The Seed - CEO management story/lesson

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:- (As you Sow, you shall Reap)
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.

Hard to please men - Falling Short - A story.

A shopkeeper watching over his shop is really surprised when he sees a dog coming inside the shop, He shoos him away. But later, the dog is back inside again. So he goes over to the dog and notices that it has a note in its mouth. He takes the note and it reads “Can I have 12 soaps and a shampoo bottle, please. The money is with the dog.” The shopkeeper looks inside the dogs mouth and to his surprise there is a 100 rupees note in his mouth. So he takes the money and puts the soap, shampoo and change in a bag, and then places it in the dogs mouth.

The shopkeeper is so impressed, and since it is the closing time, he decides to follow the dog. The dog is walking down the street, when it comes to the zebra crossing, he waits till the signal turns green. He walks across the road till the bus stop. He waits on the stop and looks up the timetable for the bus. The shopkeeper is totally out of his mind as the dog gets into the bus and sits on a vacant seat. The shopkeeper follows the dog. The dog waits for the conductor to come to his seat. He gives the change to the conductor and shows him the neck belt to keep the ticket. The shopkeeper is almost fainting at this sight and so are the other people in the bus.
The dog then moves to the front exit of the door and waits for the bus stop to arrive, looking outside. As soon as the stop is in sight he wags his tail to inform the driver to stop. Then not even waiting for the bus stop to arrive the dog jumps out and runs to the house nearby.
It opens an big iron gate and rushes towards the door. As it approaches the door, he changes his mind and walks towards the garden. The dog walks up to the window and beats his head several times on the window. It then walks back to the door and waits. The shopkeeper maintaining his senses walks up to the door and watched a big guy open the door.
The guy starts beating, kicking and abusing the dog. The shopkeeper is surprised and runs to stop the guy. The shopkeeper questions the guy “What in the heaven are you doing? The dog is a genius he could be famous in life.”
The guy responds “You call this clever? This is the 3rd time in this week that the dog has forgotten the door keys.”
Moral of the story:
You may continue to exceed onlookers expectations… But will always fall short of the bosses expectation…
Men are hard to please but with God all things are possible…..