THE MAN WHO CUPPED MY EAR

 I worked for a old Jewish man for 12 years who had experienced the depression and two world wars. He came out of it all a very wealthy man.  I learned things from him that were not written in books. Relevant down to earth things that many were even strange when I heard them. They all held up over time

ONE DAY...YOU WILL KNOW

He told me constantly that one day I would thank him. Of course, I would respond incorrectly to that statement not knowing what it meant. He knew and he planted those seeds for me to discover at a later time. I eventually did discover a multitude of things

HIGH LEVEL COMMUNICATIONS

One of the things that stand-out is wherever we went, be it in a court room, an auction, a business meeting or a public place, we would confer privately by him approaching my ear as if to tell me a secret, then cup his hand over my ear and a secure channel of communication sent from his lips to my ear was established.

LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS

Now I thought all this unnecessary, but he was a proven many times-self-made millionaire and I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt as I was able to do. We were fifty years apart and my generation does NOT cup ears and whisper...So I had a lesson thrust upon me. I was familiar with LOOSE LIPS SINK SHIPS BUT he lived through that. I only heard about it

NO EMAILS...NO CELL PHONES...NO FAX

What I learned was that communications were very important, timely, necessary, and costly if not handled correctly and must take place in the moment when necessary. There were to be no mis-understandings or do-overs.  Also no one would ever over hear what was said...guaranteed. This proved invaluable wherever we went and our business dealings went very smooth and predictable.

WE WERE NOT TELLING SECRETS...WE WERE CONDUCTING HIGH LEVEL BUSINESS MEETINGS

Once I got used to it, we used it often getting strange looks from people is something I had to get used to. But a finer team at work making quick in the moment high level expensive business decisions and things happened accordingly. He acted like a kid when he did it and it caused me to have fun too

THE ART OF CUPPING THE EAR

I did not pass this on to my kids...but for the 12 years I was with this man, I prospered, loaned money out, and eventually started three successful business when I left him....I also was always very much aware of when I spoke up and where every where I went

The man who cupped my ear....He was right. The day would come when I would thank him...many times over

thank you