THE STORY
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.
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 woman, named Jill, was there that day and she, like the others, received a seed. She went home and excitedly, told her husband the story. He helped her get a pot, soil and compost and she planted the seed. Every day, she 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.
Jill kept checking her seed, but nothing ever grew. 
Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing.
By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jill didn’t have a plant and she felt like a failure.
Six months went by—still nothing in Jill’s pot. She just knew she had killed her seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but she had nothing. Jill didn’t say anything to her colleagues, however, she just kept watering and fertilizing the soil — Jill 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.
Jill told her husband that she wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But he asked her to be honest about what happened. Jill felt sick to her stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of her life, but she knew her husband was right. She took her empty pot to the board room. When Jill arrived, she was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful—in all shapes and sizes. Jill put her empty pot on the floor and many of her colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for her!
When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.
Jill 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 Jill at the back of the room with her empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring her to the front. Jill was terrified. She thought, “The CEO knows I’m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!”
When Jill got to the front, the CEO asked her what had happened to her seed—Jill told him the story.
The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jill. He looked at Jill, and then announced to the young executives, “Behold your next Chief Executive Officer!
“Her name is Jill!” Brandon, one of the executives couldn’t believe it. ”Jill couldn’t even grow her seed.”
“How could she 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 Jill, 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. Jill was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, she is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!”
–Fini
MORAL OF THE STORY
Is this a fairy tale, or do these leaders exist today? Of course they do. What does this say about the leaders in this story?
What are you committed to as a leader?
- 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
I am always seeking inspirational stories to highlight transformational leadership. I have found this on the web again and again and also as an email. This is a version of the original anonymous story that resonates with me. I modified it further to empasize 
considerations in today’s workplace and brought the story to life with some images.
“I have read variations of this story credited to anonymity but in terms of lesson, it is worth repeating specially in a country like ours that needs to be reinforced with lessons on virtuous leadership.” —Francis Kong
