Sharing the quality of Sam Wyly's journey to success

Unlike many other memoirs published by prominent CEOs that were probably ghost-written by someone else, this book seems to have been written by Sam Wyly who duly acknowledges dozens of people who were involved in his journey to success. As he explains, he wrote this book because, while "taking stock of his life," he was feeling "one overriding emotion: gratitude. The urge to tell my story hit me hard; more than just a distant hum on the background, it was a palpable force pulling at my concentration like a child tugging at your sleeve...I thought that my story, properly told, might inspire and help others, too. So the next day I started to write it." Here it is.

Others will have their own reasons for admiring this book and the man who wrote it. Here are three of mine. First, Wyly had no choice but to examine the details of a number of his business successes such as founding University Computing Company (UCC) in 1963 with an initial investment of $1,000, acquiring and then substantially expanding the Bonanza Steakhouse (1967) and Michaels Stores (1982) chains, co-founding Sterling Software (19881), co-founding the Maverick Capital (1990) and Ranger Capital (2000) hedge funds, and founding Green Mountain Energy (1999) in order to document the evolution of his business career. Fair enough. However, I was much more interested, frankly, in the lessons he learned, especially from his bad decisions and their consequences. (I presume to insert African Proverb #1:"Trust but verify" and that is specially true of due diligence before hiring people, making investments, evaluating potential acquisitions or divestitures, etc.) Over a period of several decades, Wyly minces no words when recalling several mistakes he made. What were the most important lessons he learned from them? Here are three, in his own words:

"By 1966, I understood that wherever computers took us, it would not happen until computers could talk to one another quickly, efficiently, and cheaply. We were moving into a digital world and my instincts moved me to lead the charge." (Page 96) Note that this was 30 years before the emergence of the Web.

"To grow a business by acquisition, you need to do several things. First, you need to integrate quickly and smoothly. Second, you need to find a way to keep your new employees as passionate about their work as they were before you acquired their company. Third, you need to clarify your vision, which is central to the first and third things." (Pages 153-154) Over time, Wyly took the lead in negotiations as Sterling Software acquired 35 companies. Only one was hostile. "But that was the big one. Details are provided in the narrative that follows.

"You can't spend your time obsessed with what others say about you. The world was littered with garbage gossip long before there were bloggers. I guess the reason the `wild man' tag seems particularly funny in regards to Michaels is that, while we were aggressive as all get-out in expanding as fast as we could, Michaels is really a story of perseverance and patience...It's easy now to look at Michaels' more than 900 stores and think, `What a beautiful economic engine.' But it took us over twenty years." (Pages 198-199)

Also, I appreciate the extent to which Wyly discusses his personal development as well as his career in business. Much as he appreciated his associations with IBM and then with Honeywell, he realized that his restlessness, in his words, "was forcing me to face up to this single truth: I was not at heart a big company man. I didn't want to be under anyone else's authority. I wanted to call the shots for myself." He was by nature and temperament an entrepreneur. For that reason, he refused to concede 51% control of what became UCC and eventually received the funding needed to launch it. "Being a maverick by spirit means that I am not a happy committee guy. Actually, I'm mostly a `conceptor'...[a style that] manifests itself through an ability to see the big picture, to see things not as they are but as they ought to be." While reading this book, it was difficult for me to determine the extent to which Wyly's business career revealed his personal strengths and weaknesses, and, the extent to which they confirmed what he already believed them to be. In any event, Wyly seems to have understood who he was or was determined to become...as well as who he wasn't and had no intention to try to become.

Finally, I admire how determined Wyly was to share the rewards of his business successes with others along the way and especially in recent years. (I presume to insert African Proverb #2: "It takes a village to raise a child" and that is especially true of a start-up company such as UCC.) Repeatedly, he acknowledges that these successes could not have been achieved without others and that is especially true of his brother Charles. Once Sam had secured his funding from UCC, he contacted Charles, the man he trusted most, and invited him to join the new company. Sam asserts that it was "the best decision I ever made." Although lacking "the natural-born entrepreneur's restlessness for change," Charles "answered the call at a moment's notice, resigned his position at IBM, and moved his family to Dallas." Over time, (Sam) Wyly added other valuable associates but never once hesitated to reassign or terminate those whose performance and/or behavior did not meet his intentionally high standards. He was exceptionally generous in terms of delegating authority as well as responsibility to others as well as when determining their compensation and benefits. Wyly's generosity also extended beyond the business world. The variety of beneficiaries correctly indicates the range of his non-business interests. One estimate is that he has personally donated in excess of $90-million to recipients that include the founding of Jim Lehrer's "Newsroom" program at KERA-TV (the public television channel) in Dallas, the establishment of the Sam Wyly Foundation (to support minority businesses), the Tower of Learning in the campus of Louisiana Tech with Charles (to honor their father), a $10-million gift to the University of Michigan for its Sam Wyly Hall (he earned an MBA at Michigan), and the Aspen Institute's Writers Foundation.

Thank you, Sam Wyly, for the pleasure of your company as you share the quality of your own journey to success. Hopefully many others, especially those now enrolled in schools or colleges, will be inspired by your example of self-creation. And hopefully they will soon realize, as did you when you were a 5'7" and 155 pound noseguard playing for Coach Raymond Richards on the Delhi football team, that almost all human limits are self-imposed.

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