Rabbits  Were  Born  to  Run  A  Parable  of  Talent  Management  

A  rabbit,  a  duck,  an  eagle  and  a  squirrel  decide  to  find    a  school  so  they  can  be  smart,  just  like  people.    

They  found  what  seemed  to  be  a  fine  school,  with  a  curriculum  to  make    a  well-­‐rounded  animal:  swimming,  flying,  running  and  tree  climbing.  

Rabbit’s  first  class  was  running.  There  he  was  a  star.  He  ran  to  the  top  of  the  hill  and  back  as  fast  as  he  could.      He  said  to  himself,  “I  love  school.  I  get  to  do  what  I  like  and  learn  to  do  it  even  beIer.”  

The  next  class  was  swimming.  When  rabbit  saw  all  that  water,  he  cried,  “Wait,  wait!  Rabbits  don’t  like  to  swim.”  

The  instructor  replied,  “Look  how  well  duck  is  doing.  You  may  not  like  it  now,  but  five  years  from  now  you’ll  know  this  lesson  was  worth  it.”  

In  the  tree-­‐climbing  class,  rabbit  tried  so  hard  he  hurt  his  leg.  He  tried  and  tried  but  sPll,  he  could  not  climb  that  tree.    

Flying  class  was  also  a  struggle.  Rabbit  had  to  pracPce  jumping  off  a  cliff.  They  told  him  if  he’d  just  work  hard  enough,  he  could  learn  to  fly.  

The  next  morning,  he  returned  to  swimming  class.  The  instructor  announced,  “Today  we  jump  in  the  water.”    “Wait,  wait.  My  parents  didn’t  learn  to  swim.  Rabbits  don’t  like  to  get  wet.”      “You  have  two  choices,”  said  the  instructor,  “swim  or  flunk.”  

Rabbit  jumped  in.  He  franPcally  tried  to  keep  his  head  above  water.  The  instructor  saw  he  was  drowning  and  pulled  him  out.  He  wanted  desperately  to  get  out    of  swimming  class  and  was  relieved  when  it  was  over.    

Rabbit  leS  swimming  feeling  so  bad  he  knew  he  could  not  face  swimming  class  again.      He  hopped  toward  the  counselor’s  office.  Surely  the  counselor  would  understand  and  help  him.    

When  he  arrived  at    the  counselor’s  office,  he  hopped  up  on  a  stump  and  said,  “I  don’t  like  school.  I    just  want  to  run.”    And  the  counselor  said,  “Mmmm,  tell  me  about  it.”    And  rabbit  did.  

The  counselor  said,  “Rabbit,  you  need  to  be  more  well-­‐rounded  and  learn  to  do  everything  well.  You’re  doing  just  fine  in  running.  What  you  need  to  work  on  is  swimming.  I’ll  arrange  it  so  you  don’t  have  to  go  to  running  anymore,  and  you  can  have  two  periods  of  swimming.”      When  rabbit  heard  that,    he  felt  sick  to  his  stomach.    

As  rabbit  hopped  out  of  the  counselor’s  office  he    looked  up  and  saw  the  Wise  Old  Owl,  who  said,    “Rabbit,  life  doesn’t  have  to  be  that  way.    We  could  have  schools  and  businesses  where  animals  are    allowed  to  concentrate  on    what  they  do  well.”      

Rabbit  was  inspired!    

He  decided  to  start  a  school  where  

everyone  could  do  what  they  were  made  to  do.    

Ducks  could  just  swim.    ASer  all,  ducks  were  designed  to  swim.    

Squirrels  could  just  climb  trees.    ASer  all,  squirrels  were  created  to  climb.    

Eagles  could  just  fly.    ASer  all,  eagles  were  meant  to  fly.    

Rabbits  would  do  nothing  but  run.    ASer  all,  rabbits  were  born  to  run.      

The  moral  of  the  story  is…                      Turning  talent  into  performance  requires  leZng  your  squirrels  climb,  ducks  swim,  eagles  fly  and  of  course,  leZng  your  rabbits  run…  

As  a  manager,  how  can  you  make  sure    your  team  is  opera9ng  at  its  best?  

1.  Don’t  look  for  what’s  wrong  and  try  to  fix  it  in  an  aIempt  to  make  everyone  well  rounded.  

2.  IdenPfy  what  your  people  do  well.  3.  Find  ways  for  them  to  do  more  of  it.  

With  inspira4on  from  Don  Cli7on  &  Paula  Nelson  from  Soar  With  Your  Strengths    and  Animal  School  by  George  H.  Reavis,  and  apologies  to  Bruce  Springsteen.  

Rabbits  Were  Born  to  Run  A  Parable  of  Talent  Management