The Goose that Laid the Golden Eggs -- A Leadership Fable by Aesop

This little fable has a deep meaning for leaders, teams, and organizations.
Read it and following I have a few questions for you to consider.

THE GOOSE THAT LAID THE GOLDEN EGGS

A Man and his Wife had the good fortune to possess a Goose which laid a Golden Egg every day. Lucky though they were, they soon began to think they were not getting rich fast enough, and, imagining the bird must be made of gold inside, they decided to kill it in order to secure the whole store of precious metal at once. But when they cut it open they found it was just like any other goose. Thus, they neither got rich all at once, as they had hoped, nor enjoyed any longer the daily addition to their wealth.

Much wants more and loses all.
__________

1. What is the goose that lays the golden egg in your life right now? It may be the organization that you are leading or maybe it's YOU. A leader can get so focused on leading and organizational outcomes that she/he can lose her soul in the quest.
2. Is there a way to coax more production out of the goose or is this a time to 'fatten' up the goose?
3. If you are patient what's the long term payout from a well-cared for goose?
4. If you insist on pressing the goose into more production right now what will likely happen?
5. Would you rather have production far into the future or an immediate return?
6. Are you willing to adjust your expectations so that both the goose and you can 'win'?
7. What's the most important thing to do to take care of your goose right now? Over the next 3 months? 6 Months? One year? 3 years? 5 years?

We can accomplish far more in 10 years than we imagine and far less in one year than we'd like. Play for the long game. Push the fly wheel and be disciplined about your actions and you'll be amazed at how well the 'Goose' (call this your 'core business unit') does over the long haul. Impatience and failure to feed the goose with the training, tools, and marketing support she needs and you'll likely lose the long term payout that was possible.

Leaders run the tightrope of managing expectations AND producing long term profitability AND taking great care of the goose.

Let this fable feed your imagination about what you need to do to care for the Goose in your life.

Jeff Fuson

p.s. I'm on Twitter at JeffFuson if you wanna keep up with what's going on that way.

Jeff Fuson is a Leadership Keynote Speaker who serves as Point Leader for Phos Hilaron Church near Louisville Kentucky. Jeff's # 1 passion is being a husband and daddy. A close second is seeing people grow spiritually. As a Professional Speaker Jeff delivers Leadership Keynote Speeches & training events for Leaders, Executives, Supervisors, Entrepreneurs in Government, Banks, Credit Unions, NonProfits and other cutting edge enterprises. He's got one incredible wife and 3 awesome children.