A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

WHAT EVERYBODY KNOWS IS FREQUENTLY WRONG ■ 21
thought it egotistical. The rest of the students continued their conversations
while the autographing took place for another ten minutes or so.
Then Peter went to the front of the classroom and began to lecture <strong>with</strong>out
reference to notes or his book.
The Story of the Two Vice Presidents
Peter began <strong>with</strong> a story about a company he had observed. As the president
of the company grew older, he knew that he should begin thinking
about succession. Fortunately, he had two vice presidents, both equally
outstanding, and of the right age, and each <strong>with</strong> a record of outstanding
prior accomplishments <strong>with</strong> this firm. He increased the responsibility of
both subordinate executives and gave them each the new title of executive
vice president. He called them in together and announced that he
intended to retire in five years and that one of them would be named to
succeed him as president.
Both men thanked the president for the opportunity. The president
had confidence that he had picked the right candidates. Although both
were ambitious, he knew that both would put the company before themselves
in whatever they undertook. He knew that either would make an
excellent replacement.
Over the five years of their apprenticeship a differing pattern began
to emerge from each of the prospective presidents-to-be. Although both
men did well in every task given them and were equally successful in
accomplishing their assignments, the process each followed was quite
different. One would be given a task by the president. He would request
the information needed and would ask when the job was to be accomplished.
He would go off, gather his subordinates together, and would
invariably present the president <strong>with</strong> a completed job well done days,
weeks, or months later. Unless he needed some specific information or
permission to do something a little out of the usual process, he would
do this <strong>with</strong>out ever bothering the old president.
The other executive vice president took an entirely different approach.
Given a project by the president, he too would organize his subordinates
to complete it successfully. However, there was a big difference. The first
candidate worked independently and didn’t bother the president <strong>with</strong> the
details of what he was doing unless specific help was needed. However,
the second candidate met periodically <strong>with</strong> the president to discuss the