Study three precious management classes from the basic fairy story, Goldilocks and the Three Bears.
Immediately’s visitor publish is by Lida Citroën, writer of “The New Rules of Influence: How to Authentically Build Trust, Drive Change, and Make an Impact.”
Assume again to the Nineteenth-century kids’s fable, Goldilocks and the Three Bears. A younger woman, misplaced within the woods, stumbles upon a house that simply occurs to belong to a household of bears. (Can we are saying breaking and getting into?) Attempting to orient herself, she samples their meals, exams their chairs, and finally crashes of their beds—all in quest of what feels “just right” to her.
The story has been analyzed for generations, however what if we checked out it by means of the lens of management? What can Goldilocks’ decisions—each good and misguided—train us about how one can lead successfully?
Lesson 1: Agility – Adapting to What’s in Entrance of You
When Goldilocks noticed three bowls of porridge, she didn’t hesitate. She was hungry, so she tried all of them—one was too sizzling, one too chilly, and one felt excellent. She utilized the identical method to the chairs and beds, in search of the very best match as a substitute of settling.
What Goldilocks demonstrated was an agile mindset. She didn’t waste time forcing herself to eat burning-hot porridge or endure by means of an uncomfortable chair—she pivoted till she discovered what labored.
As leaders, an agile mindset is important when dealing with adversity, uncertainty, or speedy change. When confronted with challenges, nice leaders embrace uncertainty with curiosity and suppleness. As an alternative of freezing or fleeing, we will embrace the anomaly and acknowledge that an open thoughts can serve us finest right here. Agile considering results in progress mindset, which results in innovation, threat taking, and entrepreneurial considering.
In The New Guidelines of Affect, I write: “Being agile means moving past perceived threats and recognizing that you’re simply moving closer to your purpose, your mission, and the influence you need to share with others.” For leaders, this implies abandoning the drained excuse of “this is how we’ve always done it” and as a substitute asking: “What’s possible? What are we missing? What’s next?”
Lesson 2: Positional Authority – Leadership Isn’t About Rank
Goldilocks made a deadly management mistake: she assumed she was entitled to issues that weren’t hers. The home wasn’t hers. The meals wasn’t hers. The mattress wasn’t hers. But, she took what she needed, assuming she had the appropriate to take action.
Up to now, rank, standing, and title provided leaders sure privileges and entitlements. An outdated management mannequin—one the place rank, title, and standing routinely granted energy—gave leaders the power to dictate course, count on compliance, and assume affect got here with their place.
However did it actually?
Positive, workers adopted orders, however have been they genuinely influenced by these leaders, or have been they only complying out of obligation as a result of their profession and paycheck trusted it?
Immediately, authority and positional energy are being changed by affect in any respect ranges within the group. Not ought to we solely hear from the individual behind the rostrum—we additionally worth the voices behind the room. The intern, the frontline worker, the individual with a novel perspective—all of them carry insights that problem assumptions and spark progress. Perhaps they see issues in another way. Maybe they arrive from a novel background or set of experiences that colours the narrative in distinctive methods. If we fail to ask them, after which actually hearken to them, we miss the chance to develop.
Nice leaders don’t command; they pay attention. They acknowledge that affect isn’t about being the loudest voice within the room—it’s about being probably the most trusted, actual, and impactful one.
Lesson 3: Braveness – Sticking Round When Issues Get Robust
Within the fable’s dramatic conclusion, the bears return dwelling to seek out their porridge eaten, chairs damaged, and an uninvited visitor of their mattress. What does Goldilocks do? Startled, she flees, by no means to be seen once more. As an alternative of sticking round to face the results, she’s gone. It is a transfer no chief can afford to make.
Leaders should stick round. When issues get tough or scary, the chief wants to remain to see it by means of. As an alternative of working from hazard, they need to lean in and transfer by means of it. True management requires braveness. When an organization faces layoffs, when a disaster unfolds, when the sudden occurs, robust leaders don’t retreat.
Braveness is commonly misunderstood as fearlessness, however actually, it’s about transferring by means of concern. Whether or not main troops into battle or delivering powerful information to a crew, management calls for the braveness to be weak, trustworthy, and empathetic as you enlist others in the direction of your imaginative and prescient.
In 2025—the place backlash, scrutiny, and “cancel culture” loom—many leaders discover it simpler to hesitate or not present authenticity. However the very best leaders know that braveness isn’t about avoiding threat; it’s about standing agency in objective, values, and accountability.
Closing Thought: Goldilocks’ Leadership Report Card
So, how did Goldilocks do as a pacesetter?
Agility? She nailed it. She tailored rapidly and didn’t settle.
Understanding authority? Massive fail. She assumed permission as a substitute of incomes affect.
Braveness? She ran when issues received powerful.
Her story is a reminder: Leadership isn’t about discovering the simply the appropriate match for your self—it’s about creating the very best atmosphere for these round you. That’s a lesson value remembering and repeating.
Lida Citroën, writer of THE NEW RULES OF INFLUENCE: How To Authentically Construct Belief, Drive Change, And Make An Affect, is an award-winning branding and status administration knowledgeable who designs and enhances the identities of executives, entrepreneurs, and thought leaders globally. As CEO and founding father of LIDA360, LLC, Citroën is sought-after for her information of private model improvement, status administration, management communication, and on-line positioning. For extra info please go to www.Lida360.com.
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