The King’s sword
was the instrument and symbol of King Arthur during the first 100 days of his
reign. It was his loyal companion in reuniting the British kingdoms and defeating
the plundering hordes of the Saxons, Picts and Irish.
On a lovely
spring day, the knight Pellinore appeared outside of Camelot. Pellinore was a
giant of a man. He had mentally lost it somewhat, as he was searching for a
(non-existing) dragon to beat. Pellinore had set up camp in the forest, just
outside of Camelot, where he challenged every knight who got too close to a
duel, for he did not want some other knight to find and kill ‘his’ dragon.
Arthur felt
sorry for the big man, and together with Merlin he rode out to meet him. The
slightly crazy Pellinore immediately attacked. During the ensuing fight, Arthur
could barely stand his ground. At one point, Pellinore struck with all his
might and broke Arthur’s sword in half. Fortunately for Arthur, Merlin promptly
hypnotized Pellinore, and the latter fell into a deep sleep. As Pellinore was
lying on the ground, snoring and fast asleep, Merlin took Arthur to a nearby
lake.
Suddenly, a
woman’s hand rose up from the water, holding a magnificent sword. Arthur took a
small boat, and quickly paddled out towards the sword. When he got there, he
looked upon the shiny glorious face of ‘the Lady of the Lake’. She was floating
underwater in fair white linen, and she had come to give Arthur the sword of
all swords: Excalibur. Arthur thanked her wholeheartedly. She drifted off into
the deep, and Arthur quickly paddled back to shore, where Merlin was waiting
for him.
From that
day on, Excalibur became the symbol and the instrument of King Arthur. Now, what
does this sword stand for? It actually stands for the following 2 key elements
of leadership:
1. Wisdom
- Excalibur united various Co-Essentials (two parts of 1 bigger truth):
- Womanhood (as the sword had been a gift from the ‘Lady of the Lake’)
- Manhood (as the sword belonged to King Arthur, the High King)
- Rule and serve
- Justice and compassion
- Unity and diversity
2. Trust
- A sword that is pointing downwards reveals the letter ‘T’, which stands for ‘trust’
- Excalibur was the symbol of trust, and it was trust upon which King Arthur built his reign and society
- This trust has to work five ways
- Trust in yourself as team leader
- Trust in your team members
- Trust of your team members in you as a team leader
- Trust of the team members in each other
- Trust that the entire team has in the mission of the team
Two
questions for you:
- What are the most important Co-Essentials of your core values?
- Which of the 5 ways of Trust are already well developed within your team, and which might need some extra focus?
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