Flow, Don’t Fight Life – A Taoist-Inspired Approach to Leadership

In a world that celebrates control and certainty, what if leadership mastery lies in embracing life's flow?

You'll have heard this ancient parable of the Chinese farmer, his horse and son before as it has been around for centuries. It was popularised in the West by Alan Watts, various mindfulness schools and most recently Shirzad Chamine, who includes it in the Positive Intelligence program.

Take a fresh look at the story today, and ask: what might it hold for you now?

The Story in Brief

A farmer’s horse runs away over the border. His neighbours exclaim, “How unlucky!” The farmer simply says, “Maybe.”

Months later, the horse returns with a group of wild horses. The neighbours cry, “How lucky!” The farmer replies, “Maybe.”

The farmer’s son, riding or perhaps trying to tame one of the horses, falls and breaks his leg. “How terrible!” the neighbours exclaim. The farmer responds, “Maybe.”

Then soldiers come to conscript young men for war. The farmer’s son, with his broken leg, can't go. “How lucky!” the neighbours rejoice. The farmer, as always, says, “Maybe.”

The Taoist Perspective

We rush to label things good or bad. But we don't really know what is good or bad. Life, our world, is more complex than that. The Taoist view is that good luck and bad luck create each other. This is yin and yang in action.

The farmer doesn't react or judge. He flows with life.

Contrast the farmer with how many of us lead and engage with the world.

• We react instantly, judging things as good or bad.
• We try to force or control , exhausting ourselves and our people.
• We tie our happiness and worth to outcomes, forgetting that the story is still unfolding.

This parable is not a call to passivity or dispassion. It demonstrates wisdom in action. It is a reminder that there is much we don't know, especially when we're in a reactive or restricted mindset.

What happens when you step back and take a wider perspective? What happens when you work with Life rather than fighting it, resisting it or trying to control it?

Putting This Into Practice

Imagine leading from a place of ease, flow, and presence:

• Shift from reactive doing to intentional, centred being that inspires the next step.
• Let go of the need to control everything and create space for unexpected possibilities.
• Trust that events—whether they seem positive or negative—are part of a larger unfolding.

Notice:

• What you are attached or holding on too tightly?
• What judgments are you making that might not serve you, your team or your larger purpose?

Pause. Breathe. And ask yourself:

• How might I approach this situation differently?
• What gifts, lessons or opportunities am I not seeing yet?
• What is becoming possible now?

We have a tendency to see leadership mastery as the ability to accomplish goals/success/wins. But true mastery comes is to be found in working with Life.

What might be possible if you embraced the flow of Life, rather than fought the currents?