The Sadhu and the Scorpion: Personality Traits

We explored personality in Leadership Habits this week. Here is a story from ancient wisdom we discussed.

A sadhu sat in quiet meditation by a river. When he saw a scorpion drowning, he reached out to save it—only to be stung. He tried again, and was stung again.

A passerby asked, “Why keep helping when it hurts you?”
The sadhu replied, “It is the scorpion’s nature to sting. It is mine to help.”

The sadhu acted from his higher self—his Being—anchored in his personality traits of clarity and compassion. The scorpion was driven by its personality trait of fear and acted to protect itself.

One leadership lesson we can draw from this is that these traits are deep-rooted and hard to change. This understanding makes us empathetic. It improves how we communicate, manage conflict, collaborate, build cohesive teams, and avoid burnout.

Awareness of traits leads to acceptance which leads to better leadership.