The Leadership Factor
If you’ve read the Human-Dog Problem Tree series, you might have noticed that my focus is on figuring out WHY aren’t humans following certain instructions we know we ought to follow. One such instruction is the focus on being a pack leader to your dog.
While the word “leader” has a different meaning to different people, my focus will be on being a leader to one’s own self. After all, if we can’t be a leader to ourselves, what chance do we have being a leader to a dog or a group of people.
Certain people simply do not see themselves as leaders of anything or anyone. This is dangerous. We should all endeavor to be leaders; leaders of ourselves, leaders of our community, leaders of our profession, leaders of the universe.
The word “leader” in this context is defined as follows.
Leader; a facilitator of positive experience.
These internal leadership principles are way beyond the scope of this post, and I hope to explore them with you at a later time, but for now, my immediate goal is to convince you to BE a leader and show you what happens when you don’t heed the call to leadership.
To that end, I will re-tell an old story of a man who was decidedly a follower. Perhaps by seeing the way followers fair through the eyes of time, it will help us see the value of taking control of ourselves.
David and Uriah
Most are familiar with the story of David and Goliath. Few are familiar with the story of David and Uriah.
Uriah the Hittite was, by all accounts, the kind of guy most would admire. He was strong, brave, loyal to a fault, committed, dedicated, a family man, a warrior and a long time soldier in King David’s army.
Uriah was a member of David’s “mighty men” brigade. A kind of personal guard consisting of 38 men entrusted with carrying out orders and actions of the outmost importance. In fact, Uriah and David were so close that Uriah’s quarters were near David’s king-quarters.
Something interesting happened in king’s quarters while Uriah was carrying out those actions of the outmost importance in the battlefield.
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| Mei, Bernardino - David and Bathsheba. Image Wikimedia Commons |
David spotted and took a liking to Bathsheba, who, as it turns out, was Uriah’s wife.
David and Bathsheba copulated which resulted in Bathsheba pregnancy. No matter, David always had a plan.
In an attempt to cover-up the adultery and pregnancy David had sent for Uriah to come back and “be” with his wife, hoping they would lay down together which would in effect be convincing enough that Uriah was the father of Bathsheba’s child.
Uriah decided to stay true to the code of honor shared by the mighty men who abstain from sex before battle. Out of solidarity with his fellow soldiers, Uriah refused to lay down with his wife and instead chose to guard David’s quarters until further orders were issued.
Realizing that his plan is not going to work, David hatched another one.
David decided to send Uriah back to the battlefield with a sealed letter carrying orders for Joab, a long time commander of David’s troops. Unbeknownst to Uriah, letter had instructed Joab to put Uriah in the line of fire and order other men to retreat effectively leaving Uriah in enemy’s hands. Joab carried out the orders without question and a great man was dead as a result.
Back to Now
I don’t mean to get all biblical on your ass, but I hope this story convinces you to become a leader. First to yourself, then to your dog, then to your family, community and the rest of the universe.
The leadership principles that we practice while “leading” ourselves, are the same leadership principles that we practice when leading our dog, are the same leadership principles we practice when leading humans.
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Related articles:
Human-Dog Problem Tree - PART ONE
Human-Dog Problem Tree - PART TWO
Human-Dog Problem Tree - PART THREE
Human-Dog Problem Tree - PART FOUR
Human-Dog Problem Tree - PART FIVE
Human-Dog Problem Tree - PART SIX
Human-Dog Problem Tree - PART SEVEN
Human Dog Problem Tree - PART EIGHT
Human Dog Problem Tree - PART NINE
Human Dog Problem Tree - PART TEN
Human Dog Problem Tree - PART ELEVEN
Human Dog Problem Tree - PART TWELVE
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