The Parable of the Leadership at Time of Crisis

When the old man lost his horse, how could one have known that it would not be fortuitous?

We’ve been living in such an uncertain time, the radical digitization and overwhelming globalization, the hyper-competitive business environment, and human-induced climate change, as many of us know crisis is the combination word of “danger” and “opportunities” in Asian character, here we may explore an ancient parable to envision the leadership at the time of crisis.

1.   Be Optimistic at the Time of Crisis

There was a wise old man in a small town, one day, his horse ran away, in ancient times, the horse was a valuable asset, so his neighbors came over to comfort him, the wise man just shrugged, asked: “How do you know it won’t be a good thing?” A few weeks later, his horse came back and also brought back another strong horse. (to be continued at 2.)
The Story Insight: the horse came back because the wise man treated him and trained him very well, so he missed the owner and was smart enough to recognize the direction to come back. Leadership Takeaway: keep positive thinking at times of crisis, treat your employees well, and delight your customers, so even if they leave for some reason, in the long run, they may still become the champions of your business reputation.

2.   Be Paranoid at  the Time of Prosperity

The man’s neighbors came again to congratulate him for getting two horses, the wise man rolled his eyes and asked: How do you know it’s good luck? A man’s only son enjoyed riding the horse, one day, the new horse lost his temper, and the young man fell down from the horse and broke his legs.(To be continued at 3.)

Leadership Takeaway: keep cautious at the good times, “Only Paranoid Survive”, every opportunity is accompanied by risk, also, many times risk-taking can lead to opportunities.

3.   Be Insightful at the Time of Uncertainty

The neighbors came again to show their sympathy, the wise man looked out of the window, and uttered the word: How could you tell it will not be fortuitous? Months later, because of the conflict between the two countries, all young men in the town were sent out to the war, and many lost their lives; the wise man’s son could survive and stay with his father because of his broken legs, he could also learn from his father and grow as another wise man, they also worked together to help rebuild their communities.

Leadership Takeaway: Not only understand your current situation, but also be insightful for the macro-environment, and perceive the future circumstances, so that short-term frustration may not become a barrier to the long-term vision.

From this parable, we can learn: that leadership in times of crisis is transformational, open-minded, with paradoxical thinking, optimistic at bad times and paranoid at good times, insightful for the long term, and wise via both historical lessons and life experience.

Posted in: Future of Leadership,Parable