Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, Jr., who acted as commander of allied forces during Operation Desert Storm, tells the story of teaching one of his promising lieutenants a lesson in leadership.

The lieutenant, a recent graduate of West Point, was talking about the advanced technology of the United States military when Schwarzkopf invited him to accompany him outside.

Not knowing what to expect or where they were going, the lieutenant followed his leader. Schwarzkopf walked up to one of the newest Air Force fighter jets and told the young man to command the jet to fly. Of course, nothing happened. Schwarzkopf and the young man then walked over to a tank and Schwarzkopf told the young man o command the tank to move. When nothing happened, General Schwarzkopf commanded the young man to give the order again.

Schwarzkopf asked his half-astonished and half-amused companion, "What did you learn?"

The lieutenant gulped, "I don't know, sir."

Schwarzkopf said, "It doesn't matter how sophisticated our weaponry, people fly planes and people drive tanks."

In spite of our amazing technological advances, the work of an organization is accomplished by people. It is people who interface with the customer, make the product, deliver the service, plan and coordinate how work gets done, improve processes and systems, ensure quality standards, and return a profit. Technology has provided us with better tools, but it is still people who do the work of any organization and are ultimately responsible for its success.

What does this mean about the importance of our relationships? What does it mean with regard to our need and ability to collaborate? What does this mean about the importance of trust?

Rex Houze, president of Better Performance and Results, affirms people are not only the means whereby an organization accomplishes its purposes, but people are also interdependent. No one works in isolation. Each of us depends upon others for our success.

Most people have more training and reinforcement for practicing management rather than leadership skills. There is a higher value on preserving the status quo than initiating change; on solving problems than developing human resources, on meeting short term results than developing long range strategy; on giving directives rather than building commitment.

However, today, we need both kinds of skills.

The challenges of each are different. The challenge of leadership, of course, is working with the complexity of human beings. Darned if people don't come with emotions. Darned if they don't have their own free will. Darned if they aren't hard to predict.

Before we can even begin to lead others, we must be able to understand, motivate and lead ourselves. At the root of any success we wish to gain in life or at work, we need a plan of action -- a personal plan that only we can develop and execute. Every minute we spend in planning will save at least twice that much time in execution.

There is an interesting and often misunderstood fact about personal productivity. With only minor changes in behavior, we can produce an amazing increase in our results. It is not necessary to double our knowledge, hours on the job, or personal skills in order to double our results. It is easy to understand the principles of the "slight edge" from examples in sports.

A professional baseball player with a .300 batting average often commands a salary many times that of a player who hits .250. Yet the difference between the two is only one additional hit every twenty times at bat.

On the men's PGA Professional Golf Tour, the difference between the top money maker and the next 50 players is less than one stroke, on average, per 18 holes. Yet the top guy makes millions of dollars more annually than his closest rival.

We could argue that professional athletes are extraordinarily gifted individuals with very special talents, and no one would disagree. However, the most important question is whether you have just a little bit of room to improve your personal effectiveness, thereby dramatically improving your business results. Never forget that poor work habits are a major reason why managers and professionals fail to capitalize on their true potential.

Commit to strive endlessly for those "slight edge" improvements that will maximize your business results, personal satisfaction, and the overall quality of your life. It starts and ends with you and your people.

So, are you relying only on your technology or on your leadership skills?

Just as Schwarzkopf pointed out to his lieutenant -- it's always about people.

How well are you and your people relating to each other?

Happy leading.

Lucy Ivins, STAR Leadership Associates, coaches organizations to a higher level of performance and success. She writes from her resident office in Pahrump.