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Lesson #1: Expect But Do Not Accept Your Regrets
Article Overview: “In many ways I guess if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have sold it,” says Joyce upon reflection of his 35 year career building one of the most successful businesses in Canadian history. “I would have stayed with it. But that is hindsight.”
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Free Download - Ron Joyce Quotes By Ron Joyce |
Lesson #1: Expect But Do Not Accept Your Regrets
“In many ways I guess if I had to do it again, I wouldn’t have sold it,” says Joyce upon reflection of his 35 year career building one of the most successful businesses in Canadian history. “I would have stayed with it. But that is hindsight.”
By 1995, the number of Tim Hortons outlets across Canada had grown to 1,000. Joyce was 65 years old and among his seven children, he saw no successor for his company. He began to think about getting out of business when Wendy’s International Inc. approached him with a proposal for a friendly takeover in exchange for 16.5 million Wendy’s shares, a seat on the board of directors, the title of senior chairman, and a salary of $850,000. Joyce agreed.
Despite becoming the single largest stakeholder of the hamburger restaurant chain with a 14 percent stake, Joyce realized almost immediately that he had made a huge mistake. “I sold the thing I built and loved,” he says. “It took me awhile to get over it.” He calls the first five years after the sale “pretty tough,” and the biggest regret of his career.
To make matters worse, not only did Joyce miss running his business, but he also disagreed with many of the new management’s decisions. He may have been on the board of directors, but his voice was ignored. And, while Wendy’s struggled in the marketplace, Tim Hortons became the company’s most profitable arm, but management missed the opportunities to expand into the U.S. The final straw for Joyce came when Wendy’s founder Dave Thomas appointed what Joyce calls a “yes man” as the company’s new CEO. “It was just another example of how weak the company’s management was,” says Joyce.
Joyce began to think about attempting a hostile takeover of the entire company, but decided current management was too strong for it to work. He then tried to get outside investors to meet with Wendy’s management to get the company back on track, but Wendy’s executives refused. Finally, in 2001, Joyce decided to cut all his ties and sold his Wendy’s stock for $250 million.
Now, no longer was Joyce not in charge of his “baby”, but he did not agree with the people that were. All of a sudden, his long and prosperous career had been short with a tragic ending. What now? Would Joyce accept living out the rest of his life with regrets and only the memory of the success and happiness he once knew?
No, Joyce was nowhere near done with himself. Instead of retiring with regret and living out his days playing chess, Joyce kept on. He devoted himself to the Tim Horton Children’s Foundation he had created, as well as to the other major passion in his life: golf. Using $60 million from his doughnut career, Joyce created a new one for himself, that of golf resort owner. He purchased a prime piece of real estate on the coast of Nova Scotia and is working hard to get the resort to pay for itself. He has also established a thriving air charter business, with a private runway off his golf course.
“It’s something I wanted to do,” says Joyce. “I’m a guy who needs challenges…and I’m having fun.”
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Article Tags: 5 million, board of directors, canadian history, current management, entire company, final straw, first five years, founder dave thomas, friendly takeover, hamburger restaurant, hindsight, hostile takeover, joyce joyce, percent stake, reflection, salary, stakeholder, tim hortons, wendys international inc, yes man
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- We haven't sent out the physical letter yet as the person owning the list wanted to make modifications to the letter that we knew would work well but the List owner had a point - it didn't reflect her personality so her clients would know it didn't come from her.
Lesson learned for me. We're back to the drawing board with the list owner more involved in the development of the letter and emails.
I should have known better being a Business Analyst in my day job that you never leave the end-user out.
So Evan we haven't had the opportunity to test any of it yet but it's been a fun process for me to stand back and look at.
Self Development Tips
- I find this old article about self development and very liked it. I think here a lot practical rules!
As long as you are still alive, you are capable of changing and growing. You can do anything you want to do, be anything you want to be. Listen to some positive thoughts on how to continue your self development and then apply them in your own life.
1. Accept personal responsibility for your own growth; no one can do it for you. What you do today will determine your readiness for tomorrow.
2. Take time every day to do something for yourself.
3. Take classes to stay current in your field of expertise. The world is changing rapidly and you must learn to manage change to avoid obsolescence. The way Will Rogers put this was that "Even if you are on the right track, if you just sit there you will get run over."
4. Listen to cassette tapes on personal and professional growth topics.
5. Never look back to the past - you only can control your actions in this instant, so what should you be doing right now?
6. Learn from "other people's experience" rather then having to try everything for yourself. It shortens the time needed to learn.
7. Dealing with a problem helps you learn patience and strengthens your management skills; it is good mental exercise.
8. Analyze, in a non-judgmental way, mistakes in which you were involved. It will help you to prevent these in the future.
9. Reward yourself when you catch yourself working on the most important priorities.
10. Never say something can't or won't be done. Keep looking for ways to do it.
11. After attending a seminar, report to your boss or other people in your organization, what the most important things are that you learned from the program.
12. Eliminate one time waster a week from your life.
13. Read a minimum of one chapter of a book a day.
14. Read a minimum of one book a month.
15. Be hungry for what life has to offer and go for it.
16. Decide what you really desire to do - then do it.
17. When you have the option of reading a book or listening to the cassette tape version of the program, listen to the tape. It will be more to the point and can be done while you are driving, jogging/walking, or getting other routine things done.
18. Develop a "master mind" group of four or five people with whom you can openly discuss ideas in a nonjudgmental way.
19. Develop yourself as a resource for others by networking. Find out who does what, when, and for whom. You may find excellent contacts for your future needs and for the needs of others you meet.
20. Work for balance in your life goals: family, financial, professional, social, spiritual, recreational.
21. Always keep your goals in mind as you start a new activity.
22. If you do a lot of work with the calculator, run the machine with the hand you don't use for writing.
23. Do not be afraid of failing at something. You can learn and change as a result of it.
24. The most difficult projects are opportunities for your biggest successes just as the most difficult people could become your strongest allies.
25. Put up pictures of your dreams and goals where you will see them frequently. They will remind you and aid you in focusing and visualizing your goal.
26. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Learn from those people who get more done than you do. Perhaps you can find a way to improve what you are doing.
27. Find a nonjudgmental mentor who will help you by providing feedback, suggestions, challenges and support.
28. Identify some "models" and observe their style and actions. Do not copy them but learn from their experiences.
29. Learn from the errors you see others make as well as from their successes.
30. Fill your mind with positive ideas, thoughts and inspirations and you will have no room left for the negative.
31. Trade jobs with someone so you gain additional experience.
32. Ask for and accept lateral moves in the organization so you learn more about the entire operation.
33. Do more than your "self doubts" say you can.
34. Have confidence that you can get through and learn from anything and everything you experience.
35. Reward yourself with a treat when you have completed a learning objective.
36. Keep a daily journal, recording your thoughts, ideas, feelings and personal growth progress.
37. Ask questions, listen, then ask more questions. You will learn as well as help others learn.
38. Ask yourself, "How can I manipulate my fate?"
39. Do things with someone you respect. They will be supportive of you and you will learn from interacting with them.
40. Seek new information on projects for which you have responsibility. Look for new "ah ha" ideas all the time.
41. Challenge yourself to learn something new every day.
42. Remain flexible and constantly adaptable.
43. Be open to others and sincerely interested in them. You can learn from everyone you meet.
44. Mentally rehearse a new skill. Your subconscious does not know the difference between actual practice and mental rehearsal.
45. Keep a record of what you accomplished the previous day(s)/week. If you did not accomplish as much as you wanted, it gives you extra incentive to do better in the next time period.
46. Make notes of the questions you want answered. Then as the answers come to you, jot them down next to the question.
47. Work on overcoming personal, nonproductive habits; for example: overeating, smoking, gossip.
48. Keep an "Idea File" ring binder or notebook in which you record all new ideas. At least once a week in a standing appointment with yourself, review your ideas.
Very interesting to know other practical self development tips.
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