By Jeff Schoener
Years ago I was told a story of a man and a boy out for a walk. They saw a rabbit being chased by a dog. The man asked the boy, “Who do you think will win?” The boy said he thought the dog would win as it is bigger, stronger and has a longer stride. The man then said to the boy, “The dog is running for its supper, the rabbit is running for its life!”
This answer stuck with me as definitive until I began working with business clients. They helped me gain new perspectives. How hungry is the dog really? What does the rabbit have to live for? A company that is too complacent may forget how important life is. Consider the lesson of IBM and the desktop computer. IBM was the computer giant who never believed there could be a need or desire for portable computing. Hungry and focused were the young insightful inventors who became the industry upstarts. This is but one of many examples.
A single misstep or distraction could easily change the outcome. The size, muscle mass and flexibility of an individual or a group should be equally compared to desire. We cannot guarantee a clear winner, we can only modify the odds in terms of how much we want something and how smart and focused we are in terms of specific action.
Realizing limitation. Uncomfortable communication. Being afraid of how someone might respond. Without elegant communication skills our relationships will easily fail! Ask yourself: What is holding me back? Is it fear? Is it lack? Is it simply that you lack the skills to easily and elegantly communicate with asking for what you want and doing so in ways that respect others without limiting yourself are only a portion of what I teach. 