![](/sites/default/files/editorial_images/Turtle1000_0.jpg)
Photo by Marcus Dietachmair on Unsplash
You can learn a lot about leadership from Master Oogway in Kung Fu Panda. He emphasizes leading today rather than worrying about yesterday or tomorrow.
ADVERTISEMENT |
My expectations for the movie were quite low. I mean, a panda that does kung fu? A jackrabbit I could buy. But a panda? Then again, I’m a huge Jack Black fan. The biggest and most pleasant surprise was Master Oogway, the turtle. (Or is it tortoise? I always get those confused.) His wisdom was entertaining and enlightening. The best part is, it’s also applicable to everyday leadership and life.
There’s a scene where Oogway is dropping some knowledge (as a kung fu master is wont to do). The dude is pretty deep for a turtle. He states, “Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, but today is a gift. That is why it is called the present.”
I stopped slurping on my white raspberry slushy and thought for a moment. Wow, that turtle has a point. The implications of Oogway’s statement reverberated throughout the cosmos with a thunderous clap. He was talking about how we move through life and, more important, how we can show up as leaders.
Sure, right now you’re thinking that slushy gave me a brain freeze, and that’s why this whole turtle/kung fu/leadership notion is so confusing. So allow me to explain.
As leaders, we sometimes focus on where an individual on our team has been—the errors they’ve made or the successes they’ve had—to sum up their existence and worth to the organization. Their past defines them. Some rest on these laurels, and ultimately their performance declines. Others are cursed by one or two past mistakes, and they’re written off despite the potential they might have for future greatness. (See the “Buying Damaged Goods” post for more thoughts on this point.)
Oogway correctly points out that all those events are history. They’re written and should no longer have an effect on the future. By placing disproportionate emphasis and importance on those events, a leader is living in the past and may miss opportunities to positively influence the future.
The second trap leaders can fall into is looking to the future for new challenges or development opportunities for their people. It’s fun to focus on promotions, new roles, new projects, and new challenges. We can dream of big things for our people and obsess about ways to get them those chances to grow. On the downside, we spend hours thinking about those uncomfortable progress reviews where we’re going to have to deliver bad news. We fret over the difficult conversations we know we’re going to have with an individual who isn’t performing well.
Of course, Oogway is right again in that the future is an unknown. The person may up and quit tomorrow. Or their performance might change dramatically. Or they might come to you and say, “I know I’m not doing well, and here’s what I want to change.” Oogway’s point is we simply don’t know how those things will pan out. Exerting energy on trying to divine those outcomes isn’t the best use of our resources.
All we have is today. What’s going on with your people right now? How are they performing in this moment? What are their current concerns and issues? How can you help them succeed at what they’re working on today?
Oogway is simply saying we can learn from the past (but don’t obsess over it or let it affect the future), and we can’t do anything about the future other than affecting what’s happening today. Live in the moment. Lead today. Tomorrow will follow. If you as a leader can get involved with your team daily and focus solely on the outcomes of those interactions, the cumulative effect of such efforts will deliver a bright future and write a history you can be proud of.
Who knew animated turtles could be so smart?
Published May 22, 2024, in The thoughtLEADERS Brief on LinkedIn.
Comments
Oogway's Error
While not wishing to invalidate your important message about the past particularly in defining a person related to their history, Oogway is completely incorrect when stating, “Yesterday is history” if conveying that history is fixed. One might think that the past is written and only the now should affect the future, but in truth the past is fluid and continuously reshapes both the present and the future. The past is not fixed. It is not written. One’s whole world, their past, their present, and the direction of the future can instantly become totally different when new information is acquired. Especially highly impactful things that the person believed were true and fixed are discovered to be not true. Everything changes when that happens. Everything the person thought ‘was’, becomes ‘was not’. The 'was' becomes something completely different. The 'now' abruptly reframes to align with new construct so that what was 'is’ is now a different ‘is’.
My recommendation is to recognize the fluidity of the past, how it is always changing affecting the momentary now and the direction of the future. Let it flow through you and be fluid yourself. Deal with the now as it is in this moment, try to shape the world from moment to moment in positive ways, but understand that the now is but a transitory illusion.
Past is history but reflection teaches a learning lesson
Staying in the present and enjoying the moment is vital. Decisions and actions taken shapes our future.
Yesterday is a history, but refelection on yesterday, leads to lessons to learn and calibrate our actions and decisions to ensure the future will make us happy.
Add new comment