MATTHEW 25
…It’s like a corporate giant who FINALLY decided to take that “around the world” vacation trip. For a long time, he had had his eye on three budding Vice Presidents, and it seemed like the right time to see if they would sink or swim, so to speak. So, he called them in, sized them up, and had his lawyer draw up the papers
The most promising, Owen, was promoted to president of five startup companies. The next man, T’wu, stepped into the leadership of a couple struggling enterprises. Heath, received a well established, money maker as his project. “Gentlemen, you are in charge, now. I have a plane to catch. Good luck, if you have any problems,… Deal with them as best you can. See you when I decide to come back.”
Owen immediately began analyzing the structure, books, assets, and the various markets for his five startups, and made the necessary changes to turn them into major successes.
T’wu assessed the bottom line and company strategy of each of his new companies. Cuts needed to be made. Holes needed to be plugged. Personnel,… well, suffice it to say, several “pink slips” went home with several over-inflated egos during that first few months.
Heath moved in, making as few waves as possible. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” seemed like a good approach. The only noticeable shift he implemented was a corner office for himself. Everything else, he left it as it had been for years.
They were just beginning to think that Mr. Chairman of the Board, was never coming back, when there it was… A memo, summoning them to his office.
It was a good thing they met in the board room, because Owen walked in with a dozen other men. The Chairman beamed as he was introduced to not just the original five, but ten presidents of growing sub-companies that were now part of his expanding empire. “Owen when we’re done here, see Betty for an appointment in my office. I have some ideas I’d like you to look at.”
T’wu entered alone, looking a bit intimidated by the entourage Owen had led, but he also had a success story to report. His two companies were now firmly “in the black” the quarterly statements he passed around the table showed immense improvement over what he had taken on a few years back. “T’wu,… call Betty. Good work!”
Heath opened his briefcase and proudly handed the Chairman the document that had been handed to him those years ago: the authorization for him to take over operation of the Chairman’s flagship company. A comfortable success that was still doing as well today as it had been doing for several years now. “Heath! What have you been doing all this time? If I wanted it to stay the way I originally set it up, I sure didn’t need to bring you in! It was doing pretty well without you! Why didn’t you do something with it? What a colossal waste of my money! You’re fired!”
“Charlie, call Security. Have this disappointment escorted out of the building. And make sure they take his keys. Get that company on the phone and be sure they know that this apprentice is not coming back!”