Long beak of Toucan and your angry boss – a HR message

Do not get scared by looking at the enormously long bill/beak of a Toucan is the message, the nature tells to the corporate.

Bill/beak of the bird toucan accounts for 30-50% of its total body surface. Why a bird should have such a long beak. Interestingly, toucan is largely a fruiting eating bird. This was one of the mind boggling questions to the scientists for several years. Subsequent investigations suggests the possible role of such long bill of toucan in radiating the body heat or in simple sense, thermoregulation.

Unlike the bill of other birds, the bill of toucan is supplied with large capillaries that regulate the blood flow. When body temperature rises, the blood flows to the bill and gets cooled and then flows back.

But still the above findings are only partially accepted. The point is not about why toucan has such long bill. Understand the fact that such long bill of toucan never makes the bird exceedingly and exceptionally dangerous or harmful. None in the ecosystem of toucan has to really worry about the bird because of its long bill.

Many corporate leaders do put up an image that would appear like toucan. They carry boundless anger and impatience with them. They are highly short tempered, irritated and most of the time irritating also. In real sense they are highly scared. Remember such people can be least harmful.

What makes the difference is the fear of people around them. The anger and short temper of such leaders have to be understood like how the ‘bill of a toucan’. The large bill of the bird has a different purpose for the bird. It helps in its survival by radiating the excess heat. Similarly, the anger and short temper of such leaders may be essential for them to protect their own ‘identity’ and ‘respect’. In brief, the anger and short temper of some leaders in corporate is the problem of those leaders and not of others.

If one gets scared by seeing the large bill of toucan, the bird cannot help it or the bird cannot be blamed for. It is the fear and the fear has to be addressed and not the bill.

It may be argued that if anger of the bosses are targeted towards the subordinates, be happy, the boss is extremely scared of you and that is why he or she is throwing their anger at you. Work on what aspect of your behaviour is scaring or fearing your boss and accordingly help the boss to see you as ‘a true friend’.

The subordinates alone can help the situation. The short tempered and angry bosses are like a long billed toucan. Change your leadership style while approaching and understanding such bosses, you can find a way and success too.

Dr S Ranganathan, ClinRise Derma Pvt., Ltd., Chennai