Leadership, Carrots, Eggs & Coffee Beans

I apologize for not knowing the source of this story. If you know who to attribute it to, send me a note and I’ll update the attribution.

First the story:

The daughter of a very wise chef complained to her father about her life and how things have been so hard for her. She did not know how she was going to make it and she wanted to give up. She was tired of fighting and struggling. It seemed that just as one problem was solved another arose.

Her father took her to the kitchen, filled three pots with water and placed the fire on high. Soon the three pots came to a boil. In one he placed carrots, in the other he placed eggs, and in the last he placed ground coffee beans. He let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

…In half an hour he walked over to the stove and turned down the fire. He pulled the carrots out and placed them in the bowl.  He pulled the eggs out and placed them in the bowl. Then he ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to his daughter he asked. "Darling what do you see."

Smartly, she replied. "Carrots, eggs, and coffee."

He brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots. She did and noted that they were soft. He then asked her to take an egg and break it. After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg.

Finally, he asked her to sip the coffee. Her face frowned from the strength of the coffee.

Humbly, she asked. "What does it mean Father?"

He explained. "Each of them faced the same adversity, 212 degrees of boiling water. However each reacted differently."

"The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. But after going through boiling water, it softened and became weak."

"The egg was fragile. A thin outer shell protected a liquid center.

But after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened."

"The coffee beans are unique however. After they were in the boiling water, they became stronger and richer."

"Which are you," he asked his daughter. "When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond? Are you a carrot, an egg, or a coffee bean?

"Are you the carrot that seems hard, but with the smallest amount of pain, adversity, or heat you wilt and become soft with no strength?

"Are you the egg, which starts off with a malleable heart? A fluid spirit. But after a death, a breakup, a divorce, a layoff, a bad marketing experience you became hardened and stiff. Your shell looks the same, but you are so bitter and tough with a stiff spirit and heart, internally.

"Or are you like the coffee bean? The bean does not get its peak and robust flavor until it reaches 212 degrees Fahrenheit when the water gets the hottest. When things are at their worst, you get better. When people talk the most about you, your praise increase. When the hour is the darkest, trials are their greatest, your worship elevates to another level

Source Unknown

Ok, I thought this was a good story and certainly has merit in my view in terms of being a metaphor for how leadership can be seen, but there is a major problem with the underlying assumption—that once knowing this, we can change from carrot to bean, or egg to bean. I suppose if I had some more time or someone more innovative than I could provide a metaphor for many styles of leadership that would help people identify them through analogy and metaphor. However, the same underlying assumption remains—that we can change our identity.

What the story doesn’t come out and say is that the carrot has the identity of the egg or the bean, or anything else. I believe this is ‘fundamentally’ critical to leadership. Because it is so difficult to change our identity at will, I go back to the chef’s metaphor, (as a chef in a prior life<G>)…in creating a recipe that tastes good and produces high levels of satisfaction for all involved, a chef learns about ingredients. They don’t try to make carrots, eggs, or beans. They realize that each identity has something special to contribute and that when mismatches occur, satisfaction and results plummet. I would suggest to you that the story above has a wonderful metaphor, only it is not seen at the level at which the story is told. You have to look deeper into ingredients, the identities of each before making up your mind about how to tell the story of each, the carrot, egg and bean.

In life, work and leadership, learning about ingredients in the leadership equation will lead you to use different kinds of leaders in certain situations and not in others. You can’t expect to use a carrot to create coffee flavor or to hold up in boiling water….

I believe that leadership is evolving dramatically and we are only seeing the tip of the iceberg in this evolution. Many of the old stories, while enjoyable and noteworthy hold deeper, more profound meanings about the underlying assumptions that are based upon. Leadership in my view will begin to see much deeper into the stories of our time and question the mythic metaphors most of us have grown up with.

From the desk of Mike R. Jay, Master Business Coach
Founder, http://www.leadershipuniversity.com 

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Comments

[Mouli]

This is a nice story. I am a network leader. do send me anysuch motivatinal stories whenever you are free.