The Long Spoons Parable: Thriving Though Sharing

With a slowdown in hiring and increased uncertainty in the economy, many recruiters are facing one of the most challenging markets we’ve seen since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Placements are harder to close, pipelines are slower to move, and even the most experienced professionals are feeling the strain.

That’s why I want to revisit something more meaningful—something more relevant now than ever before.

It’s a parable we’ve shared before, but one that perfectly illustrates the heart of what makes our network work: collaboration, generosity, and mutual support. It’s called The Long Spoons Parable, and it reminds us that even in a world full of abundance, success only comes when we work together.

So especially in times like these—when the market gets tight and competition grows fierce—this story is more than just an illustration. It’s a call to action.

A reminder that in TE Network, you’re never alone at the table . . . unless you choose to be.

An old woman is nearing the end of her life. As she closes her eyes one night, she sees a bright light and is transported to another realm. She doesn’t pass away just then. Instead, she returns to the living world to find her family gathered at her bedside. She smiles and whispers to her children, “I have seen the great hereafter.”

“The great whereafter?” Her son asks.

“Heaven and hell. I have seen them both.”

The old woman goes on to explain, “I came upon a door, and behind it was hell. What I saw there confounded me. There was a dining hall filled with rows of tables, each table teaming with a magnificent feast. It looked and smelled delicious, yet the people seated around the tables were emaciated and sickly, moaning with hunger.

“As I came closer, I realized that each person held a very long spoon. With it they could reach the feast, but the spoon was too long. Though they tried and tried again, they couldn’t bring nourishment to their mouth. In spite of the abundance before them, they were starving.”

She continued, “I left this horrid place and opened a new door, one that led to heaven. Inside, I was surprised to see that very same scene before my eyes, a dining hall filled with row upon row of tables, and on those tables, a marvelous feast. But instead of moaning with hunger, the people around the tables were sitting contentedly, talking with one another, sated from the abundance before them.

“Like those in hell, these people were holding very long spoons. As I watched, a woman dipped her spoon into a bowl of stew before her, but rather than struggling to feed herself, she extended her spoon out and fed the man seated across from her. This person, now satisfied and no longer hungry, gave thanks and returned the favor, leaning across the table to feed the woman.”

“I suddenly understood the difference between heaven and hell,” the old woman said to her family. “It is neither the qualities of the place, nor of the abundance of resources, but the way people treat each other.

“In hell, we are selfish. We would rather go hungry than give the people we don’t care for the pleasure of eating.”

“But in heaven, we feed each other. We put trust in those around us, and never go hungry.”

When you feed other recruiters in TE Network—your trading partners—you don’t go hungry. No matter what’s happening in the economy or on the other side of the world, there’s no reason to hoard everything on your recruiting desk, especially if you have a long spoon and you’re having trouble feeding yourself.

If you need something, ask your trading partners. Then ask your trading partners what they need.

If you have what your trading partners need, then give it to them. If they have what you need, then they’ll give it to you.

This is the essence of membership in Top Echelon’s recruiting network. Don’t be like the first group of people in the parable above. Strive to be like the second group.

And remember: “It is neither the qualities of the place, nor of the abundance of resources, but the way people treat each other.”

Let’s rely on our trading partners in TE Network and make the second half of 2025 the best that it can be!