Leadership Lessons From A Sea Turtle And A Shark

When you think of a shark, what do you think?

Most people think something along the lines of, "Nature's Most Fearsome Predator".

Whether you love sharks or are terrified of them, we can all undoubtedly agree that they are powerful predators of the deep blue.

When we think of predators, we also have a lot of preconceived notions.

They take what they want.

They attack their prey mercilessly.

They claim their territory and destroy any seeking to step on their turf.

They desire to claim all the prey in their territory for themselves to consume.

They continuously seek to enlarge their territory.

This is how many people also think that business is conducted.

They must sit on the top of some imagined hierarchy, hunt, decimate any competition, claim all the "prey" for themselves, and enlarge their territory.

However, a recent video showed me another aspect of these predators that we often fail to see and understand.

What Happened Between The Shark and The Sea Turtle

In the ocean, sea turtles often become food for Sharks.

Sharks can easily take a single crunch and decimate a turtle.

However, that is not what happened in this video.

In the video, the shark has a sea turtle in its mouth.

Any second, it could have been completely over for this turtle.

However, the shark did not bite down.

The shark could have easily consumed this turtle, something sharks are known to do.

Instead, the shark carried this sea turtle, in its maw with three rows of terrible teeth, to a boat.

The boat kept moving away, as would make sense when it appears that a shark is about to consume prey.

However, the shark kept chasing the boat down.

The shark did not kill the turtle.

The shark did not even do any damage to the boat.

This mighty predator seemed to have one mission - deliver this turtle, unharmed by the shark, to this boat with people on it.

Why?

Once the people brought the turtle onto the ship and the shark left in complete peace, the answer became obvious.

This sea turtle had a rope around its neck, slowly killing it.

The people on the boat lept into action, cut the rope from the turtle's neck, cleaned the wound, and sent the turtle back into the ocean.

One of nature's most feared and powerful predators peacefully delivered a sea turtle, one of the shark's food sources, to the hands of people to save the turtle's life.

The Leadership Lessons From This Event

There are many lessons that Leaders can take away from this event.

➼ There's More To Being An Apex Predator Than Consuming

This shark could easily have had this turtle as a meal, but it didn't.

Why would a predator not take an easy meal?

Because there is also responsibility in being a top predator.

There's a reason why predators don't purely consume all the time.

There's a balance in nature that predators seemingly understand.

They act responsibly within their environments so their food sources don't disappear.

Top Leaders need to understand they have responsibilities within their industries because they are the Leaders.

It's not just about winning and consuming - it's about understanding your role.

➼ Your Environment Matters

When your environment is sick, it does damage to you.

The shark seemed to understand this and did what it could to help.

If the shark consumed this turtle, the rope would have remained an issue, possibly even for the shark.

If not for the shark today, it would have impacted the environment in other negative ways tomorrow.

Instead of allowing the rope to remain an issue, the shark sought a way to improve its environment.

When you are at the top, it becomes your responsibility to improve your environment.

Your sources of income won't be able to continue to feed you if they are dying and sick.

Your teams won't be able to function if they are continuously burnt out and hate their work.

➼ Sometimes The Wisest Move Looks Strange

Watching a predator save the life of its prey seems weird, like something out of a children's book.

It would be hard to believe if there wasn't footage of it happening.

However, in this situation, it was likely the best thing this shark could have done for its environment.

In business, there are many times the best move doesn't seem to make sense.

Some of the best businesses kill their own best products when launching something better.

Sometimes the best businesses move is to help your competitors.

One of the oldest moves to get customers to buy more is to refund them money when their experience wasn't the best.

None of these seem like the "logical" move.

Why destroy your own best product that is doing well?

Why would you help your competitor?

Why would you sacrifice profit, especially if it wasn't your fault?

The answer is that, often, the wisest thing isn't what people expect.

➼ Seek Help When You Don't Have The Resources

The shark, very clearly, did not have the tools to solve this problem on its own.

There is no way the shark could have saved this turtle with its huge mouth and sharp teeth.

However, that doesn't mean that there wasn't anything the shark could do.

Sometimes the most powerful thing we can do as Leaders is to seek help from outside sources.

Whether that is hiring a coach, finding a teacher, or getting a consultant - often the best thing we can do is get help.

You may be the best at something, the apex predator, but that doesn't mean you can do everything yourself.

In fact, you shouldn't try to do everything yourself.

Seek out the help you need.

➼ There Is Power In Empathy

Most people see sharks as mindless predators.

However, this shark proves that isn't true.

This shark is showing that there is power in having empathy.

It could have easily just eaten the turtle, and no one would have been the wiser.

However, instead, the shark went completely out of its way to show empathy.

In doing so, the turtle's life is better, and the shark's environment is also better.

We live in a difficult and complex world.

Many people are struggling to even just survive.

We can all act like mindless predators, destroy our environment without care, and die.

Or, we can see that there is extreme power in empathy, that by really understanding, we have the ability to improve the lives of everyone around us.