Opportunity But, someone suggests upon looking over the foregoing list, granted that these are deficiencies, is not the average man still larger than the average job? Could an additional 100 per cent man find an enterprise to swing? The United States is still a growing country. Its citizens, because their standard of life is high, with every indication of becoming higher, have many wants, and the growth of population which bids fair to continue for decades thus affords business men an unrivaled market. In addition to these domestic needs there are world needs of enormous proportions. Only progressive methods in production, selling, accounting, and financing can meet adequately such market demands. The managers who aim both to devise and operate these progressive methods have undertaken tasks which tax to the utmost their capacity. With industry led by giant corporations, and trade relations established with all parts of the world, strong men are being sought to bear the burden of management. When within the organization an elaborate division of labor involving both men and machines must be planned, the intricacy of the task calls for thought power of a high order. Because each man's effort is dependent upon the activities of many others, the speed exacted in output, the promptness required in meeting every situation, render alertness and reliability qualities highly prized. Finally, with competition sharpening, our business centers becoming more and more crowded, and the markets of the world being sought, the man able most efficiently to produce quantity and quality at low cost, finds his services everywhere in demand regardless of the line of business he is in. Opportunity now as heretofore treads hard upon ability. The Increased Demand for Executives This observation receives general support in statements recently made public by the heads of twenty-five large corpora tions. It appeared from these reports that: 1. 358 vacancies in executive positions had developed within a very short time. 2. Men to fill 142 of these vacancies could be secured only from outside the organizations. The situation was being met in their own organizations, certain executives explained, by: "Promotion and added duties." Ralph Peters, President of Long Island Railroad Company. "The taking over of work by other executives." J. What do we read between these lines, and similar lines that could be penned of organizations everywhere? This is a time when as never before every man has his chance, and when it is his public duty to make the most of his chance. Under the imperative of war thousands of men in executive positions-men in large positions and in small ones, young men and mature-were called into government service. Those who were left in charge of business organizations were practically in the government service also. It was not only their opportunity, but their responsibility, to improve themselves, for they had to keep the fires under the boiler and navigate the ship in war time and must now continue to do so in the difficult time after the war. This is a time when every man should do his utmost, a time when the demand for our enlarged capacity to serve assumes somewhat the nature of a call to world service. What, then, should be our viewpoint concerning opportunity and personal accomplishment? The highest salaried man in the world expressed it when, upon being asked how he had succeeded, quietly answered: "I haven't succeeded. No real man ever succeeds. There is always a larger goal ahead." Under the conditions of business as they are evolving today this is literally true; there are always larger goals ahead, for every man who has the power to grow. Noted Business Men Explain Their Advancement The reader will agree, very likely, that he is not accomplishing what in justice to himself he knows he ought to do. The question which naturally arises then is: How utilize to the full every resource at my command? Let us put this question to several captains of industry; they have all displayed conspicuous ability as managers, having risen from the ranks, and their own views concerning the causes of their notable advancement ought to prove illuminating. Thomas E. Wilson, President of Wilson and Company: "I am no brainier nor wiser than any number of other people. My whole success is traceable to the fact that I have enjoyed my work and have given to it the best in me. No job was ever too big for me to tackle. That is the foundation of success nine times out of ten-having confidence in yourself and applying yourself with all your might to your work." A. C. Bedford, President of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey: "The first promotion I attribute to my willingness to do more than was expected of me and to the insight I then obtained into business methods. This gave me a grasp and a vision such as the average clerk in an office too often fails to cultivate because of his machine-like performance of his allotted tasks." Theodore N. Vail, President of the American Telegraph and Telephone Company: "I was never unwilling when young, to do another man's work, and then, when older, never willing to do anything somebody else could do better for me. I was always fond enough of detail to thoroughly master what I was undertaking—and then hated detail enough to not bother with it when I got to the treatment of the general subject." Samuel Insull, President Commonwealth Edison Company: "Non-success is often due to inability to see things, to note intelligently what other people are doing, to learn what is what, and to grasp new opportunities. They don't seem to keep their eye on the ball." Henry Ford, President Ford Motor Company: "There is one principle which a man must follow if he wishes to succeed, and that is to understand human nature. I am convinced by my own experience, and by that of others, that if there is any secret of success it lies in the ability to get another person's point of view and see things from his angle as well as from your own." James B. Duke, Ex-President American Tobacco Company: "I had confidence in myself. I said to myself: 'If John D. Rockefeller can do what he is doing in oil, why should I not do it in tobacco?' I resolved from the time I was a mere lad to do a big business. I loved business better than anything else. I worked from early morning to late at night— I was sorry to have to leave off at night and glad when morning came so that I could get at it again." Personal Traits Which Brought Promotion Let us supplement these statements of the captains of industry by the replies several executives gave to this ques tion: Think of the three best men in your business-what qualities brought them promotion? The answers follow: "Desire for authority and responsibility, backed by sufficient will-power." "Resourcefulness in emergencies." "Pushed the work always, never let it push him. Was a live wire for others to look at." "A real diplomat liked by all the men. Enthusiastic took personal interest in the business, and got the best out of everything." "Constructive initiative coupled with the application of good common sense added to whatever natural abilities a man may have, achieve success-and deserve it." "Kept studying our business, and training himself and every man under him all the time. We had to advance him. or he'd have been stolen by some competitor. He is cheap at $15,000 anyway." "Stick-to-itiveness, when the work piled high and the clock struck the hour. Didn't 'go up in the air' at just criticism. Was amenable to suggestions and advice. Careful and accurate. Able to take the handling of some routine without being supervised every minute." "Ability to handle men. Initiative. Familiar with my system of records and my desires as regards correspondence. Congenial-and as much interested in the work as I; wellbalanced disposition; being able to handle everything with a view to the best results regardless of personalities or obstructions." |