'Un viejo labrador, próximo a morir, dijo a sus hijos que había un tesoro escondido en sus tierras. Tras su muerte, cavaron sin tregua. Tesoro no hallaron, pero la tierra removida produjo una cosecha inigualable'.
An old labrador, feeling close to his death, called his children and said:
“My children, in one of my fields I have hidden a treasure.”
After his death, the children, anxious to find him, dug with effort every corner of the earth. They found no gold or jewelry, but having removed and worked so well the field, the harvest of that year was the best they had ever had.
Moral: constant work and well done is, in itself, a treasure.
When a founder dies, he leaves much more than goods: he leaves values, teachings and a story of effort. Sometimes, the greatest legacy is not in what is inherited, but in what you learn looking for that legacy.
In the family business, the founders usually wonder how to ensure that their effort is not lost. Some believe that it is enough to leave goods; Others understand that true treasure is to transmit the culture of work, unity and the sense of purpose.
The Aesop fable contains a great lesson for those who build legacy: more than leave wealth, you have to sow habits. When the father asked his children to find the treasure, he knew that the act of working together for a common cause would unite them more than any will. He did not give them exact instructions, but the motivation to search, to collaborate, to strive.
In family businesses the same happens: if children inherit without having worked the land, the fruits are ended soon. On the other hand, if they have participated in the effort, if they know the sacrifice behind each decision and if they are aligned in values, the inheritance does not waste: it blooms.
‘Family work may not give immediate gold, but it gives fruits that transcend generations‘
Practical application in the family business
The legacy is not transmitted only with notarial documents. It is built in daily practice: in conversations about difficult decisions, in the participation of children in the business, in the formation of criteria and character. Involving the successors early, allowing them to be wrong, teaching them to make decisions and to assess the effort, is an essential part of the process.
The founder who teaches “to remove the earth” in life, leaves children capable of multiplying the harvest, even if they do not know exactly where the treasure is. It is not just a patrimonial succession, but of emotional and strategic succession.
Therefore, rather than leaving everything resolved, the most valuable thing is to teach them to solve. That the legacy is not only what is delivered, but what is inspired to build.
The real legacy is not the treasure that you deliver, but the character that forms.
Who seeks to inherit without having worked, usually loses what he never knew how to sow.
On the other hand, who has learned to work the Earth, will know how to find treasures even where others only see removed land.
If you are part of a family business, ask yourself: am I sowing the character, values and purpose that will flourish the legacy? Do not wait for the moment of succession to start cultivating. The best time to prepare the land is today.
About the author:
Twitter: @mariorizofiscal
The opinions expressed are only the responsibility of their authors and are completely independent of the position and the editorial line of Forbes Mexico.
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