Who was Judy Garland?

Garland was an acclaimed performer whose personal resilience made her an enduring cultural figure.

“Always be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.” — Judy Garland

As managers, we spend a lot of our development budget trying to replicate what works. Send them on the course their top performer did. Model the behaviour of whoever’s succeeding right now.

Judy Garland’s line is a useful check on that instinct. Copying a first-rate performer doesn’t make someone first-rate — it just makes them a second-rate copy. The best people on your team probably aren’t the ones who followed the template closest. They’re the ones who took the capability and made it theirs.

So here’s the question we’re asking our community this week:

As a manager, are you developing your people to become better versions of themselves — or better versions of you?

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We would love to hear your answer in the comments.

If you have any Learning & Development quotes you’d like to share, please send them to enquiries@flmtraining.com.au.

Our Sponsors:

The Australian Learning & Development Network’s events and resources are available free of charge to our members due to the generous support of our sponsors. As such, if you’re looking for any externally provided capability development services, we kindly ask that you contact them to discuss your needs.

• Frontline Management Training Australia – Purpose-Built Leadership and Management Training for Frontline Managers and Staff
• Australian Public Sector Training – Leadership and Management Training Specifically for People Working in Public Sector Organisations
• Executive Development Australia – Inspiring Executive Excellence