A West Virginian farmer died and left his 17 mules to three sons. (He was wealthy by West Virginian standards.) His will stated that his oldest son would get half of the mules, the middle one would get one-third and the youngest would get one-ninth.
They wracked their brains to figure out how to do it, but couldn’t.
Soon after this their [area] minister came to help them in their grief and heard their predicament. He added his mule to the lot, making 18 mules.
The oldest got half, or 9.
The middle got one-third, or 6.
And the youngest got one-ninth, or 2.
Then the minister got on the remaining mule and rode home.
Leadership is about creatively adding an extra mule. Everyone is satisfied with the results and the leader still has something to ride home on.