Survival of the clever
In life, there are dogs, leopards, and monkeys. We must decide which we are.
Here is the tale to explain the difference:
A wealthy man decided to go on a safari in Africa. He took his faithful pet dog along for company. One day the dog starts chasing butterflies, and before long, he discovers he is lost. So, wandering about, he notices a leopard heading rapidly in his direction with the apparent intention of having lunch.
The dog thinks, “Boy, I’m in deep doo-doo now.” Then he noticed some bones on the ground close by and immediately settled down to chew on the bones with his back to the approaching cat.
Just as the leopard is about to leap, the dog exclaims loudly, “Man, that was one delicious leopard. I wonder if there are any more around here?” Hearing this, the leopard halts his attack mid-stride; as a look of terror comes over him, he slinks into the trees. “Whew,” says the leopard. “That was close. That dog nearly had me.”
Meanwhile, a monkey who had been watching the whole scene from a nearby tree, figures can put this knowledge to good use and trade it for protection from the leopard. So, off he goes. But the dog saw him heading after the leopard with great speed and figured that something must be up. The monkey soon catches up with the leopard, spills the beans, and strikes a deal for himself with the leopard. The cat is furious at being made a fool and says, “Here, monkey, hop on my back and see what’s going to happen to that conniving canine.”
Now the dog sees the leopard coming with the monkey on his back and thinks, “What am I going to do now?” But instead of running, the dog sits down with his back to his attackers, pretending he hasn’t seen them yet. And just when they get close enough to hear, the dog says, “Where’s that monkey? I can never trust him! I sent him off half an hour ago to bring me another leopard, and he’s still not back!”
Now that’s what I call cool, calm, and collected.
Face it, folks. There will always be leopards in the workplace. Insecure bullies who would spare no effort in having a free lunch, and you are his lunch. Allow yourself to be intimidated or react in anger and fear, and you will be eaten alive.
There will always be monkeys in the workplace, too; these apes have nothing to do but flatter their bosses, suck up to their superiors and destroy other people so they can look better – no sense paying attention to these creatures. But stay as far away from them as possible. They’re bad news, and there’s nothing good for you in these chimpanzees’ company.
But be the wise dog in the story.
In an age of political correctness, Woke. Ghosting, Cancel Culture, etc., we now have a generation of hyper-sensitive young people who may not have the skill to manage their emotions. How often have I heard of young people unable to function well unless they are in a “Safe Space?”
And I don’t blame them. The world of work they live and operate in today is a lot harder and more challenging than the world I came from decades ago. Exacerbating the problem is the sad truth that even today, the workplace is still occupied by tons of bosses who have yet to be trained in leadership and people management, and they drive their good people away to the detriment of their business organizations.
How do we convert these young talents from fragile to agile and equip them with creative, innovative, and resilient skills? Training is just one part of the whole; the other part requires inspirational modeling from their leaders. We need to educate, train and teach not just young people but more so the leaders in emotional intelligence. Emotional intelligence is now an essential element in leadership training.
I have had my fair share of dealing not only with leopards and monkeys but also with crocodiles and sharks both in the corporate world and in the field of business, and trust me, the way to deal with them is to be cool, be calm. Use wisdom to deal with people of different personalities in the workplace. Now you know why the wise and older generation refers to the kind of workplace they have by a non-complimentary term called: “corporate jungle...”
Somebody says: “In the animal kingdom, survival of the fittest. In the corporate jungle, survival of the sneakiest.” While another one says: “In the corporate jungle, the only thing thicker than the office politics is the coffee.” It does not have to be.
(Francis Kong’s podcast “Inspiring Excellence” is now available on Spotify, Apple, Google, or other podcast streaming platforms.)
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