Page 180 - The Way to the Top
P. 180
Peter J. ROSE
Chairman and CEO of Expeditors International of Washington, Inc.
In my forty-five years of working, I’ve been given plenty of advice—some
sage, some useless. My father provided some of the former: “Never get so
drunk at a company function that you’ll regret it in the morning.
“Never take anything from anyone in the way of kickbacks, payoffs,
bribes, and/or extravagant gifts, which will come back to haunt you, and
they always do.
“Be honest, have integrity. No one can take that away from you.”
And so did baseball great Satchel Paige, although I didn’t know him
personally: “Don’t look back. Something might be gaining on you.”
Together with these nuggets, I’ve taken scattered bits of advice and
compiled a personal credo:
Friendly competitor is an oxymoron.
Most mergers and acquisitions don’t work.
Avoid scams, e.g., Y2K, dot-com, stockbrokers, consultants. This saves
money and grief.
Be a mentor.
Be a leader, not a boss.
Don’t be political on the job, but be politically aware.
