The opportunity to share who the Influencers are in my life represents who sits on my personal Board of Directors. This group of individuals have paved a path to follow in terms of their positive behavior.
Herb Knoll
Herb was my first professional mentor. He saw something in me and chose to take me under his wing to improve and polish my skills as a young leader within a large organization. We ended up working together in several different capacities over the past almost 20 years. He is currently writing a book called Widower which should help many people.
The Wife
My wife Susan of 20 years has advanced her career in the healthcare industry using a foundation of unshakeable ethics and values. Whereas I may see gray area in my thought process, Susan is more of a blakc and white person. Her perspective on situations is usually right on.
Mom
From a very young age, my mom taught me the value of savings. I truly appreciated the value of a penny before I was 5 years old. I saved many of them. Mom also taught me about budgeting. This has helped me in both my professional life as well as in my personal life. I even have a personal finance blog dedicated to teaching people about their credit and money.
Don Mattingly
One of my heroes growing up was a New York Yankee first baseman, Don Mattingly. His work ethic and devotion to practice were keys to his success on the field. In addition, Donnie Baseball lead by example - a quiet leader, not boisterous - but highly respected.
Grandpa
My grandfather was a shopkeeper. He owned a cheese and gourmet foods shop which served as a local deli, muffin and coffee house. I helped out at the store whenever I could and during college summers worked there full time. I watched my grandpa treat people nice but he also could be stern with a difficult customer when needed. He taught me not to judge people. Also, I learned that presentation is important. To this day, attention to detail is an asset I bring to the table with anything I do.
The Bad Guys
There are some common themes when I contemplate the people who have done me wrong in business. First, they are not honest. Second, they are motivated by greed but pretend they are altruistic. Selfishness is another trait, yet they claim they are making great sacrifices on behalf of you or the team. This combines to make them two faced.
Additionally, they were all intimidators and who resorted to angry outbursts (both verbally and in writing), belittling of others and threats of repercussion. The best thing you can say about about creeps like this is that they teach you the hard way about what to watch out for in the future so that you can avoid making the same mistake twice.
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