You
seem to have seen a lot in your life and accumulated a lot of business wisdom. Would
you care to share some with me? D.C. - Kansas You
seem to have seen a lot in your life and accumulated a lot of business wisdom. Would
you care to share some with me? D.C. - Kansas
INDUSTRY ADVISOR
LESSONS OF LIFE
By Gene Levine - www.genelevine.com
Would I, well, have you ever heard of or know Howard Stringer? Former President of Colonial Division of Kayser-Roth.
If you have ever had the good fortune of either knowing, or working for or with him, you know of his remarkable ability to positively reshape one's thinking. He does it in a very simple way; he asks you questions, one right after another. And, should you ask him a question, he answers you in a question. I asked him one time, "Howie, why do you always answer my questions with a question?" His reply was, "Why shouldn't I?" He is a master at the Socratic method of making people think.
His skillful use of the questions, who, what, when, where, how and why, contribute much to the success of this man. I can never remember his giving anyone a direct command. He never tries to impress anyone; yet you, too, will be impressed.
His achievements are only surpassed by his excellent ability to teach others how to achieve.
Life, too, is an excellent teacher.
For example, Safety News once published this:
"Executives learn that they have practically nothing to do except to decide what is to be done and tell someone else to do it. They listen to reasons why it should not be done, why it should be done by someone else, or why it should be done in a different way. They follow up to see if the thing has been done, discover that it has not, inquire why, then listen to excuses from the persons who should have done it. They follow up again to see if the thing has been done, only to discover that it has been done incorrectly. They point out how it should have been done, or decide it may as well be left where it is.
"They wonder if it is not time to get rid of a person who cannot do a thing right, but reflect that the employee probably has a spouse and a large family, and that certainly any successor would be just as bad or maybe worse.
"Executives reflect sadly that the thing could have been done right in
twenty minutes; as it turned out, he had to spend two days finding out why it had taken three weeks for somebody else to do it wrong."
An old saying goes, "We all learn as we go through life."
"Sooner or later, if we're wise, we discover that life is a mixture of good days and bad, victory and defeat, and give and take. We learn it doesn't pay to . . .
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