By Peter Jeff
The Leadership Mints Guy

Here’s an idea to help you cope with stressful situations. Reading time: 2:54

Pushing a heavy wooden chair to the kitchen sink, the 6-year-old confidently climbed up. Stood on the seat. Turned on the water and started scrubbing a frying pan. With vigor.

“Row, Row, Row your boat gently down the stream,” Laura began singing and scrubbing. She was working so hard and yet having so much fun.

Laura’s having-fun-while-scrubbing-pans caught the attention of her mom who wanted to know her daughter’s secret for making work fun.

Laura stopped singing long enough to explain the water flowing out of the faucet reminded her of the “water coming out of a hose in the summertime.” And her chair was really a rowboat. The faster she scrubbed, Laura said, the faster the boat rowed.

“Row, Row, Row….

What fun! And what a fun way for her mom to recall the persuasive power of an analogy — a key leadership skill that helps leaders and their followers better adapt to situations and more fully cope with challenges. Consider a few other examples of analogies used as a leadership tools: Continue reading →