Leadership Lessons from Fairy Tales

Fairy tales and fables are stories passed down from ancient times. Many of them convey a moral or lesson at the end. Recently, I read some fairy tales and started reflecting on the leadership lessons I could learn from them. Curious? Come along for a magic carpet ride!

1. Mirror, Mirror on the Wall

If you had a mirror in front of you which tells you the truth about yourself, what would you ask the mirror?

The criteria are that you could only ask ONE question and that you should have no frills, hidden agenda or filters.

What is the ONE question that you would ask?

My Reflection

You may be surprised by this, but I choose to be silent. Why?

Here and now, while I remain silent, I get to explore and observe:

(1)???My intention: What is it that keeps me quiet?

(2)???My inner needs and wants: What’s keeping me alive and what’s lacking in me now?

(3)???My body’s sensations: What sensations am I experiencing at this moment with my body? I am truly curious to find out more.

To me, Silence is the best question. Because I received the BEST answer within myself, without having someone else to tell me more about myself. And, you know what, the answer is definitely NOT from a mirror!

The Leadership Lesson: Change Starts With Me

As a leader, we are constantly receiving input and feedback from others. But one of the most powerful things we could do as a leader is to be aware of who we really are. Observe our intentions, our inner needs and wants, and how our body feels with certain thoughts or actions.

By observing ourselves, we take ownership and bring the change back into ourselves. When we are honest and authentic with ourselves, change beings to happen.

Similarly, as a leader, we help our team members to focus on themselves. As they stay focused and present, they begin to discover how to facilitate the best change which comes from within.

2. A Dream is a Wish Your Heart Makes

Most of us are fascinated by fairy tales when we were younger. Indeed, the world of fables and fairy tales depict scenarios that are dreamlike and fantastical, where anything could happen.

But what happens when we entered adulthood? We started to lose touch with dreams and fairy tales. Likewise, when adults look at children, what makes us appreciate their courage to pursue their dreams?

Let’s reflect on ourselves. What are the dreams that you believe in? Do you need facts, figures and data to support your dream? What is reality, then? What’s the definition of something before it becomes a reality?

My Reflection

Here’s my take on this: Dreams keep us alive! By having dreams, we feel energised to pursue them and turn them into reality.

For example, I never knew that I could paint. At times, I even found it embarrassing when someone called me an artist; I would say no and make the same gesture with my hands.

Deep inside me, however, I knew that I enjoyed painting and doing artwork. It is a time when I could connect myself deeply. Quietly, I dreamed about being an artist, but I allowed my doubts to overshadow my dreams.

It wasn’t until I shifted my thinking that I allowed myself to dream. One of my friends jokingly encouraged me by saying, “You don’t need to pay any money. It’s all happening in your mind, so just dream anything that you wish with no boundaries.”

That was indeed a turning point for me to start picking up my oil pastels and create so many art pieces. As I took one step towards actualising my dreams, I embarked on a fulfilling journey and the possibilities expanded!

?When we believe in a dream, there is always hope.

The Leadership Lesson: Dare to Dream and Make It a Reality

When the mindset of a leader is governed only by targets and key performance indicators (KPI), your ability to believe in dreams shrinks. Your leadership is defined only by a set of goals to achieve within a certain timeline. You’ll soon notice that your life force starts to shrink, and you’re no longer in the process of continual curiosity and creativity to come up with something new. In the long term, you may experience burnout and stress.

As a leader, as you work on pursuing your dream, it is also beneficial to explore the life force and dreams of each of our team members. Fueling yourself and your team members with positive energies like dreams is critical and even more during tough moments. It will help all of us thrive well together.

3. And They Lived Happily Ever After

Have you noticed that most fairy tales end with “… and they lived happily ever after”? The story ends with this statement and a definite full stop.

Perhaps it’s time for us to end it with a question mark instead. Do all stories in life truly end with happily ever after?

Perhaps it sounds pessimistic when I say this. However, it is a fact of life that not all endings are happy. And being aware of this makes us appreciate the present moment even more.

Knowing that endings aren’t always happy, we become aware of our “perfectionist” mindset and could adjust our aim to be happy in life.

We start to accept and be grateful for the current things we are experiencing right now, allowing the outcomes to be enjoyed and savoured in the present moment.

My Reflection

I wish to adopt the mindset that “Happiness is Now.” It is not a target or goal for us to pursue. Neither is it the final destination of life itself.

The Leadership Lesson: Appreciate Happiness Now

As leaders, setting targets and pursuing them is a lifelong process that we go through. As soon as we have achieved our target, another target is set (by ourselves, by others, or by our company).

If we wait to become happy after we’ve achieved all targets, then we are just postponing happiness. Why not experience and appreciate happiness in the here and now? When we look at life this way, we maintain our power and increase our energy (as well as the happiness hormones)!

This way, success is just the next step and not a “milestone” or “target” that we wish to achieve. We build our happiness independent of an end goal, target, or perception of success.

?

* * *

If you’ve enjoyed this article, subscribe to my newsletter here. Get more insights about Leadership, Happiness and Change in my training, workshops and consultation, or engage me for one-on-one HEART-centred Leadership Coaching.

Connect with me at https://wa.me/+60193142188 or email [email protected]