Once upon a time, there was a herd of monkeys going around from one area to another in a jungle. They were guided by an able monkey who was their leader. All listened to that money for any directions / decisions.
The leader monkey had a child which was quite ordinary. The leader monkey had a very soft corner for the child monkey, for obvious reasons. As a result, all other monkeys also started respecting the child monkey. Their respect for the child monkey was more out of compassion and respect for the leader monkey rather than the qualities of child monkey.
As the child monkey was growing, it got used to the respect it got from all other monkeys. The other monkeys also continued to show respect partly because of the habit and party because it did not really affect them. In the process, the child monkey started having firm belief in its mind that it was a special monkey, different from the rest.
The leader monkey was watching all this and was actually worried about the future of child monkey. It knew that the child monkey would find it difficult to lead the group one day when it retires. However, it pretended as though the problem did not exist. It gave lots of opportunities to the child monkey from time to time, to learn and gain experience, but the child monkey just could not get the things right. It miserably failed in every assignment and opportunity bestowed on it, to prove its mettle.
In the meantime, the monkeys in the group were also growing big and some of them had developed leadership qualities as well. They started silently nurturing the dream of becoming the leader of the group. However, they knew very well that on the day of reckoning, the group would support the child monkey as their leader instead of any other capable monkey.
Finally the day came when the leader monkey started feeling old and tired. It had to pass on the mantle to someone in the group. The leader, like any other parent in the world, had too much love for its child and announced one day that the child monkey would be holding number 2 position and be their leader in future. The child monkey was thrilled and the group celebrated the ascent. However, silently everyone wondered as to how the child monkey was going to lead the group.
The future…
The future holds an interesting scenario.
The entire group of monkeys can be divided in four groups.
Old leaders
These were the old monkeys of group who had leadership qualities and supported the main group leader at all times. They were slightly hurt as their chance to become a leader were now faded.
Followers of old leaders
These were the old monkeys who were supporters of these old leaders. They felt sorry for the old leaders and were wondering whether they should shift their loyalty within the group.
Young leaders
There were some young monkeys with leadership qualities. They had nothing to lose by working under the child monkey, as they had age on their side. They were comfortable of the fact that once the child monkey is proved a failure, their chances of becoming a leader would become automatically bright.
Supporters of young leaders
These were the largest in the entire group and were only happy to see the child monkey take over the reins. They had not much knowledge about the qualities required for leading the group, or tough decision making etc.
Summary
Has the group been responsible for keeping the child monkey weak throughout, by excessive praise and respect than what it deserved?
Were the older leaders of the group not guilty of keeping the child monkey away from reality about its true capabilities all these days?
Were the younger leaders in the group not displaying opportunism to further their interests in the process of praising the child monkey, as it helped them to get closer to power centre in new scenario?
Has everyone in the group not failed to bring the up the child monkey in a proper environment because of excessive compliments, which further weakened the child monkey?
It is better to be able and fail… rather than to be incapable but get recognized and praised…!
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