Prince Leonardo and Dark the Dino

Far away from the maddening crowd, there was the lovely land of Azura. In the land of Azura, there was a huge mountain called the Blues and a lovely river called Bliss. At the foot of Blue, there was a lovely jungle called AMAZE. Amaze was the abode of a variety of animals both big and small. It also had a variety of trees with boughs heavy with beautiful flowers and sweet fruits. The tributaries of river Bliss that crisscrossed the jungle had waters as clear as a mirror where you can see schools of colorful fish. All the animals stayed happily in the jungle till their Lion King Victor ruled them. But after his sad demise, things were no longer the same. Especially after the emergence of the Dark Dino from the dungeons of the Blue mountains. They were worried about the future of Amaze and worried about the little Prince Leonardo. Their heart trembled to imagine that Young Prince Leonardo will have to fight the huge and muscular Dark the Dino.

Today is the D -day. The King of the jungle will be declared today. The sun sent its best rays that made Amaze look as if wrapped in gold. The fragrant boughs of the trees were even more fragrant for this occasion. The animals woke early today to get their best spot to observe the proceedings of the day!

The wise Monkey Old Monk sat on the judgment rock facing the arena.  

Prince Leonardo entered the arena. He was looking like a Lion made of pure gold. The sun that was observing him from above sent him the rays of blessing. A lovely breeze that came from the Mountains ruffled the golden locks of his mane. The Prince raised his arms at the crowd and waved. The animals cheered and clapped in joy.

But when Dark entered the entire world hushed up. His huge body almost hid the Sun. He looked around with his bloodshot eyes and growled spewing fire at the animals.

The animals shuddered in fear.

OLD Monk stood up and ordered his team to bring something.

To everybody’s surprise, a poor meek spotted deer was brought and was placed in the middle of the arena.

Then Old Monk spoke:

-         Dear Prince Leonardo and Dear Prince Dark the Dino. We are here today to choose who is the great leader amongst you. You see that there is a spotted deer tied in front of you. There are two swords in front of you. You can start when I strike the gong!

Dark guffawed and picked up one.  Leo gravely did so.

The moment Old monk struck the gong; like a flash Dark went to pierce the sword in its heart.

But Prince Leonardo pushed the deer away and quickly cut the ropes that tied his legs.  

Within a moment Dark was dumbfounded. He got angry and stooped to pierce the sword vengefully at the Prince.

But to everybody’s surprise, the deer turned into the goddess of the jungle and protected the Prince from the cruel Dark.

Old Monk clapped and declared:

“I am happy to declare that the winner of the day is our Young Prince Leonardo. He was not only able to save the deer from sure death but also demonstrated how a sword can also be used. By cutting the ropes from the deer’s legs he proved that a good leader uses his powers to unshackle his people from miseries. Dark Dino was impulsive, and he used his sword to kill the deer when that was not necessary. This shows that Dark will bring misery to his people if he gets power in his hands.”

When the crowd broke into happy cheers Goddess Amaze blessed Prince Leo and crowned him as the King of Amaze because of his great heart and empathy for his subjects.

Then she turned towards Dark the Dino and ordered him to go back to the dungeons.

If we extrapolate this story to our corporate world, we will see that positions with power need to go to the right kind of leaders. That is why assessment centers are so important. If we don’t do it well then Like Dark the Dino most leaders will not have the skills to use power in the right direction.  

Empathy is the biggest and single leadership skill needed today. From empathy comes listening skills. A leader who knows how to listen to their employees can do miracles. Teams that feel seen, heard, appreciated and taken care of feeling valued and respected. Things most of the leaders think unachievable – like trust, loyalty, collaboration, and creativity, all can be achieved if we have empathy for each other.

 Like Prince Leo Leaders who are high on empathy know how to cut the shackles that limit their people and bring the best in them.