Effective communication is hard work, but somebody has to do it! This story clearly exhibits a leader who has not yet mastered the skills of being an effective communicator. If he had mastered this skill, he would feel more comfortable relaying his thoughts and his feeling to everyone. Whether you are leading or directing others, you should always be able to communicate to achieve a positive outcome.
This story takes place in the icy shores of the Artic Bay where a walrus named Basil is suppose to lead a herd of walruses to meet their quota for the number of herring caught. Their journey so far is not much of a success because they have not demonstrated effective communication skills. They are afraid to communicate to their chief the mission is a challenge for them. They dread the outcome of relaying this information to the chief because they feel that he will come down hard on them. The chief's hasty attitude had made him unapproachable to the other walruses. The walruses feel threatened by asking questions, but they need to realize that asking questions when you are not clear about certain situations help you gain valuable information.
As the days move on the walruses were faced with more trouble. A new herd had moved in and the supply of herring dwindled. Once again Basil did not effectively communicate to the chief. This lack of communication eventually forced the other walruses to move to a new herd. Nonetheless, Basil never had the heart to communicate the truth to the chief. If the chief was properly communicated to, he could have made some positive changes.
Fear is the number one factor that has kept this herd from succeeding. Instead of the herd effectively communicating with their chief, to see if it would have brought about a positive change, they decided to not face the situation at all. This lack of communication was not fair to the chief as well as the other herd.