As you sow, so shall you reap.

THIS POSTER IS USED WITH PERMISSION BY THE CREATORS AT SCARBORO MISSIONS.*

Points to Ponder: At work or in the personal life always remember The Golden Rule 

Story Line: 300 senior ministers (aka managers) from all over the world had gathered in a large hall for the beginning of a leadership summit called by the person who had been crowned the new boss of the organization upon retirement of the previous boss. As it normally happens in such gatherings, after glorifying introductions, the new boss takes the podium to share his vision of the future. Things seem to be going well for the first few minutes until the new boss put up a poster that contained the strategies of his predecessor marked with a huge X over it. Attendees guessed: “Down with the old, Follow the new” was the message. However it puzzled some attendees:

 

Why did the new boss have to undermine the very person who chose him for the job?

Also anyone who had attended the farewell ceremony of the retiring boss had seen that the legendary Chief Executive of the company and many of the current senior executives had shared their fond memories of the retiring boss and highlighted his immense contributions to the company. In addition the company had asked the retiring boss to stay in the advisory role.

 

The common sense would indicate not to undermine someone who was leaving with so much respect and also the one who had chosen him as his successor. Why not focus on the future instead of talking about the past?

What kind of example it sets for the employees? More so when it was in the leadership conference that had many sessions emphasizing things like High Ethics, Uncompromising Integrity, Gratitude, Professionalism with examples of the great leaders of mankind.

 

And even after few years, some members of his staff took opportunities to criticize the strategies of the previous boss; still wondering whether their intent was to please him or to misguide him.

 

Fast Forward: a few years later…

 

Only senior members of the organization were called for a meeting. A new person had been appointed to lead that organization. The old boss (his new job "to be defined") was to report to the newly appointed boss and he was asked to be in the meeting. Some of the very members of his staff who in past had helped develop and praised his strategies termed those very strategies as Failures. One of his staff members even went as far as praising the very first boss (the retired one) and talked about the mistake of abandoning some of his strategies.

 

The old boss did not return to the meeting after lunch break and left the company soon thereafter.

 

Reflection: You may ask: Why this article and Why Now? In the last thirteen years of these reflections, occasionally I have received notes from the readers stating that FR covers stories that are positive in nature, pump up spirits type etc but “are there stories that are negative sounding and we can learn something from them too?” So here is one with many lessons about work and life.

 

But the message that stands above all is: The Golden Rule

*This poster is available to purchase from Ontario Multifaith Council and Interfaith Marketplace.

Comments

[Readers Comments In October 2018 publication of this Reflection]

Good Reflection. A lot of people do not realize that you really do reap what you sow..
Posted by: Young and Restless | October 18, 2018 at 10:36 PM

Another good FR. I miss our chat and lunch.
Posted by: Friend | October 18, 2018 at 10:58 PM

Thank you very much Mr. Shah
Posted by: Sun | October 18, 2018 at 11:00 PM

"If I have seen farther than other men, it is because I have stood on the shoulders of giants."
- Sir Isaac Newton
True genius knows that it is only building upon the previous work of others.
Posted by: Thomas | October 18, 2018 at 11:14 PM

For those who want to know about Scarboromissions:
https://www.scarboromissions.ca/golden-rule/educational-resources
Posted by: Brian | October 18, 2018 at 11:39 PM

That’s why it’s called the Golden Rule. A great reminder,
Posted by: Pinoy | October 19, 2018 at 04:42 AM

This is very good an knowledgeably article. I READ ABOUT ALL THE RELIGIONS..GOOD JOB
Posted by: Seema Irani | October 19, 2018 at 11:09 AM

Perhaps a tweak in the vision would have sufficed... only one can wonder if he had not undermined his predessocr publicly... Hopefully he is the one who could learn most from this ... great post sir
Posted by: Humble Warrior | October 19, 2018 at 03:42 PM

[From Ahmedabad India. Thrive Place of Gandhi Ashrama]

Today is The Birthday of a man who lived by The Golden Rule: Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi.
Timely Reflection

[BHSC]

That is a GREAT reminder.. thank you for sharing this wisdom

I hope you are doing well

Take care

[Pura Vida]

Thanks for the reminder and the poster... is one of the things left in my now empty office

[Oregonian]

FR a goodie without a doubt
I know these transitions all too well now 😫

[micro CEO]

The great old corporate lesson about the "3 envelopes" comes to mind.
But more importantly, all experience just keeps returning to the Golden Rule, and we persistently must reflect upon how to better respect our fellow humans (including family...the better we know them, the harder to maintain) and to set a good example for ourselves.

“I have something that I call my Golden Rule. It goes something like this: 'Do unto others twenty-five percent better than you expect them to do unto you.' … The twenty-five percent is for error.”
― Linus Pauling

[Friend From Pulao Penang]

A lot of people fail to realise this concept. And this was the very discussion I had with my husband. Not from the context of the corporate world but from the context of our daily lives.
Karma, simply put into a sentence is u reap what u sow. Many people expect to get orange when they’ve really planted the apple seed. And then Continue to get upset and whine about how they want orange instead of apple
And Karma is so difficult to explain that. If a parent spends time building a strong foundation of a relationship with their child since birth, u can very well expect the child to continue that bond with the parent into adulthood.
If we invest time in reading books, acquiring knowledge, I’m sure we would be able to use it to our advantage later in time