THE MONKEY LEADER

Story Time:

Once upon a time, there lived a wise lion in the jungle of Ore located in the deepest forests of Africa. The lion was known to be just and a great leader. He was known for his honesty and authenticity. He was fair in his transactions and ruled for many years. A troop of monkeys moved into the jungle and requested the lion to let them stay. The lion agreed. Over time the monkey population grew compared to all the other animals. They formed a group, selected a leader and started discussing the leadership of the jungle. They thought as we are greater in number, we should elect a monkey leader. One of them said the lion is not from our tribe, so why should we listen to him, he has been ruling the jungle for a long time, and it is time we need a change in leadership. They were prominent in number but still were not the majority in the jungle and needed the rest of the animals to support them. So they devised a plan to persuade the other animals to join their cause. They started convincing to vote for the monkey leader as the next king of the jungle. They said, "we are large in numbers; hence a leader from our tribe would benefit the jungle."

The monkeys managed to convince most animals in the jungle to vote for the monkey leader. However, some intellectuals in the jungle were vexed and approached the lion king. They spoke to him about this new predicament. The wise lion knew about the situation and could foresee what was coming and told those intellects to have patience. He said, 'wait and watch.'

The day came, and the whole jungle voted. The big and small, the herds and the tribes, all voted the monkey leader be the next king of the jungle. Hence the monkey leader came into power, and all the monkeys were thrilled. The monkey leader was ecstatic to have found the new leadership role, got very enthusiastic, started jumping from tree to tree, and showed his followers how serious he was about his job. The whole jungle was impressed to see the passion the new leader carried for his new vocation. They all hoped that this change would be fruitful for the future of the jungle.

One day, a lambkin is lost in the jungle. Naturally, the jungle tribe got worried. As they are used to approach the lion king to resolve their issues, they saw him first. The lion king turns them down. He tells them that he is not the king anymore and should see the monkey leader for resolving their issues.

The tribe turns to the new king of the jungle in the hope that he resolves their issue. They approach the monkey leader, surrounded by his monkey followers who were praising his climbing skills. The tribe puts forward their predicament, and the monkey king replies that it is not a problem; I will resolve it in no time. He furiously jumps down the tree and climbs the second one. He again then jumps down the second one and climbs the third one. Seeing this tribe gets happy, thinking he will resolve their issue and find the lambkin in no time.

The monkey king, for an hour, kept jumping up and down the trees, and the tribe watch him hoping he will resolve the problem. After waiting for some more time, the tribe asks the monkey king, what about the lambkin? When will you find it? The monkey king replied, not sure when the lambkin will return, but you can see that I have put all my efforts into what I know best. I know how to climb trees, and I have been doing that for the past one hour with all the honesty. He added I would do my best to swing from tree to tree and put in my best efforts whenever you have any problem, but I am not sure if that will solve your problem. I won't spare any efforts in climbing the trees. At that point, the jungle realised what a big mistake they made by appointing the monkey as their king.

The jungle went back to the wise lion and apologised for their mistake. Then, they told the lion what had transpired and asked him for help in finding the lambkin. The wise lion, who was conscious of equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI), had all different sorts of animals at his disposal who would help and support him in various tasks. The lion was known for his planning skills; while he was away from his leadership role, he didn't stay put. He had reorganised his team and trained them for any unforeseen circumstances. So, he called upon his team and consulted with them. He then deployed his best wolf trackers to find the lambkin. The very evening the lambkin was found and returned back to the tribe. 

Didactic Lesson:   (#idthinkaboutit)

1.    Finite mindset – monkey leaders have a finite mindset

2.    Narcissistic leadership – monkey leaders may exhibit narcissistic leadership attributes

3.    Understand leadership - leadership is an art and science. It is not everybody's cup of tea. And one fine day, you wake up and think you are a leader, then you are far away from being one. Like the author of the book 'Humilitas', John Dickson says if you believe you have humility, you definitely don't have it.  

4.    Internal and external environment – these type of leaders may not understand the dynamics of the environment they are serving (may not understand the needs of internal and external stakeholders)

5.    EDI - doesn't matter race, culture or religion; we need to see beyond this. If a person can do the job, we should support him/her. Don't think just cause he/she is from your tribe they would get the job done. The wise lion knew the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion. A diverse team is a stronger team.

6.    Nepotism – monkey leaders support nepotism which is detrimental to any society or institution

7.    It's not what you know, it’s who you know – I have seen many fraternities fall for this slogan. Beware! This slogan has cost many organisations dearly. They have lost competent staff and landed with incompetent ones, which has had a detrimental impact on the firm's survival.

8.    Key skills – these leaders may not possess key skills, including empathy, emotional intelligence and situational sensing

9.    Change – change is good when it is for the better. Change things if you want to improve the things around you. Don't change things for the sake of changing them.

10. Decision making – they cannot make informed decisions and may lack sound judgement

11. Planning is key – the lion utilised the time wisely to restructure his team and had planned for any unforeseen circumstances

12. Disconnected - they are totally disconnected from their role and the needs of the followers

13. Poor resource management - They may deploy resources that are a waste of time and money

14. Good leader – these type of leaders undoubtedly believe they are good leaders. Solving the actual problem at hand is none of their concern. They lack skills and experience in their domain.  

15. The majority has said 'Yes' - the only reason they have become a leader has to do with the fact that the majority supports them which may not serve the purpose 

16. Patience and holistic view – the wise lion knew the importance of being patient and had predicted what was coming as he could see the bigger picture

17. Go to person – as a leader, you may not have all the answers, but to be effective, you may have to become the 'Go To' person or know the 'Go To' people in your industry. The wise lion became the 'Go To' person for the jungle