I'm All Ears
I was searching for a particular Ross Perot story but couldn't find it. (I'm thinking of the one in which, while he was on the GM Board of Directors, he was entitled to a car. If I remember correctly, Perot insisted on choosing a random car from a GM lot, rather than having a special car hand-delivered to him.)
I did find this story:
When I was on the board of General Motors, I met a man named Don Effland. He was a factory worker. He was nearing retirement. He was accepted at MIT as a young man because he was so bright but he could not afford to go. Then he was accepted at West Point because he was so talented, and he failed the eye exam. I was accepted to the Naval Academy and passed the eye exam. That's the difference between Don Effland and myself. Don Effland is far smarter than I. I would never have been accepted at MIT. I'm not being modest. I passed the eye exam. Lucky breaks have a lot to do with what happens in your life. He spent his life on the factory floor. One day, he was allowed to speak to the Board of Directors, the only factory worker in the history of General Motors that had ever spoken to the Board of Directors. It was an incredible speech. After his speech, I asked him if he would mind if I just took his speech one night, gave it to a group of business executives as my own speech and, after they gave me a strong positive reaction to it, I would tell them whose speech it was. He laughed and said, sure.
I spoke to a "Who's Who of Corporate America" in New York. I read Don Effland's speech. I got a standing ovation. When I told them who wrote the speech, some of them almost fainted. Now, just as a family has its zigs and zags, Don Effland is now retired and guess what he does? He lectures at MIT, the school he couldn't afford to go to as a young man.
All I'm trying to say is, if the ball bounces the right way in your life, don't get cocky, consider yourself lucky. When you see people in distress, never look down on them. Help them and say to yourself, always, there but by the grace of God, go I. So, whatever it's worth, the people who make it the long pull, keenly understand their weaknesses and their strengths, they don't feel arrogant, cocky or special, they feel lucky.
Completely unrelated:
Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, and Bill Gates were called in by God. God informed them that he was very unhappy about what was going on in this world. Since things were so bad, he told the three that he was destroying the Earth in 3 days. They were all allowed to return to their homes and businesses and tell their friends and colleagues what was happening. God did tell them though, that no matter what they did he was "not" changing his mind.
Bill Clinton went in and told his staff, "I have good news and bad news for you. First the good news . . . there "is" a God. The bad news is that he is destroying the Earth in 3 days."
Boris Yeltsin went back and told his staff, "I have good news and terrible news. The first is that there "is" a God. The second is that he is destroying the Earth in 3 days."
Bill Gates went back and told his staff, "I have good news and good news. First, God thinks I am one of the three most important people in the world. Secondly, you don't have to fix the bugs in Windows 95.
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