When the River Dries Up — What Hippos Teach Us About Leadership and Toxic Environments

A hippopotamus is one of the most powerful warriors in Africa, but its survival hinges on a single fragile truth: it must have water. Without it, its skin cracks, infection sets in, and even the tiny birds that once cleaned its wounds begin to eat away at its flesh. What destroys a hippo is rarely a lion or a crocodile—it’s the slow burn of a drying river.

Leaders are not so different.

We like to think of ourselves as self-sufficient, unstoppable, and resilient under pressure. But like the hippo, our strength has limits that depend on the health of our environment. A thriving leader needs water—sources of renewal, connection, and safety. When those begin to disappear, even the strongest among us can crumble in ways that look slow, invisible, and almost unremarkable—until it’s too late.

The hippo is a vegetarian, designed to be harmless to most. It grazes quietly by night and minds its own business by day, content to exist in balance with its tribe. Yet threaten its family or its territory, and it becomes one of the most dangerous creatures on the continent.

That’s leadership at its best—protective, principled, fierce when needed, but not predatory.

A healthy leader is anchored in deep water—steady, nourished, protected. But when the water around them dries up, when the systems that sustain them become toxic or shallow, they are exposed. The very environment that once amplified their strength now becomes the place of their undoing.

And in desperate conditions, even herbivores start eating carcasses.

We’ve all seen it happen in leadership: people who once inspired hope begin to feed on what’s dead. They survive off gossip, control, blame, or burnout. They lose the soft, steady rhythm that once defined them and start taking from others instead of giving. It might keep them going for a while—but it sickens them. It isn’t who they are built to be.

So what do we do when the water runs low?

How do we know whether to stay and dig deeper, wait for the rain, or walk away before we die of dehydration?

Ask yourself:

• Is this just a dry season—or is it a dead river?

  
  

  All leaders experience drought. If the ecosystem once held life, it can again. Look for evidence of past renewal.

• Do I still have access to resources that feed me?

  
  

  Are there allies, mentors, or habits that replenish your strength? Or are the “birds” in your cracks picking more than they heal?

• Am I becoming something I’m not?

  
  

  If you’re feeding on things that make you bitter or aggressive, your instincts are signaling a deeper hunger.

• Is the rain possible here?

  
  

  Some places recover. Others never will. Know which kind you’re standing in.

The hippo can’t transform into a desert lizard. It can only move toward the next source of water. Likewise, leaders can’t thrive in permanently toxic cultures. You can grow through challenge—but not through chronic deprivation.

The paradox of the hippo is that the most fearsome creature in Africa is also one of the most fragile.

And maybe that’s the truth about leadership, too. Our power isn’t in our toughness—it’s in knowing what keeps us alive.

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