For Want of a Horseshoe Nail.

Hihi,

Been very busy like a bumblebee. So will update you guys and gals later. Just want to post this for my own sake. Hope you can get something out of it too.

:)

Michael Kuan

The value and importance of patience and attention to details has been illustrated for years in James Baldwin’s wonderful story, “For Want of a Horseshoe Nail.” The famous legend and rhyme regarding the defeat and death of King Richard III, was immortalized by William Shakespeare’s unforgettable line: “A horse! A horse! My kingdom for a horse!”

The lesson for leaders everywhere lies in King Richard’s impatience and his groom’s failure to details. Preparing to engage an army led by Henry, Earl of Richmond, that would determine who would rule England, King Richard III, sent his groom to prepare his favorite horse.

“Shoe the King’s horse quickly,” the groom instructed the blacksmith. “You’ll have to wait…I’ve got to get more iron,” the blacksmith answered. Failing to listen, the groom shouted impatiently, “I can’t wait …make do with what you have.”

So the blacksmith bent to his task and from a bar of iron he made four horseshoes. When he began to nail them on, he discovered he did not have enough nails to nail the fourth shoe. “I need one or two more nails and it will take some time to hammer them out,” he said.

“I told you I can’t wait,” the groom responded impatiently. “I hear the trumpets now. Can’t you just use what you have?” “Yes, but I can’t be certain it will hold,” answered the blacksmith. “Well then, just nail it on,” the groom shouted. “And hurry or King Richard will be angry with us both.”

And thus, in the thick of the Battle of Bosworth Field in 1485, as King Richard’s horse lost a shoe and the battle was lost, history gained a lesson in taking meaningful action. As children everywhere have heard:

“For want of a nail, a shoe was lost,
for want of a shoe, a horse was lost,
for want of a horse, a battle was lost,
for want of a battle, a kingdom was lost.

And, we might add, for want of only a few, history was altered. For as Leo Tolstoy so wisely stated in his epic historical novel War and Peace,
“The strongest of all warriors are these two─Time and Patience.”

Thus, the important lesson for all leaders inclined to practice and pursue perfection of listening patience, lies in the irrefutable wisdom of Francis Quarles expressed 400 years ago,

“My soul, sit thou a patient looker-on; Judge not the play before the play is done: Her plot hath many changes; every day Speaks a new scene; the last act crowns the play.”