Leadership: Bird Story

A bird taught me a valuable lesson.

Here's the story.

We were at the Wild Bird Show in the San Diego Zoo. At the end of this show, the speaker invited people to give a dollar to support two causes: The California Condor Project and The World Parrot Trust.

Since this is a bird show, they use a bird to collect the money. In this case it was an African Collared Raven, which is a large magnificent bird. People would hold out a dollar, the bird would grab the bill with its beak and stuff it into a large plastic bin.

This bird works fast, too. Maybe the bird realizes the importance of processing of donations quickly, before people can change their minds.

Each time someone gave a dollar, the speaker said "Thanks!" And if someone gave five dollars, the speaker gave the donor a token bracelet and a huge, "Thanks!"

Since I felt especially touched by the show, I decided to give twenty dollars. And I will admit that I was enjoying the expectation of receiving extraordinary gratitude.

So I held out a $20 bill, the bird grabbed it, and stuffed it in the bin.

Gone.

But no one noticed.

After all, the bird can't read numbers. And the speaker was thanking someone else.

I stood there briefly, adsorbing the reality of what had just occurred. I had just spent $20. And nothing happened. No thanks. No bracelet. No glorious fan fare of horns. Nothing.

Then I realized something.
 

I spent $20 to preserve endangered wildlife, not to receive recognition. And that's important. Great leaders do good things because they're the right thing to do. Any thanks that we might receive is a bonus.

Key Point: Do good things because it's the right thing to do.

Much success,

Steve Kaye

714-528-1300

Author, Speaker, IAF Certified Professional Facilitator

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