The wise son-in-law?

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.

(Develop your leadership and life skills by spending two whole days with Francis Kong on September 12-13 at the EDSA Shangri-La Hotel. Call Inspire at 09158055910 or 632-6310912 for details. Connect with him via Facebook  – www.facebook.com/franciskong2)