By Jill Roberts
I find analogies mentally titillating. Good ones unfold, like a riddle. This one, was particularly seductive. It stuck in my head, while I unscrambled its meaning, and debated its cleverness.
As translated from the Tao Te Ching, a 4th-6th century BC Chinese work, Lao Tzu, credits “humility,” for that which attracts the water from streams, to the Sea.
Humility, is defined by Merriam-Webster as, “freedom of pride or arrogance.” Therefore, to be humble, would be to show a modest estimate of one’s cleverness or importance.
By example, the Sea shows its humility, by sitting lower in elevation to the streams. As if to bow, the sea metaphorically places itself at lessor importance to the streams. Thereby, is how the Sea acquires its strength.
The analogy takes the example from nature to make the human connection that to focus less on one’s importance, combined with the willingness to accept and learn from those around us, are essential attributes of a powerful and effective leader.