Yesterday was a challenging day. I headed to work with the mindset to try and get out early, maybe around 1:00 P.M., and get an early start on the weekend. When I got to work, I recalled that I had a 1:00 meeting. At 2:30 P.M., I still had several tasks to complete, so had to attend the weekly safety meeting. After that meeting, and a discussion with one of the other managers regarding a confrontation of our employees, I went to check on mine.
We sat in my office for a while, and shared some things to build another layer of trust, and I asked her to not make any rash decisions. At this point, she started to cry, and kept apologizing. I continued to talk calmly to her, explained to her my "Anger Management 101" philosophy regarding having an exit strategy when dealing with people who you know make you angry (pre-wire your brain so you do not do something you will later regret), and re-iterated that only you can decide how you will react to a situation. She was expecting strong negative coaching and was relieved to be getting supportive suggestions on how to deal with future situations.
My day ended at the normal 6:00 P.M., as I started my 45 minute commute home. I think I did some heavy planting. If you are curious as to what I mean, then read the following. This story is based on an old Chinese folk tale called The Empty Pot.
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A successful business man was growing old and knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business. Instead of choosing one of his directors or his children, he decided to do something different.
He called all the young executives in his company together.
“It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO he said; I have decided to choose one of you.”
The young executives were shocked, but the boss continued.
“I am going to give each one of you a seed today - a very special seed. I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO.”
One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed.
He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.
Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow. Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew.
Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t have a plant and he felt like a failure.
Six months went by - still nothing in Jim’s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t say anything to his colleagues, however. He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - he so wanted the seed to grow.
A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection. Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened.
Jim felt sick at his stomach. It was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.
He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful–in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed. A few felt sorry for him!
When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.
Jim just tried to hide in the back.
“My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown”, said the CEO.
“Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!”
All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the financial director to bring him to the front.
Jim was terrified. He thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”
When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed.
Jim told him the story.
The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, “Here is your next Chief Executive! His name is Jim!”
Jim couldn’t believe it. Jim couldn’t even grow his seed. How could he be the new CEO the others said?
Then the CEO said, “One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today.”
But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.
All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers.
When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive!”
Moral:
If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends.
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness.
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective.
If you plant hard work, you will reap success.
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation.
So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.
3 comments:
What a neat story. It actually choked me up a little bit!
Beth
What a great story. Very nice entry my friend.
Hugs, Joyce
One thing occurred to me, and I hate to be *that* guy but: by lying about the seed, whether outright or by ommisison, wasn't the CEO himself displaying dishonesty? If that quality was necessary to choose the sucessor, what does that say for the requirements of the job itself?
The overthinking at the moment Dan
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