Once Upon a Business – Episode 93
The Wind and the Sun
Lisa Bloom: There was once an argument between the wind and the sun about who was stronger than the other. They argued for a long time, but neither of them emerged the winner. It wasn’t too long before they spotted a man walking on the road. Looking at the man wearing a coat, an idea struck them both. They challenged each other that the one who succeeded in removing the coat from the man’s back was the strongest.
Hi, I’m Lisa Bloom, the story coach, and you’re listening to Once Upon a Business. In each episode we explore a story, a fairy tale, folk tale, or traditional story, so that we can discover the amazing lessons relevant for business and for entrepreneurs.
The wind volunteered to try first. It began to blow hard, raising gusts of air and making it harder for the man to take a step further. But the man clutched his coat tight around him and resumed walking with great difficulty. The wind continued blowing harder and harder, but the man held onto his coat tighter and tighter and continued his journey forward. Finally, the wind was exhausted and gave up. His efforts had been futile.
It was now the turn of the sun. He looked at the man and began to gently shine upon the path the man was walking on. The man looked up at the sky, surprised at the change in the weather. The sun did not spend much energy, neither did he apply any effort. He just continued shining upon the man’s head gently. Soon the man was huffing and puffing and swimming, sweating profusely. Unable to bear the rising heat, the man finally took off his coat and headed to a nearby tree to rest for a while under its shade.
This story comes from Aesop’s Fables. I remember being read this story as a little child. It was one of many stories in a big story book I had in my bedroom and this story always stood out. I loved it. In fact, I distinctly remember that every time I would walk on the street and feel a cold wind, I would imagine the wind and the sun having an argument as I would hug the coat close around me and wait for the sun to shine instead.
I still think about the story when the wind blows or the sun shines. It’s strange that it stayed so fresh in my mind all these years. The story teaches us valuable lessons both personally and for business. On a personal level, it points to the importance of kindness, patience and understanding as opposed to force. The idea that empathy and warmth is so much better than conflict and force. And I tend to agree.
In business we see that gentle persuasion and understanding people like the man in the story can refer to a more customer centric approach. This is preferable than the more aggressive tactics of the wind. It suggests that there are benefits of dealing with our clients with subtlety, flexibility, and, most importantly, to understand their needs. There’s another aspect of the story, though, that speaks to the ethics of our actions. The sun had a gentle method and it was effective, but still it was part of a bet to prove his superiority. It adds some complexity relating to the motivation behind our actions.
When we consider the potential impact of our strategies on others, shouldn’t we find a balance between what we want to achieve for ourselves and the means we use to reach our own personal goals? I’ve always believed that using storytelling in business is a huge responsibility. You see, stories can have such powerful impact on people that they can be easily misused.
I remember hearing a story told from a stage that was incredibly dramatic and fascinating to hear. Very well crafted and told well. An astonishing story, really, but it was also very shocking and harsh. The entrepreneur had been witnessed to some very difficult circumstances as a child, including shocking violence. Now they use this story to illustrate how they’d recovered and made an amazing life for themselves, and it was truly inspiring.
However, the story was also incredibly traumatic to hear, especially for anyone who had had any kind of childhood trauma. I saw that this story could cause damage if certain people were in the audience, as was the case when I heard the story for the first time. So in the process of attempting to inspire an audience to the possibility of recovery and even the ability to thrive despite incredible adversity, this person had in fact inflicted some painful experiences on their audience.
It’s like the wind and the sun so determined in their competition and their bid to be superior, they forget about the poor man being battered by the wind and then scorched by the sun. We need to be mindful not just of our intentions, but of the impact of our words and our actions. I still love this story. I imagine myself walking down a path, braving the elements and showing the wind that he can’t win with force. Gentleness is what will get me to take off my coat and also melt my heart, it seems.
I’m Lisa Bloom and you’ve been listening to Once Upon a Business. You can find out more about me at story-coach.com. That’s story-coach.com. Once Upon a Business is part of the Mirasee FM Podcast Network, which also includes such shows as Course Lab and Consciousness Explored. To catch the great episodes that are coming up on Once Upon a Business, please like and follow us on Mirasee FM’s YouTube channel or your favorite podcast player. And if you enjoyed the show, please leave us a comment or a starred review. It’s the best way to help us get these ideas to more people. Thank you. We’ll see you next time.