THE ELDERLY INDUSTRIALIST AND THE IMPORTANT INHERITANCE

Mark Price, former MD of Waitrose, shares his workplace fables – true stories from the business front line that can teach us lessons about career success

The Elderly Industrialist was very keen that one of his four children took over the family factory, Hollynuts, when he retired.

As tradition dictates, he offered the role to his eldest son first, even though the young man had never shown any real interest in the business. With no practical experience of how it worked, or its people and processes, his son found it difficult to make decisions and failed to win the respect of other managers.

The eldest son was quite grateful when the secondborn agreed to step up to the plate. She knew how things worked and had built close relationships with the team. They had seen her in the factory since she was a little girl, often fussing over her and calling her by a special nickname. Sadly, the second-born was too close to her staff and lacked the courage to direct the workforce to do what was required. She didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

The challenge fell to the next child. He’d seen his brother and sister fail and thought he knew what to do. So he ignored the advice of his managers and rubbed everyone up the wrong way through his arrogance. Before long, he too was asked to step down.

Finally, the Elderly Industrialist turned to his youngest child and gave her the responsibility. She had been following things very closely and had seen where her siblings had failed to deliver. Even though she hadn’t spent time on the factory floor before, she made sure from that day on she made regular visits to learn the ins and outs of the business and to get to know the staff. However, she made sure to be independent enough so she could be free to make clear decisions. And finally, she remembered not to let it all go to her head. Which was just as well, as the company went from strength to strength.

Moral of the tale

None of us are born leaders. Everyone takes time to learn the fine balance of many qualities that makes a good leader.