It has been almost a decade since I lost my father to cancer, but the lessons I learned watching him run large companies, creating startups, and turning around languishing businesses are still fresh in my mind. I credit him for my business ethics, “workaholism”, leadership style, and pragmatic yet optimistic outlook. He was a man of few words, but when he opened his mouth, everyone listened. In this post I will share some of the rules of business he taught me.
- Run from those who think they are smarter than everyone else and those thinking that all of their ideas are “hot”.
- The best relationships are those built in bad times.
- There is no age limit to having a mentor.
- If you feel like you are surrounded by a-holes, maybe it is you who is making people act that way.
- B.S. always floats to the top and people will find out who it belongs to.
- Youth gives you ideas, but age allows you to sense which ones are B.S.
- Air is thinner at the top, so don’t build high mountains. (Less layers of management are better)
- Be wary if no one is criticizing you anymore or if all you hear is praise. They either drank too much of your “Kool-aid” or they are looking to pull wool over your eyes.
- Only morons don’t make mistakes, because all they do is a mistake. (I know, this does not translate too well from Lithuanian)
- Let your competitors waste money on “rainmaker” salespeople. Hire the best customer service team you can afford and make best product you can.
- It is hard to swim in a wake of a big ship. Don’t follow big competitors, outmaneuver them.
- Loyalty and dedication to the company must start from the top. So do sacrifices to keep the company alive.
I would love to hear about any business rules you learned from your mom or dad. Please share them in the comments section.
Apolinaras is a business operations leader with 12-year track record of building scalable and capital-efficient operations for technology and professional services companies.