Winnie the Pooh
The best leaders know that people don’t always need advice, only someone to simply be there. just to let them feel cared for and supported. (Courtesy Brian Bacon of Oxford Leadership Group)
"Piglet?" said Pooh.
"Yes?" said Piglet.
"I'm scared," said Pooh.
For a moment, there was silence.
"Would you like to talk about it?" asked Piglet, when Pooh didn't appear to be saying anything further.
"I'm just so scared," blurted out Pooh.
"So anxious. Because I don't feel like things are getting any better. If anything, I feel like they might be getting worse. People are angry, because they're so scared, and they're turning on one another, and there seems to be no clear plan out of here, and I worry about my friends and the people I love, and I wish SO much that I could give them all a hug, and oh, Piglet! I am so scared, and I cannot tell you how much I wish it wasn't so."
Piglet was thoughtful, as he looked out at the blue of the skies, peeping between the branches of the trees in the Hundred Acre Wood, and listened to his friend.
"I'm here," he said, simply. "I hear you, Pooh. And I'm here."
For a moment, Pooh was perplexed.