The Mirror On The Wall

Once there was a remote little village. The people in this village were very simple. One day, a tourist arrived. The next morning, he took out his mirror and put it up on a wall so he could shave. He cleaned up and shaved, but he forgot to take the mirror off the wall before he traveled on.

An elderly villager with gray hair, bright eyes, and a beautiful shining face saw the mirror on the wall and looked into it. He had never seen a reflection of himself, so when he saw the face in the mirror, he was mesmerized, and he said to himself, "Today, I have seen the face of God." He left---completely happy: "I have seen God."

Then a young girl came along. When she saw herself in the mirror, she was taken aback. "I have seen the most beautiful woman on the face of this earth. When I grow up, this is what I want to look like!"

And then came along a man who had lost his father not too long before. He looked in the mirror and said, "Oh, my God! I have seen my father again."

Now, the three people who had seen themselves in the mirror started to get very upset. The older man wanted the mirror, because this is where he had seen the face of his god. The young girl wanted the mirror, because this is what she wanted to look like. And the third man wanted the mirror, because in it he had seen his father again. They started arguing, and before long, fights were breaking out all over the village. Everybody was unhappy, because whoever went to the room and looked in the mirror on the wall---whatever they saw, they liked, and they all wanted the mirror for themselves.

Finally, a wise man happened to come by. When he saw what was going on in the village, he asked, "Why are you all fighting?"

Different people answered: "I want this thing because this is my god," or "This is who I want to be," or "This is my father," or "This is my this; this is my that."

So he asked for the magical thing to be taken down from the wall and brought to him. He looked at it and said, "Don't you know what this is? This is a mirror."

He called the old man, and he said, "You did not see the face of God. You saw yourself."

He called the young girl, and he said, "You did not see the most beautiful woman. You saw yourself."

He called the third man, and said, "You did not see your father; you saw yourself. You look like your father, and that's why you thought you saw him, but it was you."

One by one, he called everyone and said, "What you see in this mirror, what you like in this mirror, is not the mirror. It's you!"

8 Essential Elements of Team-Building

A team is more than just a group with a common aim. It is a group in which the contributions of individuals are seen as complementary. Collaboration, working together, is the keynote of a team activity. So certain essential elements are needed in a team in order for it to function effectively. These are:

1. Chairman

An individual who can control and coordinate the other team members, who recognises their talents but is not threatened by them, and who is concerned with what is feasible rather than what is exciting or imaginative.

2. Shaper

This is another leader role, but one in which the role-holder acts much more directly to shape the decisions and thinking of the team.

3. Innovator

This type of person provides the creative thinking in a team, even if a concern for good ideas overshadows his ability to be sensitive to other people's needs.

4. Monitor/Evaluator

The strength of this role lies in the holder's ability to analyse issues and suggestions objectively.

5. Company Worker

Whilst the first four roles provide the major inspiration and leadership, this role provides for implementation of ideas by the role-holders' ability to translate general ideas and plans into practice.

6. Team Worker

This role meets the needs of the team for cohesiveness and collaboration, for role-holders tend to be perceptive of people's needs and adept at supporting individuals.

7. Resource Investigator

A person in this role looks for resources and ideas outside the team with the aim of supporting the team's efforts.

8. Completer

This is an individual whose energies are directly primarily to the completion of the task, and who harnesses anxiety and concern towards getting the job done on time and to a high standard.

The Lion Cub

One day, a farmer was walking through the jungle. He came across a poor, helpless little lion cub. So he picked him up and brought him home and fed him. Now, the cub was feeling better, so he put him in the barn with all the sheep. Every day, he would let the sheep out to graze, and the lion cub would come out with them. This kept happening day after day after day---and years passed like this.

One day, a huge lion came out from the forest and roared. All the sheep started running around hiding. And the little lion also started to hide, just like the sheep. The big lion, seeing the little lion, came over to him and asked, "What are you doing?"

And the little lion said, "Aghhh! Please don't eat me!" The big lion said, "Eat you? Don't you know who you are? Why are you acting like a sheep?" "Oh, please don't eat me." The lion said, "You are a lion." The little lion said, "Whatever----just don't eat me!!" So the big lion said, "Come with me." He took the little lion to the pond, and he said, "Look. See who you really are."

The little lion looked at his reflection, and he looked like the big lion. He said, "Really? Is that who I am?" "Yes! That's who you are!!? Can't you see? Now, roar with me because you're not a sheep----you're a lion." The little lion roared, and he thanked the big lion. And the big lion said, "I didn't do anything. I only showed you who you are."