Power of stories - The Rich Shoe-shiner
Every morning, the CEO of a major bank in Manhattan went to the corner where a shoeshine man was always there. He used to sit on the chair, read the Wall Street Journal, and the shoeshine man gave his shoes a shiny, great look. One morning, the shoeshine man asks the CEO:
"What do you think of the stock market situation?”
The CEO arrogantly asks him: "Why are you so interested in this subject?" The shoeshine man replies:?"I have twenty million dollars deposited in your bank and I am thinking about investing part of the money in the stock market" The CEO of the bank asks:
"What is your name?”
He replies:
"John Smith H.”
The CEO arrives at the bank and asks the Manager of the Major Accounts Department:
"Do we have a customer named John Smith H.?"
The Customer Service Manager for Major Accounts replies:
*We certainly do, Sir!
He is an extremely esteemed customer! He has twenty million dollars in his account.”
The CEO leaves the bank, approaches the shoeshine Man, and says: "Mr. Smith, I would like to invite you to be our guest of honor at our board meeting next Monday and tell us your life story. I'm sure we will have a lot to learn from you." At the board meeting, the CEO introduces him to the board members:
"We all know Mr. Smith, who makes our shoes shine like no one else. But Mr. Smith is also our valued customer, with twenty million dollars in his account.?I invited him to tell us the story of his life. I'm sure we can learn a lot from him. Please, Mr. Smith, tell us your life story.”
Then, Mr. Smith began to narrate his story:
"I came to this country thirty years ago as a young immigrant from Eastern Europe and with an unpronounceable name. I left the ship penniless in my pocket.
The first thing I did was to change my name to Smith. I was hungry and exhausted. I started to wander in search for a job, but without success. Suddenly, I found a coin on the sidewalk. I bought some apples.
?I had two options: eat the apples and quench my hunger or start a business. I sold the apples for 50 cents and bought more apples with the money when I started accumulating dollars, I managed to buy a set of used brushes and shoe polishes and started cleaning shoes.
I didn't spend a dime on fun or clothes. I only bought bread and cheese to survive.
I saved penny by penny and after a while I bought a new set of brushes and shoe polishes in different shades and colors and increased my clientele.
I lived like a monk and saved a penny after penny. After a while, I managed to buy a chair so that my customers could sit comfortably while I cleaned their shoes, which brought me more customers.
I didn't spend a dime on the pleasures of life. I kept saving every penny.
A few years ago , when the corner shoeshine colleague decided to retire , I had already saved enough money to buy his point , which was a better place than mine Finally , three months ago , my brother , who was a drug dealer in Chicago , passed away and left me twenty million dollars.
Reflection by Dr Anjana
Well today it’s all about how to engage and induce good reading culture in an individual.
As kids our DNA is made with stories and that’s how as humans we love to connect and recall a lot in our lives. Each one has a story to tell the question is how I put it across so u feel completely engaged. Today’s story is an example of the same. So does that mean no reflection or takeaways well no it only means there can be many u choose the objective and apply it? So here are a few examples.
# U can use this to talk about perceptions - looks / your job doesn't determine your worth
# U can use it to talk about humility - no matter how rich your remember anything that comes free will only change your habit if not valued
# One can also use this to talk about money can make more money if used wisely
And many more. Message have an impact when backed with a story. Remember stories are data but with a soul It’s a known fact that the most complex of the messages can be communicated easily when u like it to a story. Let’s all write our stories be it success or failure as each will have an impact success ones will motivate while failure will have lessons to learn from. The world is shaped by 2 things stories told and memories one leaves behind in the end we all have stories to tell whether we whisper or we yell.