Three Minute Leadership: Which Wolf Will You Feed?
Posted by: Michael M. Reuter on
6/13/2010
To: The Great Leaders Who Have a Passion for Continuous Learning
There is a story by Fola Ogundiran, Honor Council Head of St. Margaret's School in Virginia, that speaks to the daily choices that great leaders face, and what it is that enables their decisions about them.
“The story is told that an old Indian grandfather told his grandchildren that in his breast were two wolves fighting with each other. The evil one growled for selfishness, laziness, greed, hatred, duplicity, bigotry, power, deception, gluttony, and self indulgence. The other wolf argued in his heart for generosity, compassion, understanding, honesty, diligence, courage, and selflessness. The grandfather went on to tell the children that not only were these wolves at odds in his heart; they were also in all of their hearts, and indeed, in every person’s heart. One of the children asked: ‘Grandfather, which wolf will win?’ And he responded: ‘It all depends on your choice. It depends on which of the two wolves you choose to feed.’”
The story is a powerful and exciting as a metaphor it provides for the myriad of choices of behaviors, attitudes and actions that we make in our professional and personal life –about our goals and priorities, our allocation of time and resources to various activities and work efforts, our work/life balance decisions, how we live our principles and values. Each of these decisions is a step toward or away from our life’s purpose and our calling to b all that we can be. As you go through this week, think about this story as you make your choices and ask yourself: “Which wolf will I feed?” May you choose wisely and well.
Have a beautiful day and a magnificent week!!!
Mike
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