THE UNDENIABLE LEADERS
COACH FRANK SAGASTA
I read a story several years ago about an eagle and a chicken. They happen to be very good friends. One day they were flying over the beautiful mountains, lakes, and rivers. They came across a farm. The chicken said, to his friend the eagle. Let’s fly down and get a bite to eat. My stomach is hurting and growling. I need food. “This sounds like a good idea and plan to me,” replied the eagle. So, the two birds glided down to earth and saw animals eating. They both decided to join them. The cow was too busy eating to even notice the two birds, but when he did, he said, “Join us and help yourself.”
The two birds sat next to the cow and began to eat. The cow stopped for a moment and said: welcome! Of course, this took the two birds by surprise. Because they were accustomed to fending for themselves. Finding shelter or building shelter together. Scavenging and looking for food. The Eagle stopped eating and asked the cow. Why are you willing to share your food with us?” Asked the eagle. The cow replied because we have plenty to eat here. The farmer gives us all we want.” When they finished, the chicken asked more about the farmer the cow was referring to. The cow began by telling the two birds, “The farmer gives us food. The farmer gives us a place to live.” The two birds were shocked!! They always had to search and work hard for their food and to work hard for shelter.
When it came time to leave, the chicken bag, the eagle to stay. Maybe we should stay here since we have food and an awesome shelter over there next to the barn. The Eagle replied, “ I don’t know about all this free stuff.” The chicken replied, “This is the golden opportunity we have been looking for, and that farmer wants to give it to us.” The Eagle replied, “It sounds too good to be true, my dear friend. I find it hard to believe that you can get something for nothing. The eagle continued by saying, I truly enjoy flying high. I truly enjoy being free in the air and through the trees. I truly enjoy providing and working hard for my food and shelter. It isn’t so bad. I find it quite challenging. It happens to be one of my favorite life lessons, and I believe I was created for it.” So, the eagle departed and went about his natural way. The chicken decided to stay and became dinner the next week. Why? The Eagle could fly and sore high, but when the chicken attempted to fly, he found that he had grown too fat and lazy. Instead of being able to fly, he could only flutter. This made it easy for the farmer to catch him and to enjoy him.
When you give up on the challenge of life and its pursuit of “security,” you may give up your freedom. And if you think you know it all, you are rotten, unteachable, un-coachable, and doomed to continuous failure. Of course, if you’re willing to face challenges and continue training, educating yourself, and studying specific skills, you are rich and of value. Think about it. Imagine an athlete who stops training and starts making mistakes and excuses. They won’t make a legacy for themselves. Now, I apologize for not remembering the author of the story above, but I do remember the author behind this story below.
This story of the frog and the scorpion is one that I have shared with my students for the past ten years. I first heard this story told by the late, great Jim Rohn way back in 2010. This was my first run-in with professional development. My kids have listened to Mr. Rohn for years. I have had the opportunity of listening to Mr. Rohn for fifteen years now and I’m still learning.
For those unfamiliar with Jim Rohn, he has been and still is the mentor to tens of thousands of business people. One of his most famous students is Anthony Robbins, who also worked for Jim Rohn. 75% of what Robbins teaches is what he picked up from Jim Rohn. I would recommend you write it down to share with those you care about or for those you love. Anyway here is the story of the frog and the scorpion as Jim Rohn told it: One morning a frog was about to cross over a pond to the other side of the lake. Standing several feet away is a scorpion. The scorpion seeing that the frog is about to swim across the lake shouts; “Hey, Mr. Frog. Can I ask you for a favor?”
The frog looks over, nervously and knows full well that scorpions are the enemy of frogs and responds; “What could you possibly want with me?”
The Scorpion responds; “I see you are about to cross over the lake. I too would like to get over to the other side but as you probably know, scorpions can’t swim. Would you be so kind as to allow me to hop on your back and I could cross over with you?”
The frog just laughs and says; “Are you crazy? Everybody knows that scorpions sting frogs. If I let you on my back, you will sting me and I’ll die?”
The scorpion responds; “No Mr. Frog. You are not thinking with your little frog brain. If I sting you, yes you will die but then so will I. Why would I do that?”
The frog thinks and says,
“Yeah, that makes sense. Scorpions are ruthless but that would be stupid. Ok. Come on over and hop on my back. I’ll carry you with me.”
So, the scorpion jumps on the frog's back while the frog swims across the lake. The scorpion is making conversation with the frog and the frog is impressed at what a nice guy this scorpion is. He then apologizes to the scorpion for being so rude to him. But then as soon as they get halfway across the pond, the scorpion stings the frog! The frog is amazed. He can’t believe it.
“Why did you do that to me. I’m going to die but so are you.” “Because Mr. Frog, I am a scorpion, and scorpions sting frogs. That will never change.”
So, the lessons and stories both apply to leadership. It is the ability to bring out someone’s potential, but you cannot change their inner personalities unless, of course, they want to change. So, beware of the scorpions and learn not to be the chicken or people like that.
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