Fighting fires or firing up?

A farmer in the country has a watermelon patch. Upon inspection, he discovered that some of the local kids have been helping themselves to a feast. The farmer thought of ways to discourage this profit-eating situation. So he put up a sign that read, “WARNING: ONE OF THESE WATERMELONS CONTAINS CYANIDE!”

The farmer returned a week later to discover that none of the watermelons have been eaten. But he found another sign that read: “NOW THERE ARE TWO!”

The cyanide sign was not a very good idea at all.

I met this very famous business executive in a restaurant he owns and will never forget the brief conversation I had with him. It started when he stopped to greet me and shake my hand. “How are you Francis?” he greeted. “Nice to see you here.”

“So nice to see you,” I returned as we shook hands. “And what’s keeping you busy these days?” I asked.

Without missing a beat this charming executive looked at me and said, “Fighting fires all the time I suppose.” We exchanged some more brief pleasantries, and then he was gone. But the words he said resonated within me.

That’s what leaders do all the time: fight fires. And in all of my years of business and leading experience, this has always held true. The more I think about this, the more I realize that fighting fires could very well be a means of firing up the creativity within me.

One of the most desirable attitudes of a leader is an ability to view problems as opportunities, and setbacks as temporary inconveniences. The way we handle our circumstances, whether good or bad, determines whether we are fighting fires or allowing the situation to fire us up. How we approach challenges and problems is a crucial aspect of our decision-making process, whether in business or in our personal lives.

More often than not, I see a lot more negativity in the work place than the positive things we desire. Famous speaker and author Dr. Dennis Waitley is right when he said that you and I work in environments in which criticism, pessimism, cynicism, and motivation by fear prevail, and that an attitude develops that leads to avoiding failure at all costs. The trouble with failure avoidance is that, it’s simultaneously avoidance of success, which depends on big risks. Innovation and creativity are impossible when people are in fear of being penalized for failure.

We were punished when we failed in school. Friends and foes alike ridiculed us when we failed in our past endeavors. And so early experience often teaches that failure is to be avoided at all costs.

The criticisms really hurt. The ridicule caused deep scars that we live with till this day. And when we begin to associate ourselves with the failures we experienced, we forget the fundamental knowledge that success is an event, not a person.

The longer I live in this decaying planet, the more I learn that problems are actually opportunities in disguise. All lasting success in life is laced with problems and misfortunes which require creativity and innovation. Winners turn stumbling blocks into steppingstones.

Dr. Waitley tells us a story that in the 1920s, when Ernest Hemingway was working hard to perfect his craft, he lost a suitcase containing all his manuscripts. The devastated Hemingway couldn’t conceive of re-doing his work. He could think only of the months he’d devoted to his arduous writing – and for nothing, he was then convinced. But when he lamented his loss to poet Ezra Pound, Pound called it a stroke of luck. Pound assured Hemingway that when he rewrote the stories, he would forget the weak parts and only the best material would reappear. Instead of framing the event in disappointment, Pound cast it in the light of opportunity. Hemingway did rewrite the stories, and the rest, as they say, is history.

As you go to the work place this week, frame your challenges as opportunities to grow and learn, rather than just cheap disappointments and problems. Allow fighting fires to fire you up. And as the Good Book would remind us, welcome trials and problems, because through it our character grows. So start growing!

(Develop your leadership skills with Francis Kong this January 19-20 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. Call Pam or Krisselle of Inspire Leadership Consultancy Inc. at 632-6872614 or 09178511115 for further details.)