Today's Business Lessons
The wise son-in-law?
(The Philippine Star) | Updated August 18, 2013
A very successful businessman had a meeting with his new son-in-law.
“I love my daughter, and now I welcome you into the family,” said the
businessman. “To show you how much we care for you, I’m making you a
50-50 partner in my business.
All you have to do is go to the factory every day and learn the operations.”
The son-in-law interrupted, “I hate factories. I can’t stand the noise.”
“I see,” replied the businessman, “Well then, you’ll work in the office and take charge of some of the operations.”
“I hate office work,” said the son-in-law. “I can’t stand being stuck behind a desk all day.”
“Wait a minute,” said the businessman. “I just made you half-owner of
a money-making organization, but you don’t like factories and won’t
work in an office. What am I going to do with you?”
“Easy,” said the young man, “Buy me out.”
Some people just don’t know what to do with their privileges. Instead
of being thankful, they get greedier and want more. This reminds me of
another story.
To get rid of his old fridge, a man put it in his front yard and hung a sign on it saying: “Free to good
home. You want it, you take it.” For three days, the fridge sat there
without anyone looking twice. He eventually decided that people were
too mistrustful of this deal. So he changed the sign to: “Fridge for
sale $50” The next day, someone stole it.
I’ve met business people whose children have been so well-trained,
they’re now slowly taking over the businesses started by their parents.
This young generation shows respect for their elders. They don’t abuse
privileges. They’ll be the first to follow company rules and
regulations. They know that what they do is a reflection of their
families, and they’ll never allow any bit of dishonor to stain their
family name. I’ve no doubt they’ll be very successful.
I’ve also seen aging leaders handing over the control of their
businesses to their young brats who are very proud, unbelievably
reckless and extremely disrespectful. They walk their corporate halls
with an entitlement mentality, and they don’t follow the rules because
they carry the surnames of the business owners. I seriously doubt
whether they could run the businesses as well as their parents have. And
I’m of the position that, unless they change their attitude and
character, they’ll surely run the business to the ground. These brats
don’t realize that they have to work harder in growing the business so
that they can earn the respect of their people, including the industry.
They don’t understand that people who have given years of their faithful
service to the company have created a culture of respect and trust
which they’re disrupting or, worse, destroying.
It’s okay to be a COO – “Child Of the Owner” – but you have to stay
humble and thankful for the opportunity of running a business that
somebody else has started. Earn the trust and respect of your people
through hard work and respect as well. Don’t master the tricks of the
trade; master the trade, and grow the business.
Parents, train your children well. What’s more important than having
business competence is having godly values. That’s one area you can’t
afford to ignore. Success without succession is failure. This is a
certainty.
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