To Leaders

The Business Coach Letter - July 2004   In Ancient times, a king placed a large boulder on a road. He then hid and watched to see if someone would remove it. Some of the kingdom’s biggest merchants and courtiers came by and simply walked around it. Many of them loudly blamed the king for not keeping the road clear, but none of them did anything about getting the big stone out of the way.   Then a peasant farmer came along, carrying a load of vegetables on his back. When he came to the boulder; he laid down his burden and began trying to move it to the side of the road. After much pushing and straining, he finally succeeded.   As he was picking up his vegetables, he noticed a purse sitting on the road where the boulder had been. The purse contained many gold pieces and a note from the king, indicating that the gold was for the person who removed the stone from the roadway.   The peasant had learned what many others have learned since: Every obstacle presents an opportunity to improve one’s condition.   _____________     Small deeds done are better than great deeds planned.   _____________     Leadership is not a magnetic personality; It’s not “making friends and influencing people”—that is flattery. Leadership is lifting a person’s vision to higher sights, raising a person’s performance to a higher standard, building a personality beyond its normal limitations.   Peter F. Drucker Management Expert