Member-only story
The Box
When you let a herd of sheep lose on a field without a fence, they get uncomfortable and stick together. Now, let them loose in a fenced-off area, and they will regain their comfort and wander in many different directions. What is the moral of the story? Sheep prefer to stay in their boxes and cherish their comfort zone.
I call it Freedom within a Framework.
After some inspiring leadership interactions last week, here’s a question I’ve been pondering related to the sheep story above.
Are you a sheep? Or perhaps more of a tiger?
I recently interacted with a leader who was very aware of his fence’s boundaries. He knew when and where he was in his comfort zone.
He also knew that to grow as a leader, he needed to “look his tiger in the eyes,” and leave the fence behind occasionally. His words.
He found a way to maneuver between his comfort and growth zones. He described his growth zone as the area where he sometimes needed to lead to help his organization grow while realizing this was not necessarily his area of strength.
His self-awareness struck me. This leader invested in mastering his leadership, realizing that it was a continuous journey that required him to occasionally step out of his own box to serve his organization and his own leadership.
