There is a Chinese tale about honesty, humility and trust. Its content also a contains a succession planning twist. It is a story of a successful entrepreneur, who was growing old. He therefore had to choose his successor to take over his company when the time came.So he called all the young executives of his company together. He told them that it was time to choose the next CEO. He added that the next CEO will be one of them, not one of his children or the company’s senior directors.
The website management.about.com believes that the moral of the story is still relevant and powerful today. So let’s look at the it.
One seed for everyone
The old man gave each of the young executives a seed. He told them to plant it, water it and come back one year later. They should then bring back whatever had grown from the seed. One of the young executives, Jim, was excited. He ran to his wife and told her what happened. They felt they were lucky. They prepared a pot, soil and compost. They planted the seed. In the following months they watered it and watched it. Soon other executives talked about how their seeds were growing, but Jim's seed didn’t grow at all.
Empty pot
Jim’s pot was still empty even after several months. The plant didn’t grow. He must have killed it. Other executives had tall trees, but he had nothing. He didn’t feel good about it, but his wife persuade him to tell the old entrepreneur the truth. When he got to the room where the plants were to be checked, he was amazed by the variety of the plants. They were beautiful. However, when the old entrepreneur arrived, he notice that Jim looked sad, as he stood next to his empty pot. Everyone was surprised when the old man announced that Jim is to be the next CEO. Old man said that in the beginning he gave everyone a boiled seed. Jim was the only one with real courage and honesty.
-jk-