Making it with what you’ve got by Charles Schwab
Content Synopsis:
Charles Schwab wrote a very small book that became a classic shortly after it was first published in 1920. In this book, a rags-to-riches man actually tells his fellow man how it’s done.
It begins by instructing people to think beyond their work. He gives examples from his own experience in the United States steel industry of men who aimed to become more than a salaryman, worked hard, and used the other principles outlined in this little book.
He first advises the value of hard and honest work. Then he talks about giving a more than fair service in exchange for pay. He then teaches the men to continually think about how the business could be improved and communicate those ideas in small ways.
Next is a chapter on how men are evaluated at work, how to take advantage of opportunities, the relative value of a college education, what employers expect, how you view your employees as partners, the men you’ve worked with, and a woman’s part in a man’s success. .
Some of this material, especially the last chapter, is very outdated and possibly of little use today. However, much of what is written here is still as true today as it was in 1920. Hard work, dedication to your goals, going the extra mile, maintaining a good and positive attitude, making a difference, are still vital steps towards success in a business or in life.
Readability/Writing Quality:
For a book written in 1920, it’s surprisingly readable. In part, this is due to its small size, a paperback edition of only 55 pages that most could easily read in one night. The chapters are quite short and well written. Quotes you want to emphasize are in bold.
Author’s Notes:
Charles Schwab was a remarkable man. He started out as a bookie driver, a minimally paid hourly wage earner at Andrew Carnegie’s steel mills. He had little education and came from poor roots.
However, Carnegie took notice of him for his charming personality, incredibly positive attitude, great work ethic, and willingness to please. He was just the kind of young man Carnegie was looking to mold into executive material. Schwab did not disappoint and eventually became Carnegie’s boss and the first president of a corporation to earn $1 million a year in compensation.
Through his wit, intelligence, charm, and hard work, he engineered the purchase of Carnegie Steel and the creation of US Steel. He later became the first president of US Steel and soon after became president of Bethlehem Steel. He was known as a master motivator of men and was referred to as a master con man by Thomas Edison.
Unfortunately, despite a meteoric rise to incredible wealth and power, Schwab had a very poor ending. In the 1920s, after writing this book, he squandered much of his wealth on gambling, spending, and carousing. He seemed to lose sight of his own roots and meanings and became a spendthrift. He eventually got into trouble and then the stock market crash of 1929 left him destitute.
In 1939 he died a poor man, deeply in debt, living on loans in a small London flat. At his death, he owned a large number of Bethlehem Steel shares, which during the depression were worth next to nothing. However, just a couple of years later, he became very valuable due to the boom in the steel industry during the war.
Despite his sad end, Schwab had shown very clearly in his younger years how to be successful and how to rise from rags to riches.
Three great ideas you can use:
1. Successful men are not natural prodigies. They win by using normal brains to think beyond their manifest daily duty. The look beyond the work of the day and the meal of the day.
2. The true test of business greatness is in giving opportunities to others. Many fail in business because they only think about their own personal gain and glory.
3. Personality is a key asset. If you have it, take care of it. If you don’t, cultivate it.
Release information:
Succeed With What You’ve Got by Charles M. Schwab
This book is out of copyright, however it is published by Executive Books in booklet form, cost less than $2, copyrighted 2005 by Executive Books, Mechanicsburg, PA.
General rating:right, >WellWell done! Excellent