I use stories and analogies to help my clients get a better grasp of concepts. Here’s a story I prepared about Accountability – I invite you to read it, and ask yourself, what insights do you get about how your business operates?

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In the outskirts of Johor Bahru is a town called Plentong.

There is a secondary school where good students are produced and there was a well-loved teacher named Mr. Hassan. Every year, he assigned his students a special project: to take care of a sapling, nurture it, and present it at the end of the year. The student with the healthiest, tallest tree would receive a special prize.

This year, a boy named Chong Wei was especially eager. He planted his sapling in the richest soil he could find after consulting his biology teacher, watered it every day, and made sure it got plenty of sunlight. His tree grew strong and tall, and Chong Wei was proud of his work.

One day, while Chong Wei was playing with his classmates, he noticed that a storm was approaching. Dark clouds gathered, and the wind began to howl. Chong Wei’s classmates called him to play a game in the shelter of a nearby barn, but Chong Wei hesitated. He knew his tree was vulnerable in the strong winds.

He decided to stay behind and protect his sapling. Chong Wei quickly ran to the tree, secured it with some ropes, and built a small barrier around it to shield it from the wind. As the storm raged, Chong Wei stayed with his tree, making sure it wasn’t uprooted or damaged.

The next day, when the storm had passed, the villagers saw that many of the trees in the village had been damaged or destroyed. But Chong Wei’s tree stood tall and strong. When asked why his tree survived, Chong Wei explained how he had taken responsibility for its care, even when it was difficult, while sacrificing his play time.

At the end of the year, Chong Wei received the special prize not just for the height of his tree, but for the dedication he showed in protecting it. His prize includes bursary awards of RM 2,000 for his year four tertiary education, a 5D4N learning holiday sponsored by Petronas and a sponsorship programme for deserving SPM leavers to pursue their tertiary education at Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS (UTP) and other top leading local and overseas universities all around the world.

Mr. Hassan told the class, “This is accountability. Chong Wei didn’t just plant the tree; he took responsibility for its well-being, even when it required extra effort. That is what true accountability means—being responsible for your actions and their outcomes and not using excuses that the weather uprooted my tree, hence I was not able to nurture a strong tree.”

Through this experience, Chong Wei and his classmates learned that accountability isn’t just about completing tasks – it’s about owning the results, good or bad, and taking the necessary actions when needed to ensure success.