4 REFLECT: on progress
The classic children's tale The Story of Ferdinand by Munro Leaf, first published in 1936, is so popular that it has never been out of print. Ferdinand isn't your typical bull. All the other bulls around him dream of being chosen to compete in the bullfight in Madrid, but Ferdinand prefers to roam free and smell the flowers in the field.
One day Ferdinand is stung by a bumblebee, which sets him running wildly across the field, stamping and snorting. As fate would have it, at that moment he is spotted by some men whose job it is to select a bull for the upcoming running of the bulls in the capital. Mistaking him for a mad and aggressive bull, he is renamed ‘Ferdinand the Fierce' and taken to Madrid.
When the bullfight begins, though, Ferdinand shows no interest in fighting the matador; he is attracted by the flowers adorning the women spectators' hair. So he lies in the middle of the ring to enjoy them.
Everyone is mad at him — the banderilleros, the picadores and the matador — but Ferdinand is happy. Eventually he is taken back to his pasture and his flowers to live out a peaceful and contented life.
If meeting the expectations of your boss means you have to change who you are and be something different you have to wonder, is it worth it?
Trying to be something you are not is stressful. So it's important to reflect on the progress you've made in improving the relationship with your boss, as well as on the impact it's having on you.
Because you will ...
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