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Recently, I spent a week at a friend’s townhouse by the beach in Florida. It was supposed to be a writing retreat, but I invited my kids and grandkids to come along. I envisioned watching them joyfully play on the beach while I sat on my upstairs balcony and cranked out profound thoughts.
I was at my post one afternoon when I heard a blood-curdling, ear-piercing scream from my three-year-old grandson Logan. I leaped to my feet, assuming the little cherub had fallen down the stairs and suffered excruciating pain. As I hurried toward the staircase, I heard the child’s parents trying to console him.
Slowing to listen, I learned that Logan had not fallen. He suffered a far worse fate: his parents were changing his clothes.
Everything had proceeded normally until they put on his Paw Patrol underwear. That’s when things got ugly. Logan wanted the picture of Marshall, the firefighter dog, on the front so he could seehim. His parents foolishly put Marshall at the back where the manufacturer suggested he should go. Logan wailed uncontrollably.
Of course, as a pushover of a grandparent, I wondered why Logan was not allowed to wear his underwear any way he chose. (I would have let him wear it on his head if that made him happy!) I returned to my desk musing that preschoolers can be ridiculously uptight about the silliest things. I was so glad adults outgrow such foolishness . . .
Sam Andrews was a budding entrepreneur in the late 19th century. He found a partner and began developing a booming business. But he and his business partner had different visions for their company. Andrews wanted to cash in on the profits and live the high life. His partner insisted on rolling much of the profits back into the growing company.
Andrews eventually grew weary of his partner’s domination. One day he exclaimed, “I wish I was out of this business!” His business partner, exasperated by this point, asked Andrews what price he wanted for his shares. “One million dollars,” he exclaimed. His partner readily agreed.
The next day, Andrews, one million dollars in hand, boasted that he was the first person ever to get the better of his partner in a business deal. But his partner was John Rockefeller, and the company was Standard Oil. No one got the better of Rockefeller. He immediately sold Andrews’ shares for 1.3 million dollars to William Vanderbilt.
Andrews built a gaudy 100-room mansion in Cleveland and spent the remainder of his life castigating Rockefeller. Had he held on to his shares, they would have been worth 900 million dollars by the 1930s. One commentator said, “This rash decision, motivated by pique and a bruised ego, kept him from becoming one of America’s richest men.”
At the beginning of the 20th century, Alex Malcolmsen, a businessman, invested in a start-up company. He oversaw the company’s finances while his partner managed production. A conflict ensued as the men pursued widely divergent views on how to run the company. Malcolmsen wanted to sell high-end products that generated a high-profit margin.
His partner, on the other hand, wanted to sell products cheaply but in mass numbers. Malcolmsen was so convinced his approach was better that he ultimately sold his shares in the company for $175,000 and started his own business. Freed from his dominating partner, Malcolmsen finally had control. But his business failed while his partner rose to spectacular heights.
His partner was Henry Ford, and the company was the Ford Motor Company. Had Malcolmsen humbled himself and listened to Ford, his shares would have been worth hundreds of millions of dollars only ten years later.
This principle plays out not only in business or ministry, but also in life. The difference between people who become fabulously successful and those who don’t is not typically because of opportunity, intelligence or technical skill. The difference between them is this: successful people identify the most important issues and focus on them relentlessly. Unsuccessful people become distracted by lesser matters and never achieve their potential.
Photo source: istock
 | Richard Blackaby is the president of Blackaby Ministries International and lives in Georgia. He travels internationally speaking on spiritual leadership in the home, church, and marketplace as well as on spiritual awakening, experiencing God, and the Christian life. Richard regularly ministers to Christian CEOs and business leaders. He has written or co-authored 33 books . This article was first published on RichardBlackaby.com. Used with permission from Blackaby Ministries International. Learn More » |
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