The Masks We Wear
The Wise Old Man had just finished meditating. Avatar and Amit were visiting the Ashram, and were eager to meet The Wise Old Man. But there was an aspiring CEO ahead of them. He had waited more than half a day to meet with The Wise Old Man.
“Respected sir, I want your help. You see, I am told that my Executive Presence is poor, as a result of which I have been overlooked for the CEO's position. I have hired Image Consultants, and I have changed my wardrobe. I altered my presentation skills, I hired actors to help with my body language, I have even undergone voice and accent training. All this has not helped me.
Please help me!”
The fellow sounded desperate.
As is with The Wise Old Man. He looked at him. There was a long pause. The aspiring CEO's breathing rate increased, but he waited silently.
After a long pause The Wise Old Man said: "Let me tell you a story. Tell me what you make of it.
Once in the kingdom of Simhanagar, there were a group of thieves that wreaked havoc. Try as he might, the King and his able Sepoys were unable to catch them. The King announced a handsome reward. Yet robbery and theft continued unabated. One day, to catch these robbers, the King and his general came up with an excellent idea: get the Sepoys to dress up as thieves and go about town in the night.
Unknown to the King, the Chief of Robbers, had a similar plan. He got a part of his gang to dress up as the King’s Sepoys and roam the area to “case the joint”.
In the wee hours of dawn, these two groups passed each other. The Sepoys dressed as robbers approached the robbers dressed as Sepoys and asked them:
“Did you find anything?”
“No.” the Robbers in Sepoys clothes responded. “Did you?” they asked.
“No.” the Sepoys in Robbers clothes responded.
They then returned to their respective HQ.
When the Chief of Robbers’ came to know of this he blasted his team. “Your bumbling idiots, they spoke to you because they thought you were the real Sepoys. If they were real Robbers, they would have run away when they saw you!”
A similar scene played out at the Police HQ. “I have never seen bigger morons than you. Did you not realise that they were the Robbers dressed up as Sepoys? If they were real Sepoys, they would have arrested you immediately!”
An old minister who witnessed the Police Chiefs ire, said: “They may have changed their clothes, but they have retained their Nature! The Masks we wear do not hide our true Nature.”
There was a long pause.
The aspiring CEO hung his head.
As always, it’s your comments that bring these stories alive. What are your views? Where have you experienced what the Old Minister stated in the end ".... but they have retained their Nature!" Give some examples please. What do you make out of this story?
Founder - Managing Director and Principal Trainer at DG Consulting | Public Speaking Coach | Soft Skills Learning Facilitator | Content Creator
3 年Nice one Manoj. A lion in a goat’s skin cannot become timid nor can a goat in a lion’s skin become ferocious. ‘Samskaara’ is ingrained. Mindset is acquired due to conditioning and this we can work upon. The key is to identify if the limiting factor is samskaara or mindset.
Consultant – CRM, Business & Digital Operations
4 年Well said?
Leadership & Soft Skills Facilitator(In-House & OBT) Colonel's Learning Cafe and Colonel's Leadership Spa
4 年Thank you Manoj. Even when masks were unmasked, they played to their strength of coexistence
In today's world it is the thieves who wear the mask of police who win.....??
An interesting one Manoj. You can mask only as much and the true thinking and factors that has shaped the thinking does come out eventually.