Career Lessons from The Jungle Book

Disney's The Jungle Book 2016 http://movies.disney.com/the-jungle-book-2016 is not only entertaining kids around the world but is also connecting a lot of adults with their childhood memories of watching the animated series. Considering a lot of us are employed in the corporate Jungle, it's not hard to draw parallels with what goes down in Mowgli's land :)

Survival Instincts First
Starting with the escape from tiger Sher Khan, Mowgli's early life is spent learning and doing activities key to survival. When protected by the wolf family, Mowgli becomes a part of it latching onto Raksha the mother wolf's teats for milk, learning the wolf language and bonding with his brothers - these are activities Mowgli does, by instinct, to survive.

Career Lessons:
Bond with your hiring manager.
Bond with your team members.
Learn and follow the culture.




Team, Guru and Mentor
With his parents and brother wolves, Mowgli learnt to stalk, hunt and kill. When the young cubs were introduced to the pack, Mowgli was sponsored by Bagheera and Baloo spoke for him too. Though not his teacher, spending time with Bagheera helped  Mowgli learn a lot about the jungle and from his experiences with man. Mowgli spent a lot of time with Baloo and learnt the Laws of the Jungle.

Career Lessons:
Learn basic skills with the team.
Learn general skills from a mentor who draws from his experience.
Learn domain skills from a guru who has in-depth knowledge.




Stay Focused, Avoid Distractions
With the wolf pack, Mowgli had a clear target of stalking and catching prey. Skills were practiced and honed for that. Implements useful for hunting were sought, mastered and used.

Then along came the Bandar log - monkey people. They started one task, moved to another and never had clear, persistent goals. They grabbed Mowgli by being friendly with him and praising him but the relationship soured when they could not get what they wanted.

Career Lessons:
Work towards clear goals and targets
Avoid groups and activities that are not aligned with those goals.
Beware of false praise and a mutual appreciation society, which can build up your ego :)




Identify Problems
Sher Khan is an existential threat to Mowgli. So, Mowgli and his friends constantly keep track of him to know what he is up to. Mowgli is determined to win, so constantly seeks information on Sher Khan and how he can be beaten.

Career Lessons:
Identify problem areas and people
Learn more about them to deliver a solution
Track a problem till it is completely resolved




Ask for Help
When Mowgli was kidnapped by the Bandar log, he informed Chil the kite to let Bagheera and Baloo know. They were able to get Kaa to go after the monkeys and save Mowgli.

Career Lessons:
Ask for help in a timely manner




Create Allies and nurture those Relationships
Mowgli and Kaa could have been enemies, but they end up being allies. Kaa rescues Mowgli from the Bandar log and Mowgli seeks his advice and help in different situations while rendering services in return.

Career Lessons:
Identify allies based on expertise and experience.
Leverage allies based on alignment with activities.
Give back to those allies and nurture the relationship.




Attack when the time is right
Mowgli did not go after Sher Khan the moment he knew him to be his enemy. He learnt about Sher Khan and his habits. He nurtured allies who could help him. He decided the time and place of the attack based on Sher Khan's behavior. He employed his new skill of herding cattle by getting the bullocks to stampede.

Career Lessons:
Continuous learning and collaboration is needed for growth
Making career moves at the right time is essential for success

With best wishes for success in the corporate Jungle :)