Jack’s small flock of prized sheep, Dr.
Neumann helps Ted explore the secrets of becoming an effective
shepherd-leader in his new position as a supervisor of nine
employees at General Technologies. Over the course of seven
weeks, Jack assists Ted in coming to understand seven ancient
principles of shepherding a flock of sheep, as well as people;
management principles that are ancient in origin but which are
nevertheless very applicable in today’s fast-paced world.

16. “Knowing yourself and knowing other selves gives you a
light to the right approach to handling people. Then, treat
others in the same ways you want others to treat you. To
leave a desirable legacy, to have a true influence, and to
build a lasting positive image others are attracted to, never
stop to model and remodel yourself, so that others want to
work for and will deeply fall in love with your vision,
thoughts, behaviors, personality traits, and attitudes.”
~ Chheng Kimlong
“To forever win, and not to ever lose, never fight and
compete against others, but fight and compete against
yourself. Disregard this and you will lose not a single
battle, but many.” ~ Chheng Kimlong

17. CALL TO ACTION
• Get out of the office, interact with the people on your
team.
• Get to know what is important to them as people, not just
workers.
• Remember that it is the people who get all the work done;
they’re your greatest competitive advantage.
• Treat each person as an individual,
not just a member of the team.
• Engage with the people on the team
on a regular basis.
Are you shepherding your people or are you
just managing them?

19. Thank you very much for your attention
- 終り -
Source: THE WAY OF THE SHEPHERD
7 Ancient Secrets to Managing Productive People
Dr. Kevin Leman & William Pentak