“The point is, I’m going to be retiring soon and I need to know that I’m leaving the company in good hands,” my grandmother stated.
This wasn’t a surprise and yet, it was unexpected at this time. I suspect deep down, I thought she’d live and run Strong Incorporated forever.
“What are you going to do with your free time,” I asked, not able to imagine her knitting or taking strolls on the beach to collect shells. She was business through and through. I took after her in that respect and I didn’t know what I’d do with myself if it weren’t for the business.
“I don’t know yet, but I’m not worried about it. All I know is that I’m ready to move on. I know you boys…men can handle the job of carrying on the company. So today, I’m announcing your new positions. They’ve been chosen to play to all your strengths.”
“Noah doesn’t have strengths,” Carter joked, throwing a balled-up piece of paper at our youngest sibling.
“He’s a strong slacker,” Andi said.
We all laughed. Noah shrugged it off. He didn’t care. I admired that about him even as it made him annoying.
“Ryan, you’ll be the Chief Operations Officer,” my grandmother said, ignoring the joking going on around her.
“That’s because you’re bossy,” Noah quipped.
I thought about saying he was fired, except he didn’t actually work at Strong Incorporated like I and my other brothers did. He took after my dad in that respect.
“Hunter, you’ll be the Chief Marketing Officer,” Gran continued.
That made sense. Hunter was creative and already worked in marketing.
“Carter, you’ll be Chief Financial Officer,” she said.
That made sense too. He was a wiz at math, and probably could have gone on to work for NASA or something, but chose to stay in the family business.
“Noah, you’ll be Chief Technology Officer.”
Actually, that made sense too. Noah was brilliant like Carter, but he just was lazy in his brilliance. He’d created a few apps, sold them for a ton of money, and spent the rest of his time riding his motorcycle. He did some work for us sometimes, but mostly he hated corporate life.
“I don’t work here,” Noah responded.
“Noah, it’s time you put more focus in y
our life beyond your bike. This role fits with you perfectly,” Gran stated in a way that for the rest of us would have been taken as not having a choice.
“Gran, you know I love you, but I’m not interested.” Noah planted his boots on the floor, stood and strode out of the room.
I rolled my eyes.
“Baby brother needs to get his shit together,” Hunter said.
“We already do these jobs, so what difference do the titles make?” I asked, deciding Noah was a lost cause.
“They matter because you’re now running the show. The four of you,” she said.
There was one notable position she didn’t assign. “What about CEO?” I asked.
“There won’t be a CEO. You’ll all have to work together to make the company grow and continue its success.”
I suspect there was no CEO because that job should have been my father’s. Like Noah, he’d checked out of corporate life when my mother died. I think Gran hoped he’d someday check back in, but he never did.
Fortunately, except for Noah, we all got along okay, so I didn’t anticipate many issues, Still, it was possible we could run into problems if we disagreed. But with my call coming in a few minutes, I didn’t have time to push the topic now.
“I won’t be leaving for a few months, so there’s time to work out the kinks. But I will be backing off from business and giving you more responsibly. Make sure you don’t ruin my legacy, boys. Make me proud.” She stood, and with an air of regalness, she exited the room.
Andi gathered her notes and reports and followed her toward the door.