An observation on August 30, 2006
To illustrate how difficult it is to communicate with someone who “clams up,” my pastor recently recounted his boyhood encounter with a turtle. As a young boy in Kentucky, he captured a turtle and was determined to see what he really looked like. No matter what my pastor did, the turtle refused to come out of his shell. Instead, the turtle hid himself in the safety of his rock-hard shell.
Since Pastor couldn’t get the turtle out of the shell, he lost interest in the turtle.
In telling the story, Pastor wanted us to see the importance of open communication and the danger of retreating within one’s shell. Though I got his point, my imagination took his illustration along an entirely different path.
Imaging myself as the young boy, I wondered, “How would I get the turtle out of his shell?” Consider the actions I could take toward the turtle; I could
• prod it
• poke it
• pull on it
• hit it
• shake it, or, to be extreme I could
• take the shell off!
Every action I could take toward the turtle would either force him to stay within the safety of his shell or cause him harm.
If I really wanted to get the turtle out of his shell, I would need to take my focus off the turtle. Instead, I would need to consider two other variables: 1. me, and 2. the environment.
Considering me: Instead of acting upon the turtle, I must put the turtle on the ground where he belongs, step back, and get out of his way.
Considering the environment: As I set the turtle down, I could help get him out of his shell by
• making sure I set him down right side up,
• putting him in a safe place,
• pointing him in the right direction for his own good,
• looking down the road to see if there are barriers along his path and moving them, and finally,
• surveying the surroundings to make sure there were no turtle predators around.
Sometimes effective leadership is nothing more than helping people get on their feet, right side up, pointed in the right direction, and then stepping out of their way to let them grow. Effective leadership is often unseen leadership—while you’re letting people grow, you’re also looking down the road in front of them so you can knock down the barriers and kill the predators.
Bottom line: Effective leaders change themselves and change the conditions of the environment to let others help themselves grow. Leaders don’t change people. They help make it possible for people to change themselves.
