A Businessman's Creed
By Adrian Austin
People always ask me, Adrian you have enjoyed success in many different businesses and worked in several continents, what advice do you have for me? What have you gleaned over 50 years of business that I can learn from? I tell them although I don’t have all the answers, actually I hardly know all the questions but what I do know I put into my Business Creed. Truisms that I have learned over the years that if I follow, I rarely will go wrong.
- Pick the people who can most strongly determine your success, and keep in direct, personal, continuous contact with them.
- Never assume that the way things are today is the way they will be tomorrow, or even after lunch.
- No matter what your job is, think of yourself as a salesman.
- Never fail to consider the future significance of what you say and do.
- In business, as in other sports, position and timing are everything.
- Know what it is that you can do better than anyone else, and do that.
- Never say anything about anyone that you would not say the same way to their face.
- Search for the seeds of victory in every disaster, and vice versa.
- Do not lie. If you cannot tell the truth keep quiet. When you start to lie you are finished.
10 .Never expect someone to keep a secret. There are NO secrets.
11. Bet on people, but be prepared to lose.
12. Unsolvable problems do not disrupt the routine they are the routine.
13. Make as few mistakes as possible. Assume that any random error could be fatal.
14. Never fail to consider the pervasive power of personal self-interest.
15. Everyone’s motives are different. Make certain you know what yours are.
16. Know exactly what your goals are.
17. Surprise is a powerful tactic. Use it carefully. It can be disastrous.
18. Revenge is sweet. But it is God’s privilege, not yours.
19. A few enemies are a fact of life. But a few are plenty.
20. Trust your own instincts. They are probably no more wrong than everyone else’s carefully thought out logic.
21. Build a reputation as a winner by smiling when you win, and when you lose.
22. Keep every promise that you made, and every promise people think you made.
23. Never assume that others are operating under the same rules as you are.
24. Never permit a situation to exist in your company where someone can profit from your loss.
25. Never underestimate the power of the # 2 man.
26. Success has many ingredients, the greatest of which is confidence.
27. Understand your risks. Optimists play the horses, Pessimists own them.
28. Don’t make any important decision until you absolutely have to. Factors can change faster than we do.
29. Don’t believe that a young attractive salesperson thinks you are sexy. You are not.
