Herman School of Business
A few ride the elevator...most climb the stairs...
Let’s picture the business world as a building. Make it the Empire State Building. That symbolizes money to me. Now in order to have a building of that stature there is a huge part of it below the ground seldom seen or thought of by most people coming there to do business.
Now imagine that the power, prestige, and money in the business world is all kept on the top floor of the Empire State Building…up in the Penthouse. If you are just starting out in business and want what they keep up there you have to figure out a way to get at it.
In reality there are only two ways to make it.
Some people come from the right families and go to the right schools and know the secret ooga-booga handshake and because of that they get a special key when they walk into the building. Kind of like a golden key that slips into the lock that opens the elevator door and then quickly closes behind them so that none of the riff raff gets on the elevator. It’s not that some of these people are not smart, or that they don’t work hard…but come on man it must be nice to simply slip in the key, walk onto the elevator, punch the only button there is marked “Penthouse” and swoosh…in about a minute after they graduate from business school they gain entrance to the top level and start sharing in the piles of money kept there.
Other people walk into the first floor of the Empire State Building after graduating from Local University, having left their middle class upbringing with a work ethic and desire to achieve success. Once inside they find the stairs and start climbing. At first the steps are OK and they hump up a few floors pretty quickly. After all, they are young and full of pep. But the stairs start getting a little tiresome after awhile. And so, some get off on a lower floor and settle for whatever gold has trickled down through the cracks to that level.
There is another group of people who would also like to share in that top floor booty. But life has thrown them a curve and by accident of birth their circumstance has them starting way down under the ground several levels below even the first floor of the Empire State Building. And to make matters worse instead of many stairways leading up to the first floor…there is only one among hundreds. That one stairway can lead that success wannabee out of the depths and at least to the first level where he or she can at least start at ground zero to climb to success. Unfortunately those born into poverty, rural or urban, find themselves so deep in the hole and worse than that, most steps they choose to get out lead to detours like drugs, alcoholism, or brick walls stopping their progress.
So, what is the only method that those born below ground level can use to find their way up to at least the first floor? And what is the one thing that can help the tired middle class entrepreneur keep from getting off on a lower floor before reaching the Land-O-Plenty?
Education.
Not the Mush kids get in school today, but the real world school of hard knocks you get from others who have made it to the pinnacle of the Empire State Building. Funny thing though…the guys with the secret elevator keys seldom want to talk with those walking the stairs. If you agree that your business buddies need education, then help me keep getting the word out about what readers can learn from tired, Penthouse Occupants like me with worn out shoes from all that climbing.
- Posted: 31 March 2008
- Comments: 0
- Category: Business success
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