Robert Laidlaw – Man for our Time
Ian Hunter
Here’s a book that every business owner should read!
It’s the story of one man who from small beginnings established a retail chain that still thrives today, Farmers Trading Company.
In fact he did even more – he inspired thousands to live better, dream bigger and aim higher.
This book continues that legacy by telling Laidlaw’s story from start to finish.
Here’s what I wrote about “Robert Laidlaw – Man for our Time” in the January 2000 issue of Fortune Small Business :
” …He was indeed a “Man for our Time” and ahead of his own time, exploring mail-order when it was considered a quaint novelty, then becoming a pioneer in socially responsible business, launching chain stores into New Zealand, and becoming an efficiency expert before F.W Taylor’s classic “Scientific Management” was ever published.
Also impressive was Laidlaw’s integrity. He frequently had customers send him blank checks with their order because they trusted him to fill in the right amount. That kind of trust doesn’t just happen — it’s earned!
The book contains many inspirational quotes from Laidlaw’s internal business magazine, and speeches from lectures to management students.”
And here are some words from the man himself:
” Someone has said, ‘Opportunity knocks at a man’s door but once.’
I say emphatically this is not true. Opportunity is everywhere around us. She is beckoning us continually if we only had eyes to see. Some men expect opportunity not only to knock at their door, but to knock the door down, come in and lead them gently out.
No – opportunity is not a nurse … No bar or padlock stands between you and the opportunity you seek.
Its door is always open and you can pass in whenever you will, if you can show the passport of competency.
Success has its price – you can pay it if you will.
But ability is the only coin that passes current in its purchase.”
Find out more about Robert Laidlaw – Man for our time direct from the publishers.
When I first saw this guy sitting back in his office chair, looking smug … and when I read the controversial things he’d said on the back of the book, I thought “what an arrogant git!”
But my mother taught me something a long, long time ago: never, ever judge a book by it’s cover (literally!).
Lee Iacocca is an inspiration. From humble beginnings as the son of Italian immigrants who couldn’t even speak English, to president of one of the world’s largest car firms, to saviour of a car company that was almost beyond help – boy this guy deserves some credit!
The thing I like most about Iacocca’s story, though, is his honesty.
Not many successful people – especially men – are willing to share their mistakes as well as their successes. But Iacocca is, and despite my original impressions of the book, I have found his tone to be almost grandfatherly – he’s a great mentor!
Even though this book was written in the distant past (1984!) and deals with a business totally unrelated to mine, the principles that Lee Iacocca lives by can teach anyone a lesson. And the way he has tried to live by those principles.
