Leadership from a different perspective – A Chinese Parable on Choices…

Naked Leader Week – 194 (w/c Monday 19 February 2007)

Leadership from a different perspective – A Chinese Parable on Choices…

On this Chinese New year a wonderful story that truly shows how meaning, reality and life are matters of choice…

Good Luck Bad Luck!

There is a Chinese story of a farmer who used an old horse to till his fields. One day, the horse escaped into the hills and when the farmer’s neighbours sympathized with the old man over his bad luck, the farmer replied, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

A week later, the horse returned with a herd of horses from the hills and this time the neighbours congratulated the farmer on his good luck. His reply was, “Good luck? Bad luck? Who knows?”
Then, when the farmer’s son was attempting to tame one of the wild horses, he fell off its back and broke his leg. Everyone thought this very bad luck. Not the farmer, whose only reaction was, “Bad luck? Good luck? Who knows?”

Some weeks later, the army marched into the village and conscripted every able-bodied youth they found there. When they saw the farmer’s son with his broken leg, they let him off. Now was that good luck or bad luck?
Who knows?

I send this with special best wishes to all of our Chinese readers, as they, and we all, enter The Year of The Golden Pig, not to be repeated for sixty years.

David

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