Seven Survival Skills of the Serengeti

Presented byMarea Herrington, Consulting Manager

Postlethwaite & Netterville

Surviving Your Serengeti

• The Serengeti is a natural refuge in East Africa spanning 12,000 square miles.

• Extends into two countries: Tanzania and Kenya

• Largest mammal migration in the world (Wildebeest)

• The Serengeti has a dry climate but enjoys two rainy seasons a year.

Survival Skills of the Animals

• It is home to a variety of animals, each of which has to fight for survival in the harsh, dry landscape of East Africa.

• Each species has to rely on its core survival skill if it is to flourish and avoid extinction.

• Each animal on the Serengeti has a fighting spirit- what makes us get back up when we are down.

Survival Skills of the Animals

• As professionals, we have two directions that can be taken when we face our own Serengeti:– Create barriers for ourselves and our team;

this is often unconscious and rooted in that’s how we have always done things mentality

– Find the strength to resolve the issues that we face; this takes new thought process, new insight and deeper commitment

Survival Skills of the Animals

Animals of the Serengeti:

Wildebeest: EnduranceLion: Strategy

Crocodile: Entrepreneurial Cheetah: Efficiency

Giraffe: GraceMongoose: Risk-Taking

Elephant: Communication

Finding Balance with the Seven Skills

• Your unique skill is the one to which you would default if you lived in the Serengeti.

• Surviving your own Serengeti requires you to identify and use your dominant skill to its fullest potential.

• You may have a secondary skill that you can also develop or maximize.

Finding Balance with the Seven Skills

• Companies create teams that comprise people of differing ability.

• Integration of multiple qualities and abilities, adapting and learning, make for successful companies.

• It is our duty to be both mentored and to be a mentor; we must help our teams strive to develop their unique skills for collective success.

Finding Balance with the Seven Skills

• Use the core skills to the best use• Mitigate the weaknesses by

capitalizing on the strengths of others• Help our teams understand what they

bring to the table and how best to use that skill

• Move from an independent manager to one that is interdependent on the team

Maximizing People

• You have been asked to set up a new process, one that is complex and has a short deadline. What kind of core skill set would you use?

• You have been asked to negotiate with a client that has been difficult to work with. What kind of core skill set is best to use?

Maximizing People

• You know that you will have to deliver difficult feedback for a performance review. What skill set(s) can you utilize?

• You have been engaged for a short term project that will require long hours for completion by the requested date. What skill set(s) can you employ?

“Success is rarely an accidentally discovered treasure; rather, it’s the result of following a pre-determined set of steps by utilizing a combination of various skills.” –Surviving Your Serengeti