"Fix the interviews on 16th" said Govind, the Chairman of the company.
"Shall I ask all the six shortlisted candidates to attend the interview on 16th?"
"I have eliminated four of the six candidates shortlisted by us earlier. Ask only Sundar and Kanakasabhai to come for the interview."
Varadarajan looked at Govind, perplexed.
"I am sorry, Varadarajan. Since you were retiring, I thought I need not involve you in the elimination process" said Govind, apologetically.
"Sir! You are the one to take a decision. But, after shortlisting the six candidates, we have gathered all the background information about them! So, may I know why you eliminated four of them?" asked Varadarajan, politely.
"We have collected the information about them, alright. But I wanted to verify a few things. So, I conducted some tests for all the six candidates, through a friend of mine. I can even say that I set traps for them! Four of the candidates got entrapped. So, I eliminated them. I thought of sharing the details with you later."
Govind then elaborated what he did.
"As you know, given the reputation of our company, many people were interested in becoming the CEO of our company. Though we have many competent executives in our company, we decided to recruit someone from outside, since we wanted to recruit a person with some specialized skills required for this position. You have been a very valuable asset to our company. I won't be able to find another person like you. Since you were keen on not continuing in this position after you had reached the age of seventy, we had to scout for a person to substitute you."
Govind paused.
Varadarajan knew that Govind's praise for him was sincere. However, he thought that the Chairman praising him at that time was for assuaging his feelings, since the Chairman had taken steps to test the shortlisted candidates, without taking Varadarajan into confidence.
"No one can know better than you what kind of pressures the CEO will receive from our suppliers, competitors, service providers, government officials etc. To withstand all these pressures, the CEO should have certain basic attributes. The service records of the candidates won't show whether they have such attributes. That is why I thought of testing the candidates in three areas."
"What are those three areas?"
"Following a righteous path, resisting the lure of money and not falling prey to honeytraps. I know that you would have encountered challenges in these areas many times during your tenure. But, for you, a person who has adopted ethics and morality as a way of life, those challenges would have been no challenges at all. You would have overcome such challenges very easily."
Knowing that what Govind said was true, Varadarajan nodded his head silently.
Govind continued.
"First, I had messages delivered to the candidates in a subtle way that they could get the job by influencing me through some intermediaries. Secondly, I had a huge sum of money offered to them to do something in violation of the rules and norms of the companies where they are now working. Thirdly, I had honey traps set for them to lure them and get some sensitive information about their companies. Two people were caught in one trap. One person was entrapped in two traps and another in all the three traps. Only two people didn't get caught in any of the three traps" said Govind.
Varadarajan remained silent.
"I know that you won't accept the methods I have adopted. That was another reason why I didn't involve you in this process" said Govind.
"How are you going to select one person out of the two candidates left?" asked Varadarajan.
"We are going to make the selection. We both will interview the candidates. The next CEO will be a person chosen by you" said Govind.
After interviewing the two candidates, Govind and Varadarajan unanimously selected Kanakasabhai as the next CEO.
"Sir! I want to ask you one thing. You asked both the candidates, 'You may receive threats to your life, while doing this job. Are you prepared to face such threats?' Sundar became visibly scared by your question. But, Kanakasabhai said, 'While doing a job, one should be prepared for all eventualities.' So, Kanakasbhai became the obvious choice for the position. But, I have not encountered any threat to my life during my tenure. May I know why you asked this question?" asked Varadarajan.
Section 2
Assess Before Accepting
thiRan therindhu thERappdum
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