There was a Captain on a large ship and as he sat in his chamber, one of his sailors came down to him and said: “Sir, there is a light up ahead.”
The Captain said: “Well, is it coming straight at us or off to the side?” “Well”, the sailor replied, “it’s coming straight at us.”
“Then we must be on a direct collision course with another ship,” said the Captain. “Signal them that they must change theircourse by 20 degrees.”
The sailor ran off and did as he was told. He returned and said: “Sir, they signaled to us; ‘change OUR course by 20 degrees.’”
Well, the Captain was a little bit disturbed by this and he said: “tell them that I am a CAPTAIN and I COMMAND that they change their course by 20 degrees.”
The sailor ran off and did as he was told. He returned with their message: “I am a SEAMAN SECOND CLASS and I still suggest you change your course by 20 degrees.”
Well, by this time the Captain was mad; he was very mad, and he said, “You tell them I am a BATTLESHIP and I DEMAND that they change their course by 20 degrees.” Well, the sailor ran off and did as he was told.
Then he came back and he sat there silently as the Captain demanded: “So, are they changing their course?” And the sailor replied:
“Sir”, they said, “I am a LIGHT HOUSE and I recommend you change your course by 20 degrees.”
I came across this story while reading the book "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" (which i highly recommend). The author, Stephen Covey, is pointing out the need to change our point of view in order to see things in the right 'light' so to speak.
The sea captian saw only his authoritative rank as a means to get what he wanted, but when presented with actuallity, he then changed his course. We are the captain when we head in our own direction oblivious to the wise council we have surrounding us. Only till we are about to collide with reality do we step back to reassess the situation - and that's only if we're lucky.
Don't let your ego get in the way of the lighthouse ahead.
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