ABSTRACT
The training and development world is full of talk about personal effectiveness. A quick scan through the literature suggests that the concept as we recognize it has its roots in the goal-oriented behaviour classic How to Win Friends and Influence People (Carnegie, 2006), which was first published in the 1930s. But Kipling’s poem, If, written in 1895 and first published 15 years later, expresses many of exactly the same concepts. By detailing a range of concrete behaviours, Kipling describes many of the qualities we as facilitators would often want to focus upon in personal effectiveness interventions:
Calm, clear-headedness, self-awareness, receptiveness to feedback, patience, integrity, vision, focus, resilience, courage, discretion, perseverance, flexibility, articulateness, respect, self-reliance, time management…
So how is it possible to create an experiential intervention designed to enable people to become such paragons? I have run many sessions under the ‘personal effectiveness’ banner, both alone and with colleagues, and my answer to this question is simple: you can’t. It might be just as reasonable to create a session on ‘becoming splendid’. A beguiling title perhaps, but an unrealistic ambition for an afternoon course.
