The carpenter

Michael wakes in a hospital bed with a bandage on his head. He had collapsed during a morning jog, worn down by the stress of growing a business with his wife, Sarah. Now he is frightened, and the business is still waiting for him.

He learns that the man who saved his life is a carpenter, and he goes to find him. The carpenter turns out to build more than furniture: he builds lives, careers, people and teams. Michael starts to take his advice.

Michael needs that advice. Adversity, rejection, fear and failure all press on the company, and he is trying to keep it alive. Through the carpenter he comes to see that success never arrives overnight, and that a handful of lasting principles separate those who stand out from those who do not.

The story is a business fable with one mentor and one struggling entrepreneur, and the lessons sit inside the narrative rather than in a separate manual. The author draws on his work with leaders, sales teams, sports teams, non-profits and schools. Whether Michael can save the company is the question that carries it.