Seriously, Greg? Manure Mindset? That’s what you’re going with for this post?
I know. I know. It’s not the most pleasing mental image. But, there’s some valuable wisdom in this livestock leadership lesson.
And, honestly it seemed far more appropriate than other options I considered.
So, stick with me to learn why a manure mindset can make you a better leader.
Some definitions – manure and manger
Before we start, I want to go over a couple of definitions. I realize manure and manger may not be common words in your vocabulary.
I’m a small town guy
I didn’t grow up living on a farm, but when I was a kid, farming was an important part of my tiny Kansas hometown.
My mom’s parents had a small farm out in the country near us and I spent a lot of time there.
So I’m familiar with livestock.
My grandparents had cows, horses, pigs, and chickens. They even had a couple of peacocks.
At the risk of completely distracting myself, I’ll tell you this. Peacocks are very cool birds. And, they are beautiful.
If you are ever around a peacock, here’s a warning for you. They will chase you and peck you on the head if you mess with them.
Just ask my cousin if you don’t believe me. But that is a story for another post.
Sorry to digress about peacocks, but they are fascinating.
Back to the manure mindset.
What is manure?
With all those animals on the farm, there was a lot of manure. I don’t know if that’s a familiar word for everyone so let’s get clear on the definition.
Here’s how Dictionary.com defines manure.
Noun: excrement, especially of animals, or other refuse used as fertilizer.
Dictionary.com
Get the picture?
Manure is poop. Animal poop.
Obviously, manure mindset has much better alliteration than poop mindset.
Now you’re probably really wondering how you can be a better leader with a poop, I mean manure mindset.
I’m getting their. Be patient with me.
Let me give you one more definition first.
What is a manger?
Sorry again, but I can’t help myself from chasing yet another distraction.
Here’s a tip when you’re creating your resume or LinkedIn profile. If you’re a “manager” make sure you don’t accidentally type “manger”.
Both are words. But, they are not interchangeable.
I’ve seen that misspelling more times than I can remember.
Now, back to the manger.
This is a question that gets a lot of attention during the Christmas season. Is a manger a feeding trough for the animals or the larger area where the animals are kept?
For this discussion, I’m going with the second description.
A manger is like a stable or a part of a barn. Picture farm animals standing in an area with a bunch of hay or straw on the ground.
And, the hay or straw has a lot of. You guessed it. Manure mixed in with it.
Gross, right?
Why did I bring up the term manger?
So, I could introduce you to one of my all time favorite proverbs and get to the heart of the manure mindset.
A proverb that is as real as it gets
I don’t know what your views are on spirituality and God are. I’m a Christian and I love the Bible and the message of hope it contains.
We may have different worldviews and beliefs, but I’m confident we can find common ground on at least one proverb from the Bible.
Here it is.
Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean; But much revenue comes by the strength of the ox.
Proverbs 14:4 in the Bible (New American Standard translation)
I just love this verse.
When I first read it, I remember thinking, “Is that verse saying what I think it’s saying?”.
Turns out, according to my pastor friend, it is.
Choices and consequences
Back when this proverb was written, oxen were the machines used to work the fields. Revenue came from the crops. So, if you wanted to have a lot of crops, i.e. revenue, you needed strong oxen.
And, if you had oxen, you were going to have manure in your manger.
Stinky, gross manure. And probably a lot of it.
But, the readers of the proverb had a choice.
They didn’t have to have a manger full of manure. They could have a nice clean manger without the stink and mess of the oxen excrement.
All they needed to do was get rid of their oxen.
But with that choice came a serious consequence.
If they didn’t have oxen, they were also not going to have the ability to work the fields in the same way and bring in large harvests.
Of course with no oxen, they would have no manure.
But, by removing the manure producing livestock, they would almost get rid of their source of revenue.
Simple logic. Simple choices.
So how do we apply this proverb today as we lead our teams?
I suggest developing what I’m calling a manure mindset through these three actions.
Three actions to lead with a manure mindset
This is a simple and powerful proverb and we can apply it to be better leaders with three simple steps.
1. Identify your oxen
You likely aren’t a farmer planting and harvesting crops using oxen. But, you and your team are delivering results. And if you’re an owner or an employee of a company, you are also producing revenue just as the proverb says.
Take a moment to consider what resources are involved with generating the results you achieve.
In other words, identify your oxen.
I expect the people you lead on your teams are your oxen (in a good way). They are the ones you partner with to accomplish your collective goals.
You may also have equipment and machinery. Perhaps you run a small business and have a fleet of trucks. If those trucks aren’t running, you and your team aren’t producing revenue.
Computer software may be your oxen. The work you do depends on programs that function properly and do the job they were designed to to do. And, software needs hardware to run on to be effective.
Modern day oxen come in these forms and many others.
Who or what do you need to deliver results?
I encourage you to stop reading for just a minute or two. Get a piece of paper and a pen and make a list of your oxen.
Got your list done?
When you do, let’s go to the next step in developing a manure mindset.
2. Identify the manure
Now that you have your oxen equivalents written down, I want you to be as real and practical as the proverb.
Write down the manure those oxen produce.
On your list of oxen, write down the manure that comes with each one of those results-producing resources.
And, don’t waste time acting like those valuable resources don’t produce manure.
All oxen produce manure
Oxen produce manure. They drop nasty stuff that ruins a clean stable. Not only do they do that, but then they step in it and spread it around. They make the mess worse.
The same can be said of the resources you listed as critical to your success.
Each of those valuable assets brings with it, things that stink. They mess up your clean manger and cause you and others to do more work.
People are messy. Relationships are hard. The manure produced by people on teams is abundant.
If you’ve been on a team for any time at all, you know that’s true.
Even non-living oxen produce manure
The same is true for equipment. Something is always breaking and needs to be fixed.
You and your crew are just about to jump in the truck to head to the job site. And, what do you find to start your day?
A flat tire on the trailer. Or the truck won’t start.
The equipment that allows you and your team to get work done also has all sorts of manure that comes with it.
And, the computer hardware and software we all rely upon these days. It seems to introduce new and innovative forms of manure with each upgrade.
The manure of our modern-day oxen are the things that annoy us, cause us more work, create messes for us to clean up, and just flat stink.
There is no way to avoid the reality that as leaders, we will have to deal with manure.
By first identifying our valuable oxen then honestly listing the unpleasant manure they produce, we have completed the first two steps to have a manure mindset.
But, the key step to being a successful leader with a manure mindset is the third action.
3. Choose what you value
Let’s go back to the proverb.
The proverb lays out a simple choice for the reader. We have the same choice before us as leaders today.
We need to ask ourselves this question.
Do I want a clean manger or oxen and the benefits the oxen bring?
We may not want it to be true, but we can’t have both.
If we truly value a clean manger, we can have that.
We can fire everyone on our team or leave a position that requires us to work with people. Selling the equipment we use to run our business is an option. Pulling the plug on our computers and never turning them on again is a decision we can make.
But, is the clean manger these choices would bring what we really want?
Or, are we willing to deal with the inevitable manure of our oxen?
Do we value the results that come with the people we work with and the equipment we need to do our job?
The question I find I need to ask myself often as a leader is this.
What do I truly value?
When I honestly answer that question, I have taken the last step to have a manure mindset and be a better leader.
Manure is still manure
Well, I made that sound simple didn’t I?
Three easy steps and we’re ready to lead with this clever little manure mindset idea.
The problem with manure though is it’s still manure.
Acknowledging that it’s produced by the oxen that bring us great results doesn’t make it stink any less.
The manure we encounter as leaders is not pleasant to deal with. Especially when we’re dealing with people, it can be particular gross.
We don’t want to be anywhere near it. The baggage and challenges we each have and continually produce can turn our stomachs.
But, this is part of the human condition.
Just like all oxen produce manure and make mangers dirty, every person has issues.
Admitting this reality and dealing with it head on will give us greater empathy and make us kinder leaders.
The key to confident leadership is not just knowing we are going to be faced with much manure in our mangers. Knowing what’s coming helps.
But, we also need to discipline ourselves in how we think about and deal with the manure.
This is why the word mindset must be paired with the word manure.
A manure mindset is a mature mindset
Because we know our oxen are going to produce manure, we can train our minds to react in a beneficial way to serve our team.
Options for an immature leader
As an immature leader, when the manure starts to pile up, we may choose to ignore it.
Or, we can act like we’re surprised when things go wrong.
Another options is to complain and whine about the difficulty the various manure manifestations introduce to our project.
These are all natural reactions we have to fight against as we mature as leaders.
Better options as we mature
With practice we can get better at anticipating the challenges our beloved oxen will naturally produce.
We can have a mature mindset of readiness grounded in reality.
Then when we are gagging in a foul smelling manger as we wade through the manure piles produced by our oxen, we will have the right mindset.
We will remember the great value of our teams, our equipment, and our tools bring.
Will our oxen produce unpleasant manure at times? Manure that messes up our neat and tidy manger of a project?
They sure will.
But, they will also produce much revenue and abundant results.
So, as leaders we can choose the easy option, a clean manger.
Or we can embrace a manure mindset knowing the oxen and the manure they produce will allow us to do great things with our teams.
Of course, I recommend the manure mindset, the mindset of a mature leader.
Let’s lead with kindness and confidence.
Greg
Discussion Questions
- Who or what are your most valuable oxen?
- What types of manure do your oxen produce?
I’m interested to know if this concept resonated with you. Please share your experiences in the comments section so we can learn together.
