This is another in a running series by Glenn Van Ekeren on life lessons, leadership skills, and personal growth, exclusive to the Park Place Live community.

Our local newspaper printed an interesting article titled, “All Work, No Feasting: Cormorants are Chinese Fisherman’s Friends.”

The Chinese fisherman sets out in his rowboat with four to six sleek, oily-feathered, foxily fast cormorant birds. Thin lengths of twine in a ring are placed around the cormorant’s necks. The nooses ensure that try as they might the birds are unable to swallow the fish (except for the very small ones).

The birds and the men find a promising spot, and everyone is set to go to work. The cackling cormorants are released to do their work. The birds swim around the boat looking for their prey and then in flash make a dive and catch the fish in its beak. The ring prevents the larger fish from being swallowed. The fisherman allows the bird to eat the little fish that slip through the ring, but the larger fish are the fisherman’s to keep. The cormorant quickly dives again for another catch.

Over and over the cormorant dives, catches a fish, surfaces, has the fish taken from its mouth, and goes back into the water to repeat the process. Their industriousness and precise fishing skills make the well-trained cormorants extremely valuable to the Chinese fisherman.

Small Rewards?

How many skilled, well-trained team members set out to do their best every day and are rewarded with only the smallest catch? The “big fish” (fun, significant, priority stuff) are reserved for the leader to enjoy while the “little successes” provide a token reinforcement to keep people satisfied.

Avoid “dumpagating” or “relegating” undesirable tasks, projects, or minuscule assignments. Take the ring off people’s necks and allow them to experience the big catch. Leaders create the opportunity for people to perform at the highest level.

Keep in mind: You cannot be responsible for people’s success. However, the leader is responsible to people. The responsibility for success (or failure, for that matter) lies within each person. But leaders create the conditions for people to succeed. . . or at least improve the opportunity to succeed.

Years ago, Peter Drucker declared, “The purpose of an organization is to enable common men to do uncommon things." His thought is as pertinent today as it was then.

Creating opportunities for success is not about the things you do to and for people. It’s removing the barriers, impediments, and obstacles that currently restrict success.

Allow people to spread their wings, take some risks, and experience the incredible satisfaction of seeing their efforts result in significant accomplishments.

Questions to Ponder:

What undesirable tasks have I dumped lately?

How can I increase the opportunities for people to experience personal success?