Rabbits were born to run: a parable about talent management.

1. Rabbits Were Born to Run
A
Parable
of
Talent
Management

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

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

4. 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.”

5. 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.”

6. 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.

7. 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.

8. 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.”

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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.”

14. Rabbit
was
inspired!
He
decided
to
start
a
school
where
everyone
could
do
what
they
were
made
to
do.

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

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

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

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

19. 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…

20. 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.

21. Rabbits Were Born to Run
A
Parable
of
Talent
Management
With inspira4on from Don Cli7on & Paula Nelson from Soar With Your Strengths
and Animal School by George H. Reavis, and apologies to Bruce Springsteen.