spotlights a wisdom-crammed book I first read in 1996! It's even better today. Plus,
.
“Never attend a meeting unless you know when it’s going to end.”
I thumbed through this fascinating book and underlined my favorite insights and wisdom from seasoned CEOs. I even used some quotes in the newsletter I wrote at the time,
CMA Management Monthly. (CMA is now
CLA.)
So I was intrigued when our church,
Paradigm Community, launched a series of 10-minute segments (one per Sunday) on the topic,
“Advice I Would Give Myself If I Were 20-30 Years Younger.” Bingo! So, I searched for my book (waiting patiently for me on my bookshelf—“
my library of well-read friends”) and read it again.
The wisdom jumped off the page. (Too bad I didn’t appreciate this book even more 30 years ago!) Author
Richard Edler, with a background as president or managing director of three different ad agencies in Los Angeles, invited colleagues, publishers, athletes, and others to weigh in on the question, “Wisdom they wish they’d been told 25 years ago.” (He also gave a college commencement speech on that topic.)
And, oh my, what a list of friends and colleagues! I counted 159 people who contributed their wisdom and wishes including: Pat Riley, Marjorie Blanchard, Peter Ueberroth, Helen Gurley Brown, Senator Orrin Hatch, Dennis Prager, Rabbi Harold Kushner, Condoleezza Rice, and others.
Wisdom? For the last 20 years, I’ve filed and categorized wisdom, insights, and books via my 20 management buckets system—so I’ve noted the “bucket category”for each of the snippets below. (Below are about two dozen insights. I've posted all 40 brilliant ideas at the
Pails in Comparison blog.)
Enjoy!THE RESULTS BUCKET[ ]
“Have a goal. A goal is just a dream with a deadline.” (Marjorie Blanchard)
[ ] “Every night ask yourself this question: ‘Have I made a profit for my employer today?’ If the answer is ‘yes,’ you’ll still have a job tomorrow. If it’s ‘no,’ get your resume together.” (Buddy Weiss)
[ ] After reading thousands of resumes during his 55 years in business, Monty McKinney lists five insights when reading resumes.
#2.
“I never look at letters of recommendation. As one of my colleagues once said, ‘I never saw a bad one.’” #5. “Frequency and trends in job changes count. My father taught me that there are two serious mistakes a young person in business can make—changing jobs too often, and not changing jobs enough.”
THE CUSTOMER BUCKET[ ] “If a customer calls, and I consider it an interruption, I know I have to take some time off to adjust my attitude.” (Don Keough)
THE STRATEGY BUCKET[ ] “Specialize in something. Become an expert.” Allen J. Larson adds, “Know more than anyone else around you about some topic.”
[ ]
“I turn around deeply troubled or bankrupt companies for a living," writes Alfred Jay Moran, Jr. "It doesn’t matter what business they are in. I have found that the same five steps apply every time. I wish someone had told me this 25 years ago instead of having to learn it the hard way.” Note my summary:
• Step 1: Grab the cash.
• Step 2: Freeze the expenses.
• Step 3: Interview everyone you can.
“All the information about what is wrong and what should be done is already in house.” • Step 4. Formulate a strategy. “You are better off with a half-right strategy now, than a perfectly right strategy in six months. By then it will be too late.”
• Step 5: Create the “ideal” organization chart that requires “the minimum staff to implement the strategy.”
He adds, “Lay out the organization first. If people don’t fit, get rid of them. Sounds cold, but executives are paid to execute.”
THE DRUCKER BUCKET[ ] “I wish someone had told me when I came out of law school, all set to practice, that I need immediately to find somebody to practice on.” (Mort Janklow)
[ ] “During my 20s I would occasionally break the rules, and it would pay off. For instance, when I entered a contest to ‘write about your goals for the future’ I decided it might be more attention-getting to write ‘Why I have no goals.’ I won.” (Kate White)
[ ] “On hindsight, it would have been helpful if someone told me that validation, or a ‘second opinion’ from a trusted friend, could often help clarify my judgment. Nothing is as important as the accurate evaluation of our perceptions.” (Bert Newman)
[ ]
“Never follow a John Wooden.” Jim Helin adds, “This kind of situation is not healthy for your career. These kinds of opportunities can only lead to unrealistic expectations, little credit for a job well done, and absolutely no fun on the job.” (Read my review of
Coach Wooden One-on-One.)
THE BOOK BUCKET[ ] Hall of Fame Basketball Coach Pat Riley wrote “Twenty-five years ago I wish someone had given me the Serenity Prayer.” (
Read it here and
consider this for your office or home.)
THE PROGRAM BUCKET[ ]
“Make lots of mistakes. Mistakes are the fuel for fast career development. Learn how to make brilliant recoveries. And then never make the same mistake twice.” (J. Melvin Muse)
Note: Since writing
Mastering Mistake-Making in 2021, I’ve become a zealot for spotting great mistake quotes. (In book margins,
I draw an “M” with a circle around it—to point out insightful mistake-making principles.) See my list of
16 mistake-making books.
THE PEOPLE BUCKET[ ] “Twenty-five years ago I wish someone had told me that the enduring meaning in my life would be found in shaping my children’s values, not in my professional success.” (Rabbi Harold S. Kushner)
THE CULTURE BUCKET[ ] “Don’t be afraid or ashamed of believing in God, and of maturing spiritually.” (Bill Bean) – Note: Need more reasons to believe?
Read this.
[ ]
“Go get international experience.” (Peter Sealey, former senior VP, Global Marketing, The Coca-Cola Company)
[ ] “Give serendipity a chance. You don’t have to plan or try to focus every step in your life. I wish I had taken advantage of the opportunity to just learn about as many things as possible when I was younger. I wish I had just listened to all the World History and World Culture courses, instead of just trying to get an ‘A’ on the exam. Stay loose early. You spend the rest of your life narrowing your focus.” (Condoleezza Rice)
THE TEAM BUCKET[ ] “Never burn your bridges. Don’t even spray graffiti on them. You never know when the boss you resign from today may be hiring you again at another company, promoting you to another job in the same company, or acting as a future reference. So when you exit, always do so with grace and appreciation.” (Tony Hoyt)
[ ]
“Hire slowly. Fire quickly. It’s not the people you fire that hurt you. It’s the people you don’t fire." (Marcio Moreira)
THE HOOPLA! BUCKET[ ] “When your children are born, and every year thereafter, write them a letter on their birthday. Save them up, but don’t tell anyone. Then give your children their letters on their twenty-first birthdays.” (Rich Gold)
THE CRISIS BUCKET[ ] “Learn to distinguish between a mishap, a setback, and a tragedy.” (YPO Wisdom)
[ ] “Expect to fail miserably 30 percent of the time.” (Bill Lupien)
[ ]
“Always take the job working on the product or the office in trouble. Never take over a business doing well.” (Tom O’Sullivan)
Note: This reminded me of the four kinds of organizational situations you might inherit in your next job. Read my review of
The First 90 Days and learn more about the acronym, “STARS.”
THE BUDGET BUCKET[ ] “If you start saving a fixed amount at age 20 and your twin brother saves the same amount beginning at age 30,
by the time you are both 65 you will have twice as much money as he does. The same is true for loving and investing in your children. It’s never too soon to start.” (Larry Higby)
[ ] “Every good business will have its best years followed by lean years. Budget for the lean years.” (Mike McCormick)
THE OPERATIONS BUCKET[ ] Learn why Dennis Pope recommends you approach decision-making without emotions. “To decide anything, first write down the pros and cons, and then photocopy your list. Then throw the original away and look at only the copy. Also type it instead of using your own handwriting.”
THE PRINTING BUCKET (aka THE COMMUNICATIONS BUCKET)
[ ]
Tips for writing the perfect business memo (from unwritten and unofficial guidelines at Procter & Gamble Company):
• “For the rest of your life begin every memo with the word ‘This.’ It allows you to get started, and to tell the reader in the first sentence what the purpose of the memo is.”
•
“There are three reasons for everything. Never two or four. If you have two, make another one up. If you have four, cut one out.”THE MEETINGS BUCKET[ ] “Try to take a two-minute break between each meeting or phone call. This will prevent the tone of one event from infecting the next. You’ll find that your analysis will be more accurate, your decisions much wiser, and your actions more appropriate.” (Susan J. Petersen)
[ ]
“Never attend a meeting unless you know when it’s going to end.” (Peter Brown)
Richard Edler, the author of this fantastic book, adds his commentary to Lynn Upshaw’s wisdom on listening—with this:
“Even today when I go into a meeting,
I put a Big ‘L’ in the upper right hand corner of my note pad. It is a reminder to myself to ‘Listen first, dummy. Just shut up and listen.’ Sometimes I even visualize the person across the table from me
sitting and swinging on that Big ‘L.’”
[ ]
Paul Foley shares 10 “Adages for Ad Agencies,” including these:
• “Beware of management by total surprise.”
• “Large meetings are often used to share the blame.”
• “It is possible to make excellent television commercials within 100 miles of home.”
• “It is difficult to build a backlog of good will; ill will, yes—but good will starts from scratch at 9:00 every morning.”
THERE'S MORE! Read all 40 insights at the
Pails in Comparison Blog. Better yet: read the book!
TO ORDER FROM AMAZON, click on the title for
If I Knew Then What I Know Now: CEOs and Other Smart Executives Share Wisdom They Wish They’d Been Told 25 Years Ago, by Richard Edler. Note:
click here for the “mass market paperback” edition. Listen on
Libro (2 hours, 42 minutes).
YOUR WEEKLY STAFF MEETING QUESTIONS:1) Your turn!
What wisdom do you wish you'd been told 25 years ago? (Email me your list and I'll publish a selection of reader wisdom in a future issue. Thank you!)
2) Dan Bolin, author of the forthcoming book,
A Board Prayer (watch for my review on Feb. 11) was the first friend who shared this wisdom with me: "Hire slower. Fire faster." While this might be a delicate topic for your next staff meeting, it's a good one to discuss when everything is going well!
Why do you think "Hire slower. Fire faster." is a best practice?
SECOND READS: Fresh Solutions From Classic BooksYou have changed—and your problems have changed—since you read this the first time!Book #39 of 99: Yours TrulyFor your team meeting this week, inspire a team member to lead your “10 Minutes for Lifelong Learning” session by featuring Book #39 of 99 in our series, “Second Reads.” The big idea:
REREAD TO LEAD! Discover how your favorite books still have more to teach you and the people you’re coaching and mentoring.
Yours Truly:
An Obituary Writer's Guide to Telling Your Story
by James R. Hagerty (Dec. 27, 2022)
The author assures us: “No, telling your story is not another irksome task, like making a will or clearing out the attic. Telling your story is less difficult than you may imagine. Telling your story can be amusing. It can pay off in unexpected ways.”
• Reviewed in Issue No. 564 (June 14, 2023)
•
Read my review on Amazon.
• Order from
Amazon.
• Management Bucket #19 of 20:
The Printing Bucket (aka The Communications Bucket)
I titled my review (with this great line from the author),
“Your life story is not a nomination for sainthood.” James Hagerty, at the time, was the only fulltime obituary writer for the
Wall Street Journal. He suggests you ask yourself three questions:
• What were you trying to do with your life?
• Why?
• And how did it work out?
Read his
memorable 2025 WSJ tribute to his mother, “Marilyn Hagerty, Whose Column on Olive Garden Went Viral in 2012, Dies at 99.”
CLICK HERE FOR BOOKS BY JOHN
Mistake #7 of 8: “Skipping Your CEO’s Annual Assessment.” Read more in the new workbook, The 8 Big Mistakes to Avoid With Your Nonprofit Board—and learn how your board can customize the “Cut-and-Paste Template” for your own CEO’s annual “360” performance review. (See pages 81-90.)
IMPORTANT NOTICE! Effective Oct. 1, 2025, all 657 eNews issues, previously archived on Typepad.com are slowly (!) being moved to a new website here. New book reviews will also be archived at John Pearson’s Buckets Blog. Or, click here for John’s recent book reviews on Amazon.
Issue No. 658 of Your Weekly Staff Meeting (Oct. 3, 2025) features a new book coming Oct. 7—describing the four seasons of a CEO. The “...
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