Once upon a time, in a deep
forest lived a venomous snake.
He loved the
power of his poison and used to bite anyone who came in his way. He poured his venom at the slightest
provocation and everybody in the jungle was afraid of him. He could get away with anything and laughed
at other animals in the jungle who scurried away when they saw the snake coming
towards them. No one ever dared to disobey him and he gloated over his ability
to rule the jungle.
One day, a saint was passing
through the forest. He had heard about the angry snake. The saint deliberately took the path which
would cross the place where the snake lived.
Hearing the unknown footsteps of the saint, the snake came out of his
den and stood in front of him with his big poisonous hood, ready to strike.
“Who dares to cross this path without my permission? Don’t you know I
am the ruler here ?”
“I am a saint and this jungle is not your property. Pray, tell me, why
are you always angry ?”
“Well, I have power ! Everybody
bows to me. If I am not angry, people will not listen to me !”
The saint sat
down beside the snake .
“Dear Snake,
do you realize the amount of sins that you are accumulating by biting innocent
people? What will you answer to God when you die ? “
The
conversation with the saint transformed the snake. He promised to the hermit
that he will never bite anyone from that day.
After a few months,
the sage was passing thru the jungle again and he was surprised to see the
snake lying on the ground. He was wounded all over and in a pitiable state.
“Oh ! What happened to you ? Who hurt you ? “
“I had
promised to you that I will not bite anyone. Slowly the word spread in the
jungle and the people who used to respect and fear me and listened to whatever
I said started ignoring me. After some time, anyone who passed this way pelted
stones at me. And nowadays they jeer and trample over me. This is the outcome of my promise to
you. I am powerless without my anger “. The snake wept.
“I asked you
not to bite and get angry, but who stopped you from SHOWING your anger? Did I
ask you not to “HISS” ? “
It is very
common for the people at the top of the hierarchy to become tyrants and get
their work done with the help of their positional power. They feel that if they
have to control their team, they have to be autocratic else people will take
them for granted, just like the angry snake.
This really does not work very well in the modern work scenario. Nowadays the team wants a leader whom they
can respect and love. Though this is true, sometimes, the managers and the
leaders are taken for granted and then the managers lose control of their team.
It is important for the managers to strike a balance. Anger
is a tool to manage.
Anger should be
used as a useful weapon to be used in certain situations but you should be able
to CONTROL your anger ….. Anger should not control you !
So, sometimes,
when you think it is appropriate, SHOW your anger and “HISS” to control
unwanted situations and avoid getting trampled by team members who act
oversmart.
Note : This
story is by a famous saint from India – Ramkrishna Paramhansa.
