Soar with the Eagles and avoid the chickens

It takes courage to lead. Yet you must,especially if God has equipped you with leadership qualities. It can be difficult however, especially in some work enviroments where there is negativity and people who want to coast, rationalize why things don't get done, instead of doing them. And the attitude is, " that's the way it's always been done around here." Or one of my favorites, "that's not my job."

It reminds me of a story a good friend shared with me. When a new person walks into a job they usually see all the possibilities, not limits. When they go to work the first day they notice that there's a unique and not so pleasant smell, but they ignore it because they're new. Days pass, weeks pass, months pass. The "Eagle" still notices the smell, and inquires about it, but no one else, people who have been in their jobs for years never notice the smell. The reason why is that they have forgotten what the "stink" really is and just keep on working and complaining, yet without trying to find the source of the smell and solve the problem(s).

As Eagles, we cannot get use to the smell. There was a man walking through the forest and found a young eagle who had falling out of a nest. So he took him home and put the Eagle in his barn with his chickens. Pretty soon the Eagle was behaving like a chicken. A natualist visited one day and notice the Eagle acting like a chicken and asked his farmer friend if he could take the Eagle and help it regain its righful place in the sky as the best of all flying creatures. The naturalist took the Eagle on top of the tallest building he could find telling the Eagle, "stretch your wings and fly." But the Eagle was afraid and reacted like a chicken. The naturalist took a second and third attempt, but the Eagle continued to act like a chicken and not fly. One his fourth attempt the naturalist prayed for the Eagle, took him to that building again and said, "you are an Eagle, you belong in the sky, this is your purpose, stretch forth your wings and fly." At last the Eagle soared into the heavens. As the Eagle was in the air he passed that barn he was in, but kept on flying. Yes it's true, he may remember the chickens with fondness, but he will never revisit because he realized once he was in the sky, that he was an Eagle, but was raised as a chicken. He was not meant to act like them.

I believe you must remind yourself in work enviroments that pull you into the barnhouse, that you were meant to soar. Avoid the negative, work to solve problems that others really don't want to. Find ways to improve your work enviroment in spite of the "smell." Enjoy your work, and realize that God wants you to fly.