My father didn’t tell me how to live, he lived, and let me watch him do it.”
- Clarence Budinton Kelland
Sometimes the biggest business lessons don’t come from our education, training or employment experience. Often, the biggest lessons come from our parents and become the cornerstone of business success.
I Remember Mama was a wonderful sitcom my sister and I watched faithfully each week on our small black and white television set. The show portrayed the ups and downs of a loving Norwegian immigrant family living at the turn of the twentieth century. Mama oversaw the household with that stoic yet warm Norwegian way, never raising her voice but achieving everything she set out to do, aided by her thrifty and clever ways. My sister and I always thought that Mama would take a lickin’ from our mother, Gerry Cox, as she would run her over with her Irish enthusiasm. My mother instilled values in me through her own life experience as an entrepreneur who could provide interior design services out of the home and as a risk taker who wouldn’t back down from any challenge that others might view as insurmountable.
With a temperament that was anything like someone from the cool climes of Norway, my mother ruled the household and managed her brood of three boys and two girls almost singlehandedly as my father was working day and night in the oil and gas industry. The only connection my mother had with dad’s work was natural gas firing the burners for her stove. Yet her ability to take risks, multitask, budget within pennies of income versus expense and still have energy to devote to her growing family imbedded in me the very essence of what is needed to successfully run Linc Energy Systems.
Growing up just after the Great Depression, mother had to be creative in order to survive as one of five children in the family. Graduation from high school and marriage soon after signaled the end of her formal academic experience. She longed to be a nurse, but took secretarial work instead to help make ends meet. Yet she never gave up the dream for each of us to further our education. When I won a full scholarship to college, my mom was delighted, but my dad said, “No.” She told me in her no nonsense way to keep packing even though my father was downstairs in the living room protesting the fact that Nebraska might as well be Timbuktu.
One summer a year or two later, my mother told me to check out the house for sale at the end of the block and buy it if it was still available. I don’t really remember how I got the financing, but together we renovated it and sold the house for a profit. Mom’s advice through this learning experience was “Get in debt over your head and stay there!.” I have tempered this advice a bit over the years but certainly appreciate the concept she was teaching me. Having never invested in a house or a business, mother helped me to understand that without venturing into the unknown, my horizons would never be widened.
“If you want to conquer fear, don't sit home and think about it. Go out and get busy.” While Dale Carnegie made this statement, my mother acted out this philosophy on a daily basis. Throughout the economic downturn, I have witnessed many changes and challenges in the industry. . Thanks to the lessons I’ve learned from my mother, however, I can rise above the obstacles because I have confidence in myself and know Linc Energy Systems will come out on top.
We always find time to thank our business mentors and teachers for their contributions in our careers. I think we should start by thanking our parents. Thanks Mom, for giving me the character not only to survive, but thrive in this tough business climate.
Tags: character building, business success
