Cheetah fact – HR message for corporate

Why the population of cheetah is declining naturally at an alarming rate when compared to the population of lion or hyena or wild dog or tiger or leopard? Cheetah has several remarkable qualities to be as top predator in the food chain; fastest runner, long legs with non retractable claws, knows how to hide and stock the pray etc., but still the population of Cheetah is declining?

Why this question is important to the corporate leaders who may not have virtually any business dialogue either with cheetah, lion, hyena or wild dog? Reason for the declining population of cheetah has an important insight for the corporate employees and the leaders to learn and follow in life.

No carnivore or a predator can run as fast as a cheetah. Because of the extraordinary speed of cheetah in running, it can easily chase and hunt any prey, even the impala deer. But the cheetah also has the limitation that it cannot hunt bigger prey animal. When cheetah chase and hunt a prey, immediately it cannot eat the prey because of the huge energy loss it has incurred in hunting the prey. It has to rest for a while and only then it can eat its prey.

When the cheetah is totally exhausted after a hunt, it cannot also fight or chase other predators that may come close to steal its hunt.

It is been researched that cheetah looses significant proportion of its hunt to other predators like lion, hyena or wild dog. The poor cheetah hunts a prey and gets exhausted but other lazy predators easily chase the cheetah out and eat its hard earning. This is considered to be one of the main reasons for declining population of cheetah.

The insight cheetah conveys to the corporate is that one should not relay only on their hard working ability or ‘unique strength’ for success. If you work hard and achieve anything great, before even you enjoy someone may steal or grab it. Your achievements may naturally cause an exertion in you and, before even you recoup from such energy loss, the people around you may snatch it from you. This is a natural law. It is not your ability to achieve decides your success but how smartly you retain your achievement for yourself alone ensures success.

One has to be cunning and cleaver in positive sense; otherwise, the people around them in the corporate world may rout them of their achievement or success. The process of every achievement will cause tiredness and energy loss. The hawks and vultures around you will be ‘waiting for such an opportunity’ to grab, snatch and steal your ‘earning or achievement’. Learn to protect it and do not limit your proud just to achieve but not to defend.

The law of nature is omnipresent and absolute for all the living things. Hence every living being in nature also needs to create ‘its own law’ to protect its interest and not to harm or steal anything from others and nor it should lose it so easily. This essential lesson every corporate must learn from the declining population of cheetah.

Dr S Ranganathan