How many people are able to start their story with that line: “George Steinbrenner once stood before me and said…” He was called ‘The Boss’.
From a Great Lakes Shipping owner family and in the shipping business primarily before sports. Many have said George Steinbrenner was an entrepreneur. Here is one quote about him all entrepreneurs should take to heart: “He was very business-oriented, very direct, and very definite in what he wanted.” Think about that one for a moment – “…very definite in what he wanted…” You are able to read more about George Steinbrenner here: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/sports/baseball/16partners.html
Another thought about the passing of ‘The Boss’ is maybe he represents the old way of conducting business. In the environment today and the shift in priorities and the way we think about work would a boss such as George Steinbrenner have the ability to run a business the way he ran his businesses?
Even a sports team like the New York Yankees?
The other day a client spoke with me about an incident witnessed at a retail establishment. An upscale salon where she was having her hair cut had an incident with a woman nearby who was having her hair cut by an always fully booked expert. The patron was apparently a little bit abusive and it was continuous. All of a sudden the expert cutting her hair stopped cutting and loudly stated “I will not be able to continue to cut your hair, I apologize”. And then walked away with scissors and comb in hand.
In the next few minutes there was shuffling, some rearranging and apologizes and another person completed the haircut for the patron. Think about the various aspects – these appointments are booked four weeks or more in advance, other customers witnessed the activity, the hair expert is one of the most sought after experts and other patrons had to wait a bit while this incident was handled. I know George Steinbrenner never owned an exclusive salon but I think I know how he would have handled it. What do you think?
In many ways the passing of George Steinbrenner represents the passing of an old way of conducting business. Is this true?
What great stories you have in this blog post, Mitch! I do believe that we have moved pretty far off the mark from how business was conducted two generations ago, or even one generation. But I’m seeing signs here and there that smaller, entrepreneurial type businesses are going back to what worked and what is within the realm of human interactions – the decisiveness, the directness, the dealing straight up. Hope so, we can stand a good dose of those things right about now.
Sue Painter
Sue,
Glad you enjoyed the stories. Entrepreneurs and small business owners may still have a heart-center business, however, they must understand the word in that statement ‘business’ is not ‘hobby’. There are certain timeless practices that they need to understand and practice to achieve the success they desire.
Mitch