Management Stories

An ancient Chinese story, retold by Phil Jackson, coach of the phenomenally successful Chicago Bulls basketball team, makes this point rather more emphatically. In the 3rd century BC, the Chinese emperor Liu Bang celebrated his consolidation of China with a banquet, where he sat surrounded by his nobles and military and political experts. Since Liu Bang was neither noble by birth nor an expert in military or political affairs, some of the guests asked one of the military experts, Chen Cen, why Liu Bang was the emperor. In a contemporary setting, the question would probably have been: “What added value does Liu Bang bring to the party?” Chen Cen’s response was to ask the questioner a question in return: “What determines the strength of a wheel?” One guest suggested that the strength of the wheel was in its spokes, but Chen Cen countered that two sets of spokes of identical strength did not necessarily make wheels of identical strength. On the contrary, the strength was also affected by the spaces between the spokes, and determining the spaces was the true art of the wheelwright. Thus, while the spokes represent the collective resources necessary to an organization’s success-and the resources that the leader lacks-the spaces represent the autonomy for followers to grow into leaders themselves. In sum, holding together the diversity of talents necessary for organizational success is what distinguishes a successful leader from an unsuccessful one: Leaders don’t need to be perfect, but they do have to recognize that their own limitations will ultimately doom them to failure unless they rely upon their subordinate leaders and followers to fill in the gaps.

Source: Leadership Ltd: White Elephant to Wheelwright by Keith Grint | Ivey Business Journal, January/February 2005

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A sales manager was deciding which of two salespeople to recruit. Passing over a ball point pen, he said, “Sell me one of these.” The first salesperson took the pen, examined it and said, “This is a very good pen. You will note the transparent barrel which indicates the color of the ink as well as showing when it is about to run out. There is a stopper at the end to prevent the ink seeping out. The top fits well on the pen and covers the nib so that you can clip it in your inside pocket without fearing ink will stain your shirt. When you remove the top, it fits neatly on the other end so ensuring that you do not lose it. It also balances the pen well for writing.”

The sales manager was impressed and passed the pen to the second salesperson. He took it, snapped it in half and said, “You need a new pen.”

Source: Ken Langdon | TheWorkingManager

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