THE NEW CEO WANTED TO PROVE HE WAS TOUGH—SO ON HIS FIRST TOUR, HE FIRED A MAN WHO WAS LEANING AGAINST A WALL IN FRONT OF EVERYONE.
Determined to get rid of “slackers,” the CEO walked up to the young man and asked, “How much money do you make?”
The confused employee replied, “About $400 a week. Why?”
The CEO smirked, marched back to his office, returned with $1,600 in cash, and shoved it into the man’s hands.
“That’s four weeks’ pay. Now get out—and don’t come back!”
The employee took the money and walked away without saying a word.
Feeling proud of himself, the CEO turned to the workers.
“Does anyone want to tell me what that lazy guy’s job was?”
The room went completely silent.
Finally, one worker cleared his throat.
“Sir… he wasn’t an employee.”
The CEO frowned.
“Then who was he?”
The worker pointed toward the loading dock.
“He was the pizza delivery guy.”
The entire room burst into laughter.
The CEO’s face turned bright red.
He had just paid a complete stranger $1,600 to leave the building.
But the embarrassment didn’t end there.
A few minutes later, the CEO’s assistant walked into his office holding a receipt.
“Sir, there’s one more problem.”
“What now?”
“The pizza was for the board meeting.”
The CEO looked at the receipt.
The order had been placed for thirty people.
And the pizza delivery man had taken the entire order with him.
The CEO sat silently behind his desk.
Then he looked at his assistant and asked, “Can we call him back?”
The assistant shook his head.
“He already left.”
The CEO sighed.
“Fine. Order another pizza.”
The assistant hesitated.
“With what money?”
The CEO stared at him.
“The company card.”
The assistant smiled.
“Sir… you fired the person who had the company card.”
The room went silent again.
The CEO finally realized the lesson: You should never judge someone’s job—or their value—just because you don’t understand what they’re doing.