Who's Your Business Idol?

[Dale King]

Many of us have business idols whom we look up to and aspire to be like. So who's your business idol?

Dale King

[Robert]

S. Truett Cathy, founder of Chic-fil-A. His is the only national fast food chain that I know of that keeps their stores closed on Sunday so the employees can all be with their family.

He also donates a huge amount to charities.

Here is a great quote from him:

"Nearly every moment of every day we have the opportunity to give something to someone else - our time, our love, our resources. I have always found more joy in giving when I did not expect anything in return."

Zig Ziglar would be on my list as well. My favorite quote from him:

"You will get all you want in life if you help enough other people get what they want."

John H. Johnson. He's the guy who founded Ebony magazine. I read his autobiography in the late 80s or early 90s and I've never forgotten it. Still have my copy in fact. What I admire about Mr. Johnson is how he overcame absolute poverty. He lived in a "house" with a dirt floor. But, he refused to let that keep him down. He faced challenges that I'll never have to face. But he didn't give up. This guy saw a need and was going to fill that need no matter what he had to face. The perfect example of staying positive even when there is no apparent light at the end of the tunnel.

Come to think of it, I'm going to read his book again.

That's my "off the top of my head" list. Will post more as I think of them.

[thejenn]

Oohh...that's a tough one, but a great question.

I think my grandfather is my business idol.

He left high school during his junior year to go work in the mills to help support his family. He married my grandmother and then went off to fight in WWII. He was a marine and was part of the first wave to go ashore at Iwo Jima. He can count at least four instances where, by all accounts, he should be dead.

He came home from the war and decided that working in the mills (even though he was now a foreman) wasn't going to "get it done" when it came to caring for his family.

So, in his late 30's, he started going to night school to get his high school diploma. He didn't tell my grandmother or his kids what he was doing until he finished it up.

He then launched the first independant insurance agency in our small town. He was a State Farm rep for more than 30 years and though they lived those first few years in abject poverty (only the fact that his father-in-law helped pay the bills kept them afloat) he managed to build up a business based soley on his customer service. When he retired after 30 years he had so many accounts that they had to replace him with TWO agents in the same town.

My grandfather worked hard, and he made good money, but he succeeded because he loved people and he wanted to help them.

When my grandmother died earlier this year, one of the people that came through the calling hours was one of my grandfather's earliest policy holders. He told me that when his wife had a horrible car accident and had to spend weeks in the hospital, my grandfather went to their house every day to take care of their dogs so that the man could be with his wife.

In fact, the year my grandfather was supposed to retire, our part of our town was wiped out by one of the strongest tornados ever to touch down in the U.S. My grandfather promised every policy holder that he would be there to help them out and he delayed his retirement (more than 18 months) until every last claim was settled.

I'm not sure I'll ever stop hearing stories about the ways my grandfather ran his business and every last one that I hear cements in my mind the idea that you have to genuinely care about other people to succeed. You can't succeed in a vaccum and even if you do, who will you share it with?

Thus, my credo is "the fastest way to succeed is to focus on helping other people succeed."

[Dale King]

Wow...Robert, you stole a little of my thunder.

I don't really idolize anyone, but I greatly admire the accomplishments of John H. Johnson, the founder of Ebony and Jet magazines. He had the necessary charisma, tenacity and passion to convince corporate America that there was such a thing as a black consumer market.

In 1942, he took out a $500 loan that he used to send charter subscription offers to Supreme Liberty customers. Within a year, sales soared from 5,000 to 50,000.

Based on that success, in 1945 Johnson launched Ebony, modeled after Life magazine. In 1951, he added Jet, a more news-oriented magazine that chronicled the growth of the civil-rights movement.

I highly recommend reading his autobiography, Succeeding Against The Odds. That book is as good as it gets for providing inspiration.

I also have a great deal of admiration for BET founder, Robert Johnson who is also the owner of the Charlotte Hornets basketball franchise.

Johnson borrowed money to start his own cable brand, BET. Launched in 1980, it was profitable within five years. In the early '90s BET became the first African-American-controlled company to be traded publicly on the New York Stock Exchange. In 1998 Johnson bought it back and then sold it to Viacom, pocketing a reported $1.5 billion himself and retaining his position as chairman and CEO.

Dale King

[zoobie]

I would say my mother is my business idol...^^;

I'm not trying to be bias or whatever...but I guess for me, my mother did really good in putting and running her own business. Although now she stopped doing business...I still consider her as one of the business women in our town. ^^;

[Peter Bowen]

Dale, you're my hero

Also, Richard Branson, Greg Cohen and Peter Carruthers

Cheers

Pete

[Dale King]

Peter Bowen wrote:

Dale, you're my hero.

Wow...Peter, how does anyone respond to such a flattering statement, other than to say thank you?

Thank you very much, Peter!

I am flattered beyond words.

Dale King

[torka]

Warren Buffet.

Among the richest people in the world, he still lives in a relatively modest house in Omaha Nebraska that he's lived in since 1958 and drives his own car. While his kids will inherit some money from him, he is donating the vast bulk of his fortune to charity -- an estimated $30 billion.

--Torka

[ubqueenbee]

I think Karen Phelps is amazing - KarenPhelps.net is her site. She is an incredible guru of direct sales and I learn a lot from her!

[Dale King]

Thanks, guys and gals!

Keep 'em coming!

Dale King