TWO WOLVES - A LESSON IN CHARACTER AND LEADERSHIP

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people.

He said, "My son, the battle is between two wolves inside us all.

"One is Evil - It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

"The other is Good - It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather: "Which wolf wins?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

We will become effective leaders in direct proportion to how we develop the Godly character traits as exemplified above by the good wolf. As we develop the traits of joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith, and purge the evil traits of anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego, we will grow as decent human beings and have the capability to be morally principled leaders. Only by living well can we lead well, and be worthy of the sublime title of “leader”.

You may be reading this and saying to yourself, “I am not a leader; I don’t supervise any one.” Would you agree that even if a person is not a leader of others, he is always the leader of himself? I believe so! But, if you really think about it, aren’t we all leaders and influencers of others on some level in our personal and professional lives? I believe we are unless we are a hermit and live with no contact with other human beings. Other people are always watching us and scrutinizing our behaviors. The example and influence we project by our behaviors is either positive or negative, and it is leadership good or bad.

Will the people in your sphere of leadership and influence see you as the good wolf or the evil wolf? Will others want to join your “pack”? What kind of pack will it be? Either way you go in this life you will have a pack, but the type of pack you get is your choice. You choose by deciding, “Which wolf am I going to feed?

Golden Nugget Takeaways:

• If you can’t lead yourself, you can’t lead others.

• We are all leaders.

• Leaders are learners and continually develop themselves with both external skills and internal character traits.

• Like attracts like.

• As we live we lead.

• As we lead we live.

• You have choices and choices have consequences

Esse Quam Videri!
Carpe Diem!