Honesty is still the best policy Today, I came across a story that reminded me of a job interview that I had when I was a youth. At silicon valley, one business owner decided to retire. He had a vast business empire and he wanted to leave it to someone who could take care of it well. At the end of the year party, he decided to announce to his staff his intention to retire. In his speech, he mentioned. "Ladies and gentlemen, another year has come to an end. Our company has grown an inch higher and we expect it to continue growing. Unfortunately, a time like this next year, I will have retired. I only have six months to look for my successor. Tomorrow, I am inviting anyone who thinks he or she is up to the task to be the next CEO of this company." The next day, ten people appeared in his office, they were all smartly dressed and carried huge resumes. He called them into his boardroom and began "I pretty know all of your qualifications. I also know about your competence. But my interview will be very simple. I want each of you to pick a seed from this tray and go and grow it. After six months, let's meet at this boardroom and whoever will have tendered his or her seed better will become the next CEO." They were all surprised. They expected a thorough and highly competitive interview. They were all prepared. They each picked a seed and left the room quietly. They were six months of careful agronomy for the executives. After the six months, the CEO called all the executives for a meeting and requested them to come along with their plants. That morning, there very all sorts of plants in the lobby. Some were big and others small. Some had blossomed while others had just small bids. Some had thorns while others were grass-like. The CEO called the meeting to attention. "Ladies and gentlemen, exactly six months ago, you picked seeds from this room and I requested you to tender them and bring them as plant today. I can see you have done a very good job. I will take this opportunity to go through what you have brought today and choose the best. I would also want each of you to give your experiences of tendering that seed to the plant it is now." The executives all smartly dressed and ready with their awesome speeches waited for the CEO to come along. He patiently moved from one plant to the other as he listened to the executives. All the plants were beautiful and the experiences were awesome. It would be difficult to choose the best of them all. Lastly, he approached a young man in the furthest corner. He was the last one to present. He had noticed this young man because he was the only one not dressed in a suit. He wore a well-ironed white shirt and a pair of trousers. He had an empty pot. "Hello, Joe. What do you have for me today?" He asked. The young man was shaking. He did not know what to say. All the other executives were laughing loudly. He gathered courage and softly replied. "Hello sir. I have an empty pot. My seed refused to sprout out, even after watering it for six months. I could have planted another but I thought I would be honest and let you know" The room was now silent. The CEO stared at the Joe, sternly. Joe knew that he would be fired. He felt he has failed the CEO for not growing a plant. How could his seed fail while all the others sprout out and became very beautiful plants? He stared back at the CEO and waited for the words. "Ladies and gentlemen, meet Joe, the next CEO" the boss announced. Everyone was surprised. How could he become the next CEO? Without any creativity and innovation? The executives started murmuring. He continued. "Six months ago, I gave you boiled seeds for you to plant and tender. I can see that today, you all have beautiful plants to display, except Joe. I would like to ask you, how did your boiled seeds germinated to become these trees that you have today? Ask yourselves, how comes you have all types of plants here whereas I gave seeds from one tree type?" The room was silent. Everyone was gazing down, with shame. Then a voice from behind broke the silence. "We innovated. We knew you wanted us to tender and grow a plant. Isn't that what a manager should do?" The CEO stood silent, he looked at the crowd of his executives from the right, through the middle and to the left. Then he lifted up his gaze and looked at the young executive and said; "Ethics will always come before growth, innovation and anything else in the business. This is what will ensure that this company will do business for the next 100 years. I always say honesty is the best policy. Congratulations Joe. The meeting is closed." The CEO walked out of the room amidst a deep and uncomfortable silence. |
|
|
|
This blog post was published on 05 Feb 2020 in Inspiration category. Access all the posts at Blog |