Want More Resourceful Employees? Stop Giving Fish Away!

Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach him how to fish and he’ll eat for the rest of his life.

Rabbits in Africa

I used to think my dad, Fremont, came up with this phrase, but later learned it’s an ancient Chinese proverb. I heard him say it all the time when I was a child growing up on a farm in rural Zaire.

My parents were missionaries, and their purpose was to help develop sustainable ways for local Africans to have good nutrition, a safe water supply, and basic rural healthcare. Fremont introduced rabbits to that part of Africa. Rabbits are high in protein, easy to care for, eat most green stuff, and breed, well…like rabbits. And their waste products are great for gardens. Perfect for a tropical climate! My father helped develop systems for local Africans to raise rabbits in a way that fit into their culture and helped supplement a high-starch, low-protein diet.

Thirty years after he left Zaire, Fremont returned to visit the village where he invested so much. Knowing he had prostate cancer and only a few years to live, he brought back his grown son (my brother) and his adult grandson to reunite and bring closure. Upon arriving at his home village, he saw that raising rabbits was alive and well! Even with some innovations along the way!

A Legacy of Resourcefulness

Fremont was revered by the local elders for the impact he had on their lives. They remembered the way he met them where they were, helped without creating dependence, learned alongside them while preserving dignity, and shared his expertise without being condescending. He left a legacy of resourcefulness.

Resourcefulness is a foundational competency for great leadership because it reinforces capability and fosters problem-solving and innovation. Resourcefulness is one of three Compassion Skills in our Compassionate Accountability framework. Here are some strategies my father used to build Resourcefulness.

Start With What’s Working

Dad didn’t come barging into the little village of Nyanga, Zaire, thinking he had all the answers. He came with humility and awe around their desire to live a better life and improve things for their children. Did he have ideas on how things could be done better? Sure. Did he wonder why things were being done a certain way? Absolutely. Building on success is not about questioning intentions or behavior. It’s about affirming what’s already working and applying it towards what’s next.

Tips for leaders:

• Highlight effort more than results; e.g., “I noticed how hard you’ve been working on this.”
• Assume good intentions; e.g., “I can tell you want to make things better for us.”
• Be gracious with failure; e.g., “That didn’t work, so let’s figure out what to change next time.”
• Don’t do it for them. Be a sounding board, not a solution board.

Approach With Curiosity

Whether in his role as a missionary or during his stint doing international development consulting, I always admired my dad’s curiosity and open-mindedness.

When gathering information about a situation or problem, curiosity is the best approach. Whether researching ideas online, brainstorming solutions to a problem, or doing a post-mortem on a failed initiative, non-judgmental curiosity is paramount to obtaining the best results. It’s the only way people will be inspired to pursue the best options. There is a time to discern, set boundaries, and make choices, and that’s not Resourceful. Resourcefulness is about learning. Learning happens in curious environments when people are receptive.

Tips for leaders:

• Ask open-ended questions while avoiding closed-ended ones. It’s more productive to ask “What ideas do you have?” than “Do you agree with this idea?” In Zairian culture, it was impolite to tell someone “No.” If I were lost and asked a local, “Is this the way to Kanaga?”, he would answer “Yes,” every time.
• Give people time to contribute. You can’t rush it. People need time to think, ponder, reflect, analyze, and share what’s on their minds. Jumping in with your ideas stops creativity and prevents others’ best effort.
• Follow the trail to seek understanding. Curious leaders ask plenty of follow-up questions to better understand an idea or concept. Join in the journey of exploring an idea for all the possibilities; e.g. “If we played that out, what’s next?” or “Let’s follow that line of reasoning and see where it takes us.”
• Quality of ideas trumps ownership. Put your ego aside and help others do the same. Worrying about who gets credit only gets in the way. My dad was thrilled that locals were still raising rabbits. He was more thrilled that they had improved upon the original idea.

Leverage Strengths

Nothing feels better than doing what you are good at. Years ago, when my oldest daughter, Lauren, was in middle school, she participated in a mission trip to help rebuild houses in South Texas that were damaged by tropical storms. She was put on sheetrock duty, with which she had zero previous experience. Not having a clue where to start, she asked the foreman for help. The foreman asked her several questions about high school, including her favorite classes. She mentioned that she loved math, especially algebra and trigonometry. “Sheetrock is all about angles! You’ve got just what it takes!” the foreman told her, and proceeded to show her how to calculate angles and distances on a wall and then re-create the image on a piece of sheetrock. Within a few hours, Lauren was sheet-rockin’ and rollin’!

Great leaders search for the most unlikely skills and successes in a person’s life and find ways to leverage those towards current challenges.

Tips for leaders:

• Learn about your people beyond the most obvious work-related skills. What are their passions, hobbies, and proud accomplishments? Ask questions like, “When have you felt most confident, and why?,” or “What’s something you are good at?”
• Think small, with a big purpose. Breaking a big project down into smaller skill sets and tasks will help you identify how people’s strengths can be used. Then, delegate while emphasizing how important their contribution is; e.g., “I’ve heard you are amazing at creating things with bamboo. Would you see if you could build a bamboo cage to contain a rabbit for 24 hours?”
• Celebrate strategy over individual skills. Strategy is about how we approach a task, not our skill level. Highlighting strategies that others can apply regardless of their skill or experience is a great way to improve the overall performance of a team; e.g., “I really appreciate how you kept trying even when the first few things didn’t work. That kind of perseverance is something we could all benefit from.” or “You ask really good questions. Asking for an outside perspective is a great way to avoid doing the same thing, expecting different results.”

Five Big Benefits When Leaders Develop Resourcefulness

Why develop your Resourcefulness? Here are some real-life outcomes from my dad’s life that might apply to yours.

• Loyalty forged from your people realizing they are more competent, confident, and independent because you helped them, but didn’t do it for them.
• Having more energy because we share the struggle and the joy of accomplishment.
• Greater team cohesiveness and trust.
• The satisfaction of helping others develop self-sufficiency and self-confidence.
• Knowing that the measure of my success isn’t in what I do, but in what I help others do.

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