Tweet

Lesson #5: “It's who you are as an organization that makes everything possible.”

Article Overview: If it is who you are as an organization that makes everything possible, then it is who you are as a leader that makes the organization what it is. Wrigley Jr.’s organization was a strong one because he was an even stronger leader. It was several of his key personal characteristics that made the organization reach the heights it did under his leadership.

Lesson #5: “It's who you are as an organization that makes everything possible.”

If it is who you are as an organization that makes everything possible, then it is who you are as a leader that makes the organization what it is. Wrigley Jr.'s organization was a strong one because he was an even stronger leader. It was several of his key personal characteristics that made the organization reach the heights it did under his leadership.

One of Wrigley Jr.'s most admired qualities was his enthusiasm. Over his desk in his office hung a sign that read, "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." Wrigley Jr. tried to live up to that motto each and every day. Indeed, Wrigley Jr. was able to evoke enthusiasm each and every day because of the very fact that he loved what he was doing. "Nothing is so much fun as business," he once said. "I do not expect to do anything but work as long as I can stand up."

Wrigley Jr.'s enthusiasm also proved infectious among his colleagues. "I have never seen Mr. Wrigley Jr. worried," said one Wrigley executive of his boss. "In crises that would have crushed many men, that had me running around in circles, he remained as calm, as cheerful as if he were on a Sunday picnic."

Wrigley Jr. was enthusiastic about his business because he believed that business, like life, was based on relationships, and Wrigley Jr. liked people. To that end, Wrigley Jr. worked hard to build loyalty among his employees and treated them as fairly as possible. Indeed, he was one of the first corporate heads in America to adopt the five-day workweek in 1924, giving employees Saturdays off. He also gave them medical care, life insurance and stock shares.

Once, a vendor had approached Wrigley Jr. and offered to sell him a promotional item. A deal was negotiated, but the vendor suggested he was going to lose money because Wrigley Jr. had made himself such a good deal. "We don't want to do business with anybody who loses money on us," responded Wrigley Jr., who then immediately proceeded to tear up the contract.

Wrigley Jr.'s goal was "to be always pleasant, always patient, always on time, and never to argue." For him, it was important to always remind his staff that, "We are a five-cent business, and nobody in this company can ever afford to forget it."

Additional leadership qualities that made Wrigley Jr. stick out were his courage and persistence. He used to say that, "A man's doubts and fears are his worst enemies. He can go ahead and do anything as long as he believed in himself."

Wrigley Jr. believed in himself and was not afraid to tread new waters. He was the first baseball club owners to ever promote a Ladies Day to bring women to the ballpark. He was also the first to regularly broadcast his team's games live on the radio when other owners feared it would cause fans to stay at home. In 1929, the Chicago Cubs broke the major league attendance record.

As Wrigley Jr. said, persistence is the underlying key to success. "Sticking is one of the big things in salesmanship. Nearly all buyers say ‘No!' at first. Real salesmen stick until the buyer has used up his last ‘No!'"

Related Articles
  Who Is Your Proud Family?
  Being Seen, Heard & Valued at Work
  Three Marketing Lessons from Realtors
  The Gravity of Failure
  Entrepreneur – How Not To Have A Bad Employee?

Article Tags: boss, colleagues, crises, desk, life insurance, loyalty, many men, medical care, motto, nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm, personal characteristics, picnic, promotional item, relationships, running around in circles, saturdays, stock shares, strong one, workweek, wrigley jr



Related Forum Posts
Re: Politeness! - That makes me appreciate the neighborhood cub scouts and girl scouts because they are very polite and raise a lot of money for their organization and various charities.
Non-profit Organizations - Does anyone here have aspirations of starting a non-profit or charitable organization? If so, what would the cause be? Furthermore, when do you plan on launching it? And for those who currently run a non-profit or charitable organization, what are some of the challenges to expect?
Re: Business Coaching Resources - i think a good coach is that who create skill in a leader in such a way that he help the organization to achieve the goal of the organization, the coach must take care about the communication skill of the leader because the communication gap can create various problems. [Link removed by forum admin. Links can be placed in a forum signature]
Hello from Atlanta! - Hi Folks, It's great to be a part of this forum. I love the energy of entrepreneurs - it's awesome! I am a stock market coach for women. I have been trading and investing in the stock market for 12 years. My training organization is ITATI, an acronym for "Is That All There Is??" My organization is unique because it is exclusively for women. I wanted to create a community for women who want a safe space to learn about and discuss the stock market, with the ultimate goal of financial enlightenment. I look forward to lively discussions with all. All the best!
Re: Social media question - I had to research Facebook a bit more than I normally would, to help a local non-profit organization decide how to use it for marketing purposes. I learned some interesting things. You can have your own personal profile page, which works great if you are an entrepreneur, but you can also start 2 other types of pages: 1) A fan page -- you can create an unlimited amount, as long as you are an official member of the business or organization 2) A group page -- which can be centered around any issue, business, or cause. But it's more limited than a fan page in several ways, and it's mostly for other Facebook members to interact on Anyway, just thought I would share that since it took me a while to finally wrap my head around how I will want to use Facebook for my own business in the future.


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

Life, Conflict and Work

BUILDING A HIGH PERFORMING TEAM

Are You Too Good for Your Job?

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.