Leaning the Right Way

An excellent company requires a belief in something bigger than itself

I got one of those mass e-mails the other day, the ones with inspirational stories promising good luck and eternal salvation, provided you forward it to 10 people immediately. I chose to delete it and take my chances with the Almighty, betting that He was not really a party to an agreement linking my e-mail outbox to a ticket to heaven.

The e-mail included a line, however, that stuck with me: “Love people and use money, rather than love money and use people.” It stuck with me mainly because it reflects rather succinctly the philosophy of Bob Chapman, chairman and CEO of Barry-Wehmiller, who says the great obligation and the great opportunity of senior managers is their unique position in which they can affect hundreds, thousands, maybe even millions of lives. The measure of management success is not financial, but rather in what they do with that chance to make so many lives better.

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The High Road

I saw this quote in a stock broker's office:

Why Ted Jones Didn’t Take Edward Jones Public
Ted Jones--the son of Edward D. Jones Sr., founder of the financial-services firm that bears his name--wrote the following response when questioned why he was not interested in taking Edward Jones public and becoming a multi-millionaire.

His rationale is a symbol of the company’s culture that still exists today.

- I am the richest man in America.

- I have a wife who loves me in spite of my faults.

- I have four dogs. Two love only me. One loves everybody. One loves no one, but still is very loyal and follows me everywhere I go on the farm.

- I have a horse I love to ride around the farm, and best of all she comes to me when I call her.

- I have too much to eat and a dry place to sleep.

- I enjoy my business.

- I love my farm and my home.

- I have a few close friends, and money has never been my God.

-- Edward "Ted" Jones 1925-1990

Amen brother!

I will be passing this one on to others. Very well spoken. Whether a part of the management team or not the example of “Love people and use money, rather than love money and use people.” is a good rule for all of us to follow. Kudos to your brother-in-law. We are blessed in so many ways when we put others ahead of ourselves. I'm sure he missed being at the games but I bet he sleeps better at night knowing that he helped others rather than enjoying that money in a selfish way. The "man in the mirror" concept is crucial to us all in many more ways than our businesses. I truly believe in the servant leadership concept and am blessed to be part of a company that also believes in that. Many of our leaders today could benefit from this reminder that they affect much more than the bottom line in how they "do" business. Thanks again for these words of wisdom. It reminded me to check out maninthemirror.org - maybe some others will be promted as well!!