Building A Corporate Culture That Values Honesty To Develop Trust

I have this habit of keeping repository of stories which might have given me a different perspective of life.

I wish to share one of those…..how honesty gets rewarded while it is one of the most difficult trait to be followed, often honestly is seen as synonymous with courage, and the below story narrates it beautifully..

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The seed of honesty

A successful businessman 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 man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.

Every day, he 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.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn’t t have a plant and he felt like a failure.

Six months went by?? still nothing in Jim s pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn’t t say anything to his colleagues, however He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil?? He 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.

Jim told his wife that he wasn’t going to take an empty pot. But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful?? in all shapes and sizes.

Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim 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 Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front.

Jim was terrified. He thought, The CEO knows I m a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed.? Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!

Jim couldn’t t believe it.

Jim couldn’t t even grow his seed. How could he 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 Jim, 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. Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!

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* 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.

* If you plant faith in God, you will reap a harvest.

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So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later.

Whatever You Give to Life, Life Gives You Back.

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Let’s take a moment and understand how these principles can be adopted by leaders within the organization to develop trust:

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Tell the truth: Leaders often avoid “difficult conversation” – especially who are very high on “people” trait. ?When you are hiring – tell exactly what the role demands and don’t show a rosy picture – do highlight opportunities which may come in future if they do well.?

When leading a team – provide correct/open feedback.

When getting appreciated by the leadership – acknowledge the key contributor in the program.

Don’t assume: ?Whether it is onboarding a new talent or assigning an existing talent some role to be performed – ensure they exactly know what is expected from them (role clarity), provide all resources/support (clarity on buddy or go-to person), do a quick check whether they are moving into a right direction (periodic review) and provide training if required (develop). ?

Continuous feedback works: ?There are times when you know that one of your team-member is not at par with others in terms of performance, only tool which one can use to improve/ motivate team is providing continuous and honest feedback with corrective actions. Like Integrity there is no substitute of honestly too. I firmly believe that leading a team is the most important trait to grow at the highest level in the organization while sometimes it can take away your 100% time to deal with different personalities. Learn the art of continuous (development) feedback and yet keeping the team motivated.

Reward courage: Someone has right said “The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow”. Rewarding courage will increase the ability of your team to take risk. ?

Create that “culture” of rewarding individuals who wish to walk that extra mile.

Develop that “appetite” for failure, in my 1st article Transformational Leadership & its Attainment – https://www.dhirubhai.net/pulse/transformational-leadership-its-attainment-sharad-sharma/?trackingId=mrOhIhNYTrGaLCJ6GcZEYQ%3D%3D

I had this below para which highlighted risk Vs. rewards. Sundar Pichai, in one of his conversations with students, highlighted that ‘appetite for failure’ is Google’s success mantra towards Innovation– “Even if you fail, you end up doing something great in the process”.

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I hope you would have enjoyed reading this…do share your comments/thoughts in the comments section.