A
successful businessman 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.
He said, “It is time for me to step down and choose
the next CEO. 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 – one 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 to 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 boardroom.
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, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!
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 Officer!”
* 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. Think about this
for a minute.
If I happened to show up on your door step crying,would you
care?
If I called you and asked you to pick me up because
something happened, would you come?
If I had one day left to live my life, would you be part of
that last day?
If I needed a shoulder to cry on, would you give me yours?
This is a test to see who your real
friends are or if you are just someone to talk to you when
they are bored.
Do you know what the relationship is between your two
eyes?
They blink together,
they move together,
they cry together,
they see things together,
and they sleep together,
but they never see each other;
that’s what friendship is.
Your aspiration is your motivation,
your
motivation is your belief ,
your belief is your peace,
your peace is your target,
your target is heaven,
and life is like hard core
torture without it!
It’s ‘World Best Friends Week’
Who is your best friend?
Send this to all your good friends,
even me, if I am one of them.
