The Mighty Mighty Egg Carton

To Serve, Protect, and Defend!

Do you think of your boss as a superhero? Someone who will keep you from harm, provide a safe place for you to perform, and help carry your career to higher places?

Well if you were an egg and your boss were an egg carton, you would certainly think of them as a superhero. After all, concerning egg cartons, our friends at Wikipedia tell us:

This structure helps protect eggs against stresses exerted during transportation and storage by absorbing a lot of shock and limiting the incidents of fracture to the fragile egg shells.

—————————————————

Examine that…

Look at that definition above for an egg carton. First the word “structure” conjures up images of strength, utility, purpose, and order. Anybody would want that from a boss, wouldn’t they?

Secondly, the words  “helps protect” connote a partnership in preservation and care. Wow, wouldn’t that be nice to have in a boss, too!

Next, “stresses” come to every person at every level in an organization. And having a boss to help protect you from them would be very welcome, indeed (and quite cool, too!)

Then, the word “transportation” speaks to the journey that we are all on in our life at work. If our bosses had an understanding of “journey” while leading the way to the “destination,” our rides would be a lot more enjoyable! Yay, good boss!!!

And what about the word “storage?” This word evokes elements of stability and contentment. “A place for everything and everything in its place.” A leader who can provide a home-base feeling for people would also be a comforting detail to enjoy.

Now tell me that a boss who would “absorb a lot of shock” for you while driving down that bumpy road called Employment Lane has got to be the cat’s meow!

That is totally superhero stuff right there! I don’t care who you are, you have to believe that!

And finally, if you had a boss that would stand up and actively  be “limiting the incidents of fracture” in your work life, would you just not love that! Your sense of security, belonging, purpose, admiration, and devotion would be huge!

————————————————————————————

Are you really an egg? Or are we all just kind of like one?

It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad. ~ C. S. Lewis

As Lewis puts it, we are all just beginners in one area or another. We should expect to grow through stages until the point where we can eventually fly from the protective nest and soar on our own. Of course, if we never grow up and stay immature, we are doomed to living a frustrated life in the nest, never to experience great freedom, great challenges and great rewards.

Think About Your Followers

The people who follow us are no different from us in terms of needing help sometimes. They need to be served, protected, and defended while in our care.

When we are bosses and leaders to others, remember the mighty mighty egg carton and what a superhero it is to the eggs it serves, protects, and defends. Remember to be protective, nurturing, strong, reliable, light weight, nimble, and to have plenty of room available for others.

So, do your followers feel served by you? Would they say that you protect them from political, emotional, and irrational harm that comes their way? Do you protect their work environment from overload, from too many meetings, or from unwarranted overload from above? Are you as good as the mighty mighty egg carton? I’d love to hear your take on this!

Add to: Facebook | Digg | Del.icio.us | Stumbleupon | Reddit | Blinklist | Twitter | Technorati

———————————————————–
Tom Schulte is Executive Director of Linked 2 Leadership &
CEO of Recalibrate Professional Development in Atlanta, GA USA.
He can be reached at [email protected]

Image Sources:briefcasediva.com, misosouper.com