How to Pet a Porcupine

I discovered something new in a staff meeting a few weeks ago, and that is that you can pet a porcupine without getting hurt. I have never actually pet a porcupine, but I was told it is possible without a follow-up trip the hospital, if you do it correctly.

Porcupine

Photo courtesy of © flickr.com/photos/arthur_chapman/3986448936/

If you want to pet a porcupine without getting stuck by a bunch of quills you don’t run up and startle it.  You don’t quickly scoop it up into your hands and give it a big hug.  If you want to pet a porcupine you have to develop trust with it.  First, you hold out your hand to see if it wants to come near and sniff you. Only after it sniffs you can you pet it, but you have to do it a certain way starting at the head and petting down.  To pet a porcupine any other way could potentially hurt…a lot.

Some people are a lot like porcupines. They have quills, and they will stick you if you handle them the wrong way.    You know the kind of people I am talking about, they tend to be a bit grouchy, pessimistic, standoffish and avoid personal contact, have a tendency to complain and point out the bad in a situation, etc…  These people tend to be a lot like porcupines.  If you run up and startle them you’re going to get hurt.  If you try to pressure them into doing something you’re going to get hurt.  If you cross their path in a way they don’t like, start looking for the nearest hospital.

To pet one of these porcupines requires developing trust just like a real porcupine. No, holding out your hand to see if they sniff you is probably not the best way to go about it, but spending time getting to know them is.  Learning about their perspective, their past, their priorities can give you insight in how best to go about working and getting along with them.  Taking the time to building trust with can go a very long way, and save you a lot of pain in the end.  Just as I am sure petting a real porcupine is an amazing experience, I know that getting someone who is a bit prickly on your side can be just as fulfilling.

Also, for those who are pastors of churches and have opportunity to work with porcupines, the reality is that they are also sheep in need of a good shepherd. They can’t simply be dismissed. You can’t just steer clear of them like you might a real porcupine in the wild. You have to learn to pet them.  You have to learn to lead them. So you might as well do it the right way, and save yourself some pain.

Posted on
Category: Leadership

Please note: I reserve the right to delete comments that are offensive or off-topic.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

720,520 thoughts on “How to Pet a Porcupine”

  1. Скорая наркологическая помощь в Москве — Narcology Clinic выезжает круглосуточно напрямую к пациенту. Срочные капельницы, детокс, контроль состояния и экстренная поддержка. Анонимно, профессионально, оперативно.
    Подробнее тут – частная наркологическая помощь

    Reply

  2. Hi! I just wanted to ask if you ever have any problems with hackers? My last blog (wordpress) was hacked and I ended up losing many months of hard work due to no backup. Do you have any methods to prevent hackers?

    Reply

  5. Состав инфузии подбирается врачом индивидуально, с учётом состояния пациента, длительности запоя, возраста и хронических заболеваний.
    Получить дополнительные сведения – http://kapelnica-ot-zapoya-krasnoyarsk6.ru

    Reply

  6. I really love your website.. Excellent colors & theme. Did you develop this web site yourself? Please reply back as I’m trying to create my own personal website and would love to find out where you got this from or exactly what the theme is called. Thank you!

    Reply

  10. What i do not understood is if truth be told how you are now not really a lot more neatly-liked than you may be right now. You’re so intelligent. You know therefore considerably in the case of this topic, produced me individually imagine it from numerous numerous angles. Its like men and women are not interested until it is one thing to accomplish with Woman gaga! Your personal stuffs great. Always deal with it up!

    Reply

  11. I’m truly enjoying the design and layout of your blog. It’s a very easy on the eyes which makes it much more pleasant for me to come here and visit more often. Did you hire out a developer to create your theme? Fantastic work!

    Reply

  12. В экстренной ситуации на фоне алкоголя — обращайтесь к скорой помощи Narcology Clinic в Москве. Качественный выезд нарколога, медицинская поддержка, нейтрализация последствий и помощь в восстановлении.
    Ознакомиться с деталями – наркологическая клиника клиника помощь москве

    Reply

  21. With havin so much content do you ever run into any issues of plagorism or copyright infringement? My website has a lot of completely unique content I’ve either authored myself or outsourced but it seems a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my authorization. Do you know any solutions to help reduce content from being stolen? I’d definitely appreciate it.

    Reply

  26. Важной частью реабилитации является социализация пациента, возвращение его к активной общественной жизни и формирование новых, здоровых привычек. Для этого в клинике организуются различные мероприятия и программы адаптации.
    Изучить вопрос глубже – запой лечение наркомания

    Reply

  28. Simply desire to say your article is as amazing. The clarity in your post is just great and i could assume you are an expert on this subject. Well with your permission let me to grab your RSS feed to keep up to date with forthcoming post. Thanks a million and please continue the rewarding work.

    Reply

  32. Полностью поддерживаю, и вот еще одно подтверждение:

    Кстати, если вас интересует fk-almazalrosa.ru, загляните сюда.

    Вот, делюсь ссылкой:

    https://fk-almazalrosa.ru

    Буду рад, если кому-то пригодится.

    Reply

  33. Недавно столкнулся с похожей ситуацией, и вот что помогло:

    Особенно понравился материал про komandor-povolje.ru.

    Ссылка ниже:

    https://komandor-povolje.ru

    Надеюсь, у вас все получится.

    Reply

  37. Эта информационная статья содержит полезные факты, советы и рекомендации, которые помогут вам быть в курсе последних тенденций и изменений в выбранной области. Материал составлен так, чтобы быть полезным и понятным каждому.
    Все материалы собраны здесь – https://nwvagtech.co.uk/product/premium-quality-2

    Reply

  41. Write more, thats all I have to say. Literally, it seems as though you relied on the video to make your point. You clearly know what youre talking about, why throw away your intelligence on just posting videos to your blog when you could be giving us something enlightening to read?

    Reply