A
LION AMONG SHEEP
There was once a farmer who lived in this village and
also was a harder of sheep. One day, he took his sheep out to pasture, and
while they were grazing, he suddenly heard a strange noise coming from a patch
of grass, which first sounded like a kitten. Led by curiosity, the old shepherd
went to see what was the source of this insistent sound, and to his surprise,
he found alone shivering lion cub, obviously separated from his family. His
first thought was the danger he would be in if he stayed too close to the cub
and his parents returned. So the old man quickly left the area and watched from
a distance to see if the mother lion or the pack would return. However, after
the sun began to set, and there was still no activity to secure the lion cub,
the shepherd decided that, in his best judgment, and for the safety and survival
of the lion cub, he would take him to his farmhouse and care for him.
THE
LION HAD BECOME A SHEEP
BY
ASSOCIATION
Over the next eight months, the shepherd hand-fed the cub
with fresh milk and kept him warm, safe, and secure in the protective confines
of the farmhouse. After the cub had grown into a playful, energetic ball of
shiny muscle, he would take him out daily with the sheep to graze. The lion
grew with the sheep and became a part of the herd. They accepted him as one of
their own, and he acted like one of them. After fifteen months had passed, the
little cub had become an adolescent lion, but he acted, sounded, responded, and
behaved just like one of the sheep. In essence, the lion had become a sheep by
association. He had lost himself and become one of them.
One hot day, four years later, the shepherd sat on a
rock, taking refuge in the slight shade of a leafless tree. He watched over his
flock as they waded into quiet, flowing water of a river to drink. The lion who
thought he was a sheep followed them in to the water to drink. Suddenly, just
across the river, there appeared out of the thick jungle bush a large beast
that the lion cub had never seen before. The sheep panicked and, as if under
the spell of some survival instinct, leaped out of the water and dashed toward
the direction of the farm. They never stopped until they were all safely
huddled behind the fence of the pen. Strangely, the lion cub, who was now a
grown lion, was also huddled with them, stricken with fear.
While the flock scrambled for the safety of the farm, the
beast made a sound that seemed to shake the forest. When he lifted his head
above the tall grass, the shepherd could see that he held in his blood-drenched
mouth the lifeless body of a lamb from the flock. The man knew that danger had
returned to his part of the forest.
Seven days passed without further incident, and then,
while the flock grazed, the young lion went down to the river to drink. As he
bent over the water, he suddenly panicked and ran wildly toward the farmhouse
for safety. The sheep did not run and wondered why he had, while the lion
wondered why the sheep had not run since he had seen the beast again. After a
while, the young lion went slowly back to the flock and then to the water to
drink again. Once more, he saw the beast and froze in panic. It was his own
reflection in the water.
While he tried to understand what he was seeing, suddenly
the beast appeared out of the jungle again. The flock dashed with breakneck
speed toward the farmhouse, but before the young lion could move, the beast
stepped in the water toward him and made that deafening sound that filled the
forest. For a moment, the young lion felt that his life was about to end. He realized
that he saw not just one beast, but two – one in the water and one before him.
His head was spinning with confusion as the beast came
within ten feet of him and growled at him face-to-face with frightening power
in a way that seemed to say to him, “Try it, and come and follow me.”
HE
FELT STIRRINGS THAT HE HAD
NEVER
KNOWN BEFORE
As fear gripped the young lion, he decided to try to
appease the beast and make the same sound. However, the only noise that came
from his gaping jaws was the sound of a sheep. The beast responded with an even
louder burst that seemed to say, “Try it again.” After seven or eight attempts,
the young lion suddenly heard himself make the same sound as the beast. He also
felt stirrings in his body and feelings that he had never known before. It was
as if he was experiencing a total transformation in mind, body, and spirit.
Suddenly, there stood in the river of life two beasts
growling at and to each other. Then the shepherd saw something he would never
forget. As the beastly sounds filled the forest for miles around, the big beast
stopped, turned his back on the young lion, and started toward the forest. Then
he paused and looked at the young lion one more time and growled, as if to say,
“Are you coming?” The young lion knew what the gesture meant and suddenly
realized that his day of decision had arrived – the day he would have to choose
whether to continue to live life as a sheep or to be the self he had just
discovered. He knew that, to become his true self, he would have to give up the
safe, secure, predictable, and simple life of the farm and enter the frightening,
wild, untamed, unpredictable, dangerous life of the jungle. It was a day to
become true to himself and leave the false image of another life behind. It was
an invitation to a “sheep” to become the king of the jungle. Most importantly,
it was an invitation for the body of a lion to possess the spirit of a lion.
After looking back and forth at the farm and the jungle a
few times, the young lion turned his back on the farm and the sheep with whom
he had lived for years, and he followed the beast into the forest to become who
he always had been – a lion king.
A
DECISION AFFECTING THE FUTURE
Lasting change can only occur only when it takes place in
the spirit of the mind. In essence, a converted attitude is the key to a
transformed life, not in leadership training, study, or even education. Although
training, study, or education could add a little, but it is not the main
ingredient.
Just as the young lion’s genuine growl revealed his
inherent strength, you can release the inherent leadership strength within you
when you come to understand your true self. Just as the young lion watched the
beast walking away and knew that he had to make a decision about his future, you
have a choice to make about your own future.
Just as the young lion looked back toward the farm where
the sheep were and then looked toward the forest where the lion was heading,
you have to evaluate your past and your potential and step toward one or the
other. Just as the young lion knew that, to become his true self, he would have
to give up the safe, secure, predictable, and simple life of the farm and enter
the frightening, wild, untamed, unpredictable, dangerous life of the jungle,
you will have to leave the safe confines of being a follower if you are going
to become a leader.
Just as the young lion turned his back on the farm,
crossed the river, and walked into the forest – leaving behind his old life as
a sheep and embarking on the life he was born to live – so this blog on
leadership is designed to challenge you to cross your own river of intimidation
and fear and enter the forest of the spirit of leadership, which you were
created to manifest.
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