The carved elephant's lessons for leaders

I bought this carved elephant on a trip to the Taj Mahal with my two daughters. A street vendor thrust them into our taxi and I flung back some bills at him and he smiled. I bought about five of them, gave four away, and kept this one. 

It's an amazing piece of quick work - I imagine craftsmen turn them out by the hundreds. If you look closely, the mother elephant is carrying a baby in her belly...and it's all carved from one piece of soapstone. 

It sat on my desk in the "castle" of SUNY System Administration. Over time,  I shared a lot of imaginary soliloquies with her. When she started speaking back, I realized it was time to listen. 

Actually, she symbolized several lessons about keeping my direction that I learned the hard way working at an enormous, complex institution. Here are some of them:

LESSONS OF THE CARVED ELEPHANT

• Move deliberately and patiently but with no wasted motion
  
• Keep pregnant with your vision
• Keep your nose up in the wind and your eyes wide open
• Smile
• Remain porous & open to suggestion
• Let the winds of change blow through you and when necessary, move you
  
• Keep your four legs on the ground
• Shine
• Be as large as you need to be, but remember it's not about you, it's about the values you represent
• G'nesha, the Elephant god of the Hindus,  removes obstacles for others.