Short Business Fable Story A Lion and a Throne
It is short fable story about leadership. Read this business fable.
A Lion and a Throne
Once upon a time in a green jungle, three men stood in front a banyan tree. One of them tied the tree with a thick rope. Then, the other man held chain saw while a man in a safari jacket gave instruction. They wanted to fell the tree.
Suddenly, a lion pounced on a man, who held chainsaw. He dropped his chainsaw and rolled on the ground. Then, he stood, facing a lion that was ready to attack all of them.
With a ready rifle, the man in a safari jacket controlled his breath and heartbeat. He was ready to shoot the lion.
The roaring of the lion made him tremble with fear. The lion ran zigzagging toward him and pounced on the man.
“Bang!”
A bullet hit an empty target. The man fell headlong onto the grassy land. His rifle slipped from his gasp. The lion roared and pressed his body down. Both of his friends escaped and left him. He thought it was the end of his life.
“Do you want to eat me?” asked the man.
“I want to know the name of man whom I will eat. What’s your name?” asked lion.
“I’m Bob. Do you really want to eat me?”
“No, I just protect the tree,” said lion.
“Why? It’s not your business. We don’t hurt you. We just cut the trees which we want and build civilization in this place.”
“All trees here are integrated parts of this jungle. This jungle nurtures me. I’ll fight to defend something which nurtures me. You will do the same, won’t you?” asked the lion.
Bob remembered a company he worked for. He showed his dedication and loyalty to his company. He did cold blooded action against his conscience in the name of professionalism for his company, which was supposed to nurture him. He had destructed the jungle for his company. He had expelled people from their land for it. He had lied for it. He had betrayed his friends for it. He had employed the workers with low wage for it. He received not much money for it. He also recalled the time when his company started to reduce some benefits and facilities in the name of efficiency. He also recalled when the management of the company overloaded him with multi tasks, which was supposed to be handled by more than one people, and without any understanding and workload analysis, the management just blamed him when he had not completed his task perfectly. He really wanted to leave his company but he hesitated to live independently without it.
“When the jungle does not nurture its wildlife anymore, its lions will leave it. Will you do the same?” asked lion.
Bob reflected upon himself.
“I know you have destructed many parts of this jungle. I don’t have any choice. I must eat you before your greed destroy all of us,” said lion.
“Please, don’t kill me. I just do the greed of my company. I don’t want to die before my dream comes true,” said Bob, trembling in fear.
“What’s your dream?”
“To be a leader. To be a big boss,” Bob answered.
With his teeth, the lion bit Bob’s hand and brought him to enter a cave.
In a cave, the lion stopped and released Bob.
“Do you want to eat me together with your family? I don’t want to be your dinner meal. I’m not delicious,” said Bob.
Lion shook his own head.
“You want to be a leader, don’t you? Look at the chairs behind you and choose your seat. One of them is used throne. A leader must choose the right seat,” said the lion.
Bob walked toward the chairs and examined them. There were some chairs with comfortable armrests and backrest but there was an uninteresting seat like a stool without a back.
He looked for the most comfortable chair like the chair, provided by his company for the top management and said,”I choose it. A boss must receive exclusive service. I deserve the most comfortable one. This chair has comfortable back for me to lean.”
Bob sit, crossed his leg, and leaned on the back of the chair.
“Do I look like a boss or a king?” asked Bob.
The lion shook his head to show that he disagreed with Bob. Then, he jumped onto a stool-like seat and sit on it.
“A long year ago, this seat was the throne of a king,” said the lion.
Bob examined the seat where the lion sit on. It was seat without armrest and backrest.
“It’s not comfortable seat. How could a king choose the seat like it? He could not lean because it has no backrest,” said Bob in curiosity.
“When a king sits on this throne, it will remind him that he shall not lean. A king or a leader shall not rely on anyone except God. He must become a leader whom his people rely on.”
Bob said nothing. He reflected upon himself. He understood that he should change his attitude to become a leader.
The lion let him go. Then, he ran leaving the cave before the lion might change his mind.
THE END
This business fable story is written by YW Purnomosidhi a,k.a Yohanes Wahyu Purnomosidhi
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