Best Gift Intangible, Absolutely
Ambition might be one of best gifts, especially in the so-called Christmas season.
In 1877, William Smith Clark said, “Boys, be ambitious like this old man!” on his leave from an agricultural school (currently Hokkaido University) in Japan.
He had been invited by then Japanese (Meiji) government, while he was the president of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. He spent only a year in Japan training youth in the northern island Hokkaido, but he has been long respected, literally over centuries beyond the war, by the Japanese people mainly due to his gift, “Boys be ambitious!”
The next chairman of the Japan Business Federation will be Fujio Mitarai, President & CEO, Canon Inc.
According to Financial Times/ PricewaterhouseCoopers World's Most Respected Companies survey (based on interviews with more than 1,000 respondents who are mainly CEOs across 25 countries), the ranking of World’s Most Respected Business Leaders 2004 was as follows:
1: Bill Gates (Microsoft)
2: Jack Welch (formerly of General Electric)
3: Carlos Ghosn (Nissan)
4: Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway)
5: Michael Dell (Dell)
6: Hiroshi Okuda (Toyota)
7: Jeffrey Immeit (General Electric)
8: Carly Fiorina (Hewlett-Packard)
9: Steve Jobs (Apple)
10: Fujio Mitarai (Canon)
Among these top 10s, three figures are from Japan-based companies. And Mr. Okuda is the incumbent chairman of the Japan Business Federation.
So, there might be no wonder that Mr. Mitarai is going to succeed Mr. Okuda to preside over the one of the most powerful organizations, called Keidan-Ren, in Japan.
However, it is unknown as Mr. Miatari was appreciated so high in 2004 globally as well as in America, he is going to be a leader in Japan in 2006.
After all, we had better give children an intangible gift, such as ambition.
If they end up as a business leader who is usually soon forgotten or an educator who has a chance to be commemorated over centuries, it is better than ending up as a wirepuller behind a scam or atrocity.
“HE GIVES GENEROUSLY TO THE NEEDY”