There were two raw eggs, both fell from a height of six feet. One broke and the other did not. Why?

Both eggs were identical. Each egg was raw. Each egg had a shell roughly 400 micrometers thick; but, the answer is quite simple: one was prepared for it and one was not.

One egg fell and it was surrounded by a box, padding and even had a parachute to slow it down while the other was all alone in its naked form. Both were equally eggs. Both were full of the same good stuff. Both were born on the same day, and both had achieved the same height. However, one had been prepared for the fall.
 

Discerning Relationship Health

In business and life, we have opportunities to grow, to achieve, to pursue purpose and to thrive. As we do so, we press beyond our reach toward our goals. We assail rights of passage, hop across stepping stones and arrive at the pinnacle of success. Along the journey, we have opportunities to bring others with us, to carry some and to push others. As we grow, we become yoked in those relationships. Some are good eggs while others are not.

Over the course of time, we will have the opportunity to examine our relationships and determine just how healthy they are for us. At every point, we have the ability to loosen the yoke and separate ourselves from them or to tighten it down and keep marching forward. Whatever we decide, it is our choice.

Some of those relationships will help us drive forward. Yoked with us, they will keep us in a straight line, they will help us push through to the next turn, they will share the burden and take us to success. Others will fight to take us off course—they will pull us down and influence us negatively. But, at every turn, we have a choice to make: do I let them loose or tighten it down?

For many of us, we will find some level of success based on our own sheer will. Our determination will pull us through. We will succeed because we cannot fail. Nevertheless, at every turning point, there is still an opportunity. Growth, whether in life or business, brings hardship. It tests us, it wears us down and every once in awhile, it gets the best of us. When it does, we begin to fall and everyone around us falls with us.
 

Questions for the Leader

Is your team in life or business ready to fall with you? Have you prepared them for the fall so that when it occurs they help you land softly? Will your yoke remain in tact so that the team can make another turn or will it break on impact and destroy all of you.