The Fall of
an Empire
The making of a tyrant is a not so tedious process. Mix the elements of privilege without honor, perseverance and hard work and a spoonful of one’s grandiose illusion of entitlement. This is the perfect recipe for a boy’s demise and unfortunately enough, the kingdom he so wrongly rules.
I am no knight, only a soldier. A loyal one at that. Left to rot on a soon to be exhausted pasture, an ageing warrior who fought valiantly for his Lord and now can do nothing but wait for the imminent.
Several years ago, an attempt to destroy me was plotted by my Lord and his son. The plot only damaged my emotion and my livelihood but not my integrity, definitely not I. I believe that it was upon the belief that I am no longer needed because there are no more enemies to be faced and the challenges ahead seems to them manageable.
It was the time of plenty, and it was the time they plotted not to share. And it was a time of misconceived capabilities of themselves and their minions that led them to believe that I, and some others, like old dogs, can be put down and discarded.
That was eight or so years ago… and over that time, with every project, they have proven that I am still of value.
The empire’s expansion and the carelessness of the masters has led to our own demise and the appointment of the heir-apparent to a significant position did not help, in fact it made matters worse.
This piece of internet literature made me laugh simply because our own King Joffrey’s email says that he is God and acted that way upon entering the company’s organization. But I on the other hand understand my Boss enough to have tried getting the heir in line…. And I miserably failed.
And that failure is simply because I did not play him like I should have because I simply for the life of me could not. I am more of a man than that.
In a company where you are favored by the Royal family one day and fall out of grace the next, that is how martyrs are made. And that is how kingdoms crumble.
In the end, I am still the loyal servant, not of the crown, but of the one true King. But like what Sir Thomas More said before he was beheaded, “I die the king's faithful servant, but God's first.”
I am no knight, only a soldier. A loyal one at that. Left to rot on a soon to be exhausted pasture, an ageing warrior who fought valiantly for his Lord and now can do nothing but wait for the imminent.
Several years ago, an attempt to destroy me was plotted by my Lord and his son. The plot only damaged my emotion and my livelihood but not my integrity, definitely not I. I believe that it was upon the belief that I am no longer needed because there are no more enemies to be faced and the challenges ahead seems to them manageable.
It was the time of plenty, and it was the time they plotted not to share. And it was a time of misconceived capabilities of themselves and their minions that led them to believe that I, and some others, like old dogs, can be put down and discarded.
That was eight or so years ago… and over that time, with every project, they have proven that I am still of value.
The empire’s expansion and the carelessness of the masters has led to our own demise and the appointment of the heir-apparent to a significant position did not help, in fact it made matters worse.
When an adult child comes into an organization with this level of entitlement and a God complex, the problem is that he or she was probably catered to as a kid. Many parents with the best of intentions never want their children to suffer. As a result, the child is often protected from rules, discipline and consequences of his bad decisions.
A child raised in this manner will enter the adult world expecting everyone in his environment to allow him to be a dictator. The adult world will soon teach this young man that business rewards results, not a grandiose ego.If his father has allowed this guy to act like this since he was 2 and learned the word "No!" then you and your coworkers may be in for a long slog while his father learns to get his child in line.
Parents who have raised entitled kids have a very hard time being the "bad guy" so they can teach their kid to function in the real world. Only you can decide if the job you currently have is worth the price you will have to pay to see if your boss will control his son. ---- Daneen Skube, Ph.D.
This piece of internet literature made me laugh simply because our own King Joffrey’s email says that he is God and acted that way upon entering the company’s organization. But I on the other hand understand my Boss enough to have tried getting the heir in line…. And I miserably failed.
And that failure is simply because I did not play him like I should have because I simply for the life of me could not. I am more of a man than that.
In a company where you are favored by the Royal family one day and fall out of grace the next, that is how martyrs are made. And that is how kingdoms crumble.
Family-owned businesses are in many ways the backbone of capitalism around the world. But at some point in their growth, having family members in charge is not only problematic, but dangerous.
New research looking at firm performance of thousands of medium-sized businesses found a lot to like for family run enterprises. But it also pinpointed a common practice that can lead to a business diving into big problems. And that practice is when the founder hands the CEO title to his oldest son.
"The firm's share price and profits usually take more of a tumble when the company is handed from the founder to his eldest son relative to an outsider," according to the researchers, reporting on their results in Harvard Business Review. "Studies of CEO succession also suggest that sons who become CEOs usually have poorer college results and are much younger than other CEOs."
As an alternative, family owners should consider bringing in professional managers from the outside, say the researchers -- Nicholas Bloom (Stanford), Raffaella Sadun (Harvard Business School), and John Van Reenen (London School of Economics). "Keeping things in the family can be bad for the wallet as well as the welfare of the next generation. ---- Sean Silverthorne is the editor of HBS Working Knowledge
In the end, I am still the loyal servant, not of the crown, but of the one true King. But like what Sir Thomas More said before he was beheaded, “I die the king's faithful servant, but God's first.”
