It's All About Who You Hire, How They Lead...and Other Essential Advice from a Self-Made Leader

CHAPTER 13

An Olive Tree

ONE OF THE MOST TOUCHING MOMENTS OF MY BUSINESS LIFE OCCURRED IN EARLY 2010 IN A SMALL TOWN IN SOUTHERN ISRAEL. Little more than five years earlier, we had purchased Phoenicia Glass Works Ltd., a glass plant that made bottles in Yerucham, a small town in the Negev, a less developed part of Israel. That day, on one of my regular visits, the Phoenicia CEO, Amnon Cohen, told me that some of the plant’s workers wanted to see me in the garden. I was puzzled by the request.

After lunch, I went to the garden, where about fifty employees had gathered. It was a clear and sunny day, beautiful in every way. There, the three union leaders themselves had planted a young olive tree in my honor along with a very artistic metal plaque ...