A Humbled Leader

General Hanabishi needed a new captain to lead a regiment of soldiers. He call two of his best officers and asked one of them. “Haruki, do you think you will be a good captain?”

“Yes, sir,” Haruki replied boldly. “I have fought a hundred battles and I have won them all. Never in my life have I known defeat.”

“Sasuki” Hanabishi asked the other, “do you think you will be a good captain?”

“Sir,” Sasuki answered, “I have fought a hundred battles and have taste several defeats.”

After thinking, General Hanabishi approached back Sasuki and promoted him to be the captain.

At this, Haruki protested, “How is it that you preferred him, a failure, to me, a victor?”

“Haruki,” General Hanabish answered, “I would rather have a leader who has been made proud by defeats than a leader who has been made proud by his victories”