Leadership Lesson – The Story of the Frog and the Scorpion

Life presents itself in all shapes and sizes. There are fortunes mixed with mishaps. Challenges are part of the game that is called ‘Life’. But its up to you to make the decision on how to tackle what life throws at you.

As a leader one of the valuable lessons that you should know about is that of the frog and the scorpion. It goes something like this…

A frog was about to cross the stream in the jungle. Just as he was about to dive in, he hears a voice from behind, “Hey Frog, wait up!” The frog turns around only to find out that the voice was that of a scorpion. “What do you want?” asks the frog. The scorpion says, “Mr. Frog, I know that you are going to cross the stream to the other side and I want to do the same. The only problem is that I do not know how to swim. So, can you help me get across?” The frog opposes the idea by saying, “you are a scorpion, you will sting me! What is the guarantee you would not?” The scorpion expecting such a reaction calmly replies, “Mr. Frog you have not got the big picture. If I will sting you then we both will drown. Now why would I do that?” The frog thinks the matter over and reluctantly agrees to give him a ride. “Jump on over” says the frog.

As they are swimming across, about the halfway mark the scorpion stings the frog. The frog taken by surprise screams, “What did you do? You just stung me! Why? Now we both are going to die! Why?” All the scorpion does is stare back into the frogs eyes and says, “Because I am a scorpion!”

As the above story indicates, life has its fair share of scorpions. They may come dressed as sheep, but they may be cunning foxes underneath. Seemingly harmless at first glance, they will eat into you as time progresses and kill you. The scorpions can come in various forms such as bad habits, bad associations, bad friends, bad teammates, bad books, bad TV programs, bad movies, and etc. etc. But if you do not identify them early on, they will take you down the road to oblivion. It is always the beginning that matters; beware!

I remember my youth, when I sucked on that smoky stick called a cigarette for the first time. It seemed harmless; but before I knew I got the habit, the habit had got me! I remember the sweet-talking colleague who seemed like a brother, but when the time came to stand up to the challenge he put the blame square on me. Ouch! Have you gone through similar situations? I am sure you have, everyone has.

Take this lesson to heart, learn it and apply it; and most importantly, TEACH IT! There are other people just like you who will find it valuable.

Life is worth living; so grow as tall as you possibly can.

God bless you and your family

John Bino

ParentsINCorporated

‘Empowering people to be more valuable to society’