Successful Brands Take Risks | Personal Branding Blog - Dan Schawbel

The story of the talents

One day a man was going on a long trip. He needed his servants to take care of his property while he was gone, so he called them to him. To the first servant he gave 5 Talents of money (Equivalent to about $1,000).  This man went to work at once investing the money until he had doubled it. He now had 10 Talents instead of 5.

The master gave the second man 2 Talents. He probably thought the man was capable of managing that amount of money. The second man was also successful and doubled his money. He began with 2 Talents and now had twice as much.

The third man was not as capable as the other two, but the master gave him 1 Talent with the expectation that he would manage it well. However, the third man feared taking a risk.  Unquestionably he too could have increased his money, but decided the risk was too great and dug a hole in the ground where he buried the 1 Talent.

After a long while, the master returned and asked for a report from his servants.  The man who had received 5 Talents brought his money and showed the master that he had doubled it. He was happy to show his master the results.  The master was well pleased and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful and wise.  I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!”

The man that had been given 2 Talents showed the master that he too had doubled his money.  He received the same words of praise as the first man who had produced 10 talents; and shared in his master’s happiness.

The man who had received 1 Talent dug up the Talent he had buried and brought it to the master. He accused the master of being a hard man to work for.  He said he had been afraid to take a risk; so he just buried his 1 Talent in the ground to protect what he had.  He gave it back to the master saying, “See, here is what belongs to you.”

The master was very angry with him and called him a wicked, lazy servant. He said the man should have at least put the money with bankers and received some interest.  The master took his 1 Talent away from him and gave it to the man who had 10 Talents; and punished the 1-Talent man because he had not properly invested the Talent he had been entrusted with.

via personalbrandingblog.com

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