May 13, 2024 • 19 mins
Imagine stepping into the shoes of John D. Rockefeller, a man whose name is synonymous with triumph and tenacity. We promise to take you on a profound journey through his life, from his modest upbringings to becoming the paramount figure of the oil industry. Our latest episode is steeped in the history and wisdom of a man who wrote 38 letters to his son, letters which now serve as an invaluable resource for anyone keen on mastering the art of business and the pursuit of success. Discover how embracing the joy of work, the significance of taking action, and the principle of self-reliance can elevate not only your professional life but also redefine your personal achievements.
Get ready to unravel the strategic mindset that made Rockefeller a legend, highlighting planning and foresight as the catalysts for his unprecedented success. We analyze the intricacies of his conquests, from the chessboard to the boardroom, and how his philosophies on management, accountability, and team dynamics resonate with successful leaders like Andrew Carnegie. Whether you're an entrepreneur, a leader, or simply fascinated by the narratives of historical giants, this episode is a treasure trove of lessons that transcend time. Join us as we decode the life of a man who didn’t just amass wealth but reshaped the economic landscape, leaving a legacy that continues to inspire.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to the Profitable Painter Podcast
Biography Edition, where wedelve into the lives of some of
history's most successfulindividuals to uncover the
strategies, tactics and mindsetsthat propelled them to
greatness.
Today we're exploring theextraordinary life of a figure
whose passion for work andconqueror mindset allowed him to
monopolize an industry.
Joining me as we navigatethrough this journey of this
(00:21):
remarkable individual andextract valuable lessons you can
apply to elevate yourprofessional painting business.
Get ready to be inspired, tolearn and to transform the way
you think about success andleadership in your own
entrepreneurial journey.
John D Rockefeller was anAmerican industrialist and
philanthropist who founded theStandard Oil Company in 1870,
(00:43):
which became the world's firstand largest multinational
corporation.
His business practices set thestandard for the oil industry
and later for Americancapitalism.
Rockefeller became one of thewealthiest men in history and
used his fortune to fundextensive philanthropic
endeavors, significantlyimpacting education, public
health and scientific research.
His legacy is a complex blendof ruthless business tactics and
(01:05):
generous philanthropy.
So I recently read the 38letters from JD Rockefeller to
his son, and these letters arejust jam-packed full of wisdom,
and so I'm going to go throughJohn D Rockefeller's life and
talk about basically read someexcerpts of the letters that he
(01:28):
wrote to his son about differentparts of his life.
He wrote most of the letterstowards the end of his life,
when he's kind of mentoring hisson as his son takes over
Standard Oil and his businesses,but he's often writing about
what happened in his past.
So let's get into things.
So in 1839, that's when John DRockefeller was born in Richard,
(01:51):
new York, and he was basicallyraised by his mom.
He had an absentee father whowas in and out a lot.
His father did teach him aboutloaning money and negotiation.
He was pretty hard on John, andone of the things that folks
noticed about John D Rockefelleris that he always seemed to be
(02:13):
thinking.
He was a slow learner butpatient and persistent.
And Rockefeller describedhimself as a reliable, as
reliable but not brilliant andfrom very early on John D
Rockefeller wanted to be therichest person in the world.
There's a story that he tellshis son about when a
(02:34):
photographer came to the schoolto John D Rockefeller's school
when he was in elementary school, and they were going to take a
picture, and back then gettingyour picture taken was a big
deal obviously because this wasback in the 1840s or somewhere
in there and so John DRockefeller was excited about it
.
He was like, oh okay, great, Iget to be in a picture.
(02:58):
So he was feeling pretty goodabout himself.
But then the photographermotioned to the teacher and was
like, hey, let's not get thatkid in there.
He's got tattered clothes andit's going to ruin the picture.
And he was pointing at John DRockefeller.
And so the teacher pulled Johnout of the picture because his
(03:19):
clothes were all tattered.
Because John came from a verypoor family.
He was very proud and he heldhimself well, but he just didn't
have the funds to get niceclothes.
So he wasn't able to get inthat picture and he kind of told
himself like I'm going to showeverybody because I'm going to
(03:41):
become the richest person in theworld and take all the pictures
I want.
So 1855, when he turned 16, hestarts his first job as an
assistant bookkeeper and he'svery excited about getting this
job.
He actually Marked it as acelebration for the rest of his
life, as job day, and hecelebrated it more than he
(04:03):
celebrated his own birthday.
Here's a quote from the book.
As you know, when I was youngmy family was very poor.
I remember that the books Iread when I was in high school
were Bought by my neighbors inthe beginning of my career as a
bookkeeper.
I was only earning a weeklysalary of five dollars, but it
was only through unremittingeffort that have enabled me to
(04:28):
establish an Inviable oilkingdom.
And the eyes of others, thismay seem to be a legend, but I
think it's.
It is the reward for myperseverance and hard work From
the God of destiny and he.
There's a whole letter where hegoes on about how you should
view your work as pleasure.
And if you view your work aspleasure, life is heaven.
(04:49):
If you view your work as duty,life is hell.
And there's other quotes.
Like I never treat work as hardlabor without fun.
Instead, I found infinitehappiness from work.
Work is a privilege.
Work is the foundation of allbusinesses, the source of
prosperity and the shaper ofgenius.
So the lesson here is youshould embrace work, don't shy
(05:15):
away from it.
Dig into things and it reallycomes through that.
Jondi Rockefeller he was allabout work.
He celebrated job day everyyear, more so than his own
birthday, because he loved thework and he was all in for that.
So in 1859, rock Rockefellerenters the commodities business
(05:36):
with his partner Maurice B Clarkforming Clark and Rockefeller,
and Then, feel it, few yearslater he enters the oil industry
by investing in an oil refineryin Cleveland, ohio.
Here's another quote from thebook a very ordinary plan.
If it is Actually implementedand developed, it will be much
(05:59):
better than a good plan that isabandoned halfway, because the
former will be carried outconsistently.
So there's a whole letter aboutaction, taking action.
Opportunity comes fromopportunity.
Action is another positiveattribute of mine.
I never like to talk in vain,because I know that there is no
result without action andthere's nothing in the world
(06:21):
that that is obtained from justthinking.
Here's another quote many peoplewho lack action naively think
that others will care abouttheir affairs and, in actual
fact, other than yourself,others will not be very
interested in them.
People are on, only interestedin their own things.
So basically saying nobody'sthinking about you.
Handle your own business, takeaction and go.
(06:42):
Don't worry about what othersare gonna think they don't
really care about you anyway, orwith the details of your life
or what you're doing.
So Worry about your stuff, yourbusiness, and take action and
get things going.
And here's another quote son,life is a great battle to win.
You need to take.
You need to act, act again andact forever.
(07:02):
So basic let lesson here istaking massive action.
Do not sit back, do not over,don't get stuck in analysis,
paralysis, don't just read abunch of books and don't
implement them.
You need to take action.
He even says, says the you knowthere's that phrase knowledge
(07:22):
is power.
He doesn't like that.
He thinks that's like half ofthe equation.
He's a knowledge is not power,getting knowledge and taking
action on that.
Knowledge is power and one ofthe things that really comes
through reading Rockefeller ishe seemed to be.
He was very fond of Napoleonand he, even in one of the
letters he goes into about whyNapoleon was, was an amazing
(07:47):
person.
He basically said that Napoleonwas able to organize resources
and inspire and lead his menvery effectively.
And he wonders you know whatkind of business person Napoleon
would have been if he was,instead of conquering on the
battlefield, if he wasconquering in the business world
?
And he really admired the factthat he that in Napoleon
(08:08):
inspired his officers and madethem and trained them to be very
Capable on the battlefield.
And that was something that Ithink Rockefeller tried to do in
his own business Inspire his,his team and empower them to
take action on his behalf.
In 1870, rockefeller co-foundStandard Oil Company, which
(08:29):
quickly becomes the leading oilrefinery company in the United
States.
And then, a couple years later,he begins aggressive expansion
and acquisition strategy, knownas the Cleveland Massacre,
significantly increasingStandard Oils market share.
And here's a quote from thebook visionary businessmen are
(08:49):
always good at findingopportunities in every disaster,
and that's how I did it.
Before we started our journeyof conquest, the oil industry
was in chaos and there was nohope at all.
90% of the refiners inCleveland had been crushed by
the increasingly fiercecompetition.
If they did not sell thefactory, if they did not sell
(09:11):
the factory, they can only watchthemselves go extinct.
This was the best time toacquire an opponent.
So basically this during thistime they're in the Cleveland
Massacre, there was a lot ofcompetition and Rockefeller
capitalized on this opportunityto get some funding from the
banks and buy out his largestcompetitor and then work down
(09:34):
the line from there.
He went up, went to the topfirst, bought them out and then
went down to the subsequentsmaller oil refineries and
bought everybody out.
Basically and here's anotherquote from the book it really
has nothing to do withconscience and enterprise is
like a battlefield, and thepurpose of strategic goals is to
create the most beneficialstate for oneself.
(09:55):
For strategic considerations,the first target I choose to
conquer was not a small companythat was vulnerable, but the
strongest opponent, clark Payne.
This company was well known inCleveland and were ambitious, as
they wanted to acquire my staroil refinery.
I will have to strike first togain the upper hand.
I took the initiative to meetthe largest stakeholder of Clark
(10:16):
Payne.
I told him that the chaotic andsluggish era of the oil
industry should end in order toprotect the industry that
countless families depend on forsurvival.
I wanted to build a huge, highperformance oil company and
welcome to him to join my planand press Payne, and finally
they agreed to sell the companyfor $400,000.
I know that paying Clark Payneis not worth that amount at all,
(10:41):
but I did not reject them.
Acquiring Clark Payne meant thatI would gain the title of the
world's largest oil refinery andwill also serve as a strong
pioneer in the industry toefficiently bring together the
refiners in Cleveland.
The trick really worked.
In less than two months therewere 22 competitors under the
(11:01):
leadership of Standard Oil.
Basically for the ClevelandMassacre, he first did the bold
move of going straight to thebiggest competitor and pitching
him this plan that he had tounite the oil industry and
bought them out for $400,000,which he got from bank loans.
Then, once he got the top dog,the other smaller ones fell like
(11:27):
dominoes.
Basically, in the followingyears I conquered oil refineries
in Philadelphia, pittsburgh andBaltimore and I became the only
master of the oil refiningindustry in the United States.
If I were only lamenting on mybad luck at the time and
followed the crowd, I might havebeen conquered, but I planned
my luck.
Anything can happen in thisworld.
He sounds a lot like theNapoleon.
(11:50):
When Napoleon discusses luck,luck is the remnant of design.
In other words, we create ourown luck In.
No action can eliminate it.
Rockfiller doesn't reallybelieve in lucky things.
That you create luck by takingaction and making things happen.
That was also what Napoleonsaid as well.
Something very similar to thesame effect.
(12:12):
In 1882, standard Oil Trust isformed to control multiple
companies under one entity.
And here's another quote fromthe book.
I'm well aware that if we wereto be profitable again and make
money forever, we must tame thisindustry and have everyone act
rationally.
I regard it as a responsibility, but it's very difficult to do.
(12:34):
It requires a plan, a plan thatplaces all the oil refining
refining businesses undercontrol my control, john.
To be a good hunter in aprofitable hunting ground, you
need to think hard, be carefuland be able to see all possible
dangers and opportunities andthings, as well as to study all
kinds of strategies that couldendanger your dominance.
(12:55):
Like a chess player, Ithoroughly researched the
situation and evaluated mystrength.
I decided to use the base campof Cleveland as my first
battlefield to launch a war inorder to rule the oil industry.
After conquering more than 20competitors there, I moved
quickly to open up a secondbattlefield until I conquered
all of their opponents andestablished an oil industry in a
(13:17):
new order.
You could tell from the languagethat he's using.
He thinks of himself as aconqueror.
This is very.
He planned everything out.
He talks a lot about action,but it's not like he's just
taking action with no plan.
He has a very thought out planto go about taking over the oil
industry.
The other component is theknowledge.
(13:38):
He says knowledge is not power,basically getting that.
You want to get the knowledge,but the biggest thing is also
taking the action to put thatknowledge into practice.
In 1892, the Ohio Supreme Courtdeclared standard oil must be an
illegal monopoly.
Then, several years later,eventually, the US Supreme Court
rules that the standard oil isa monopoly.
(14:01):
It must be broken up into 34smaller companies.
Ironically, that's whenRockefeller actually becomes the
first billionaire, right aroundthat same time.
Then, also around that sametime, andrew Carnegie, who
started the steel industry, cameand visited Rockefeller and
(14:21):
they were talking.
Carnegie asked Rockefeller aquestion.
He said that your people, thatyou work for you.
They seem to be invincible.
They're able to accomplishanything.
What do you do?
Are you incentivizing them withmoney?
What is it that you're doingthat keeps them so motivated and
inspired to work for you sodiligently?
(14:42):
Rockefeller said it's basically, I have a principle where I
don't blame the folks that Iwork with, my subordinates.
I don't ever blame them, but Ialso don't ever take any excuses
for or tolerate any kind ofirresponsible behavior.
If something bad happens, ifsomebody makes a mistake, I just
(15:05):
work to solve the problem.
Try to work through it,understand what my
responsibility is, what theirresponsibility is, and ensure
that they're takingresponsibility and that they're
not being irresponsible in theirbehavior, as long as they're
not being irresponsible in theirbehavior.
I'm not going to punish them orblame them, because punishing
(15:26):
people or blaming them, you'lllose respect from the folks you
work with.
You want to entrust the folksyou work with with great
responsibilities and hold themaccountable to those
responsibilities.
If they make a mistake, don'tget mad at them or blame them.
(15:48):
I thought that was a veryinsightful distinction of don't
ever blame folks if they make amistake but at the same time you
don't want to tolerateirresponsible behavior.
You have to distinguish thosetwo things.
In 1913, the RockefellerFoundation was established.
In 1937, John D Rockefellerpassed away at 97 years old.
(16:12):
He had a long, long life.
I think some of the lessonsthat we can take from John D
Rockefeller is, again, bigvision, common thing that we
keep hearing over and over again.
He had a huge vision from whenhe was a kid.
He wanted to be the richestperson in the world.
He stayed with that visionthroughout his life and ended up
(16:34):
accomplishing it.
Another thing is understandingall opportunities and dangers
through planning.
He was a big planner Startingfrom a young kid when he was
playing chess.
He was very thoughtful in everymove that he did in chess.
He also did the same thing whenhe was taking over the oil
industry.
(16:54):
As very planned out, he thoughtof all the dangers, all the
opportunities before he tookaction.
The next big thing we shouldlearn from him is taking action
with the knowledge that yougained.
You studied the opportunities,you studied the dangers, you
studied the history.
Now it's time to take action.
(17:14):
And you take bold action andthis is also a very common
thread that we hear again andagain with these biographies is
taking bold action.
Fortune favors the bold.
And then another theme thatcomes out of studying
Rockefeller's life is beingpersistent.
(17:35):
John D Rockefeller works hard,he's persistent, he's reliable
and throughout his whole life heis working towards a goal.
And then the last thing I thinkwe can take away is how do you
treat your team to get the mostout of them?
And he gives that basicallythat idea of don't lay blame.
(17:57):
Don't blame your folks or getupset at them for making
mistakes, but at the same time,don't accept irresponsibility.
So if they're beingirresponsible, it's time for
them to go, because you shouldbe clearly telling them what
their responsibility is and whatyou expect of them.
They can make mistakes, that'sfine.
We'll fix it, we'll figure itout, we'll solve it, but if
(18:20):
they're being irresponsible,that's the time for them to go,
and so, with that, I definitelyrecommend getting the 38 letters
from John D Rockefeller to hisson.
It's jam-packed full of wisdom,really interesting read, and
with that, I'll see you nextweek.
Welcome to the Profitable Painter Podcast
Biography Edition, where wedelve into the lives of some of
history's most successfulindividuals to uncover the
strategies, tactics and mindsetsthat propelled them to
greatness.
Today we're exploring theextraordinary life of a figure
whose passion for work andconqueror mindset allowed him to
monopolize an industry.
Joining me as we navigatethrough this journey of this
(00:21):
remarkable individual andextract valuable lessons you can
apply to elevate yourprofessional painting business.
Get ready to be inspired, tolearn and to transform the way
you think about success andleadership in your own
entrepreneurial journey.
John D Rockefeller was anAmerican industrialist and
philanthropist who founded theStandard Oil Company in 1870,
(00:43):
which became the world's firstand largest multinational
corporation.
His business practices set thestandard for the oil industry
and later for Americancapitalism.
Rockefeller became one of thewealthiest men in history and
used his fortune to fundextensive philanthropic
endeavors, significantlyimpacting education, public
health and scientific research.
His legacy is a complex blendof ruthless business tactics and
(01:05):
generous philanthropy.
So I recently read the 38letters from JD Rockefeller to
his son, and these letters arejust jam-packed full of wisdom,
and so I'm going to go throughJohn D Rockefeller's life and
talk about basically read someexcerpts of the letters that he
(01:28):
wrote to his son about differentparts of his life.
He wrote most of the letterstowards the end of his life,
when he's kind of mentoring hisson as his son takes over
Standard Oil and his businesses,but he's often writing about
what happened in his past.
So let's get into things.
So in 1839, that's when John DRockefeller was born in Richard,
(01:51):
new York, and he was basicallyraised by his mom.
He had an absentee father whowas in and out a lot.
His father did teach him aboutloaning money and negotiation.
He was pretty hard on John, andone of the things that folks
noticed about John D Rockefelleris that he always seemed to be
(02:13):
thinking.
He was a slow learner butpatient and persistent.
And Rockefeller describedhimself as a reliable, as
reliable but not brilliant andfrom very early on John D
Rockefeller wanted to be therichest person in the world.
There's a story that he tellshis son about when a
(02:34):
photographer came to the schoolto John D Rockefeller's school
when he was in elementary school, and they were going to take a
picture, and back then gettingyour picture taken was a big
deal obviously because this wasback in the 1840s or somewhere
in there and so John DRockefeller was excited about it
.
He was like, oh okay, great, Iget to be in a picture.
(02:58):
So he was feeling pretty goodabout himself.
But then the photographermotioned to the teacher and was
like, hey, let's not get thatkid in there.
He's got tattered clothes andit's going to ruin the picture.
And he was pointing at John DRockefeller.
And so the teacher pulled Johnout of the picture because his
(03:19):
clothes were all tattered.
Because John came from a verypoor family.
He was very proud and he heldhimself well, but he just didn't
have the funds to get niceclothes.
So he wasn't able to get inthat picture and he kind of told
himself like I'm going to showeverybody because I'm going to
(03:41):
become the richest person in theworld and take all the pictures
I want.
So 1855, when he turned 16, hestarts his first job as an
assistant bookkeeper and he'svery excited about getting this
job.
He actually Marked it as acelebration for the rest of his
life, as job day, and hecelebrated it more than he
(04:03):
celebrated his own birthday.
Here's a quote from the book.
As you know, when I was youngmy family was very poor.
I remember that the books Iread when I was in high school
were Bought by my neighbors inthe beginning of my career as a
bookkeeper.
I was only earning a weeklysalary of five dollars, but it
was only through unremittingeffort that have enabled me to
(04:28):
establish an Inviable oilkingdom.
And the eyes of others, thismay seem to be a legend, but I
think it's.
It is the reward for myperseverance and hard work From
the God of destiny and he.
There's a whole letter where hegoes on about how you should
view your work as pleasure.
And if you view your work aspleasure, life is heaven.
(04:49):
If you view your work as duty,life is hell.
And there's other quotes.
Like I never treat work as hardlabor without fun.
Instead, I found infinitehappiness from work.
Work is a privilege.
Work is the foundation of allbusinesses, the source of
prosperity and the shaper ofgenius.
So the lesson here is youshould embrace work, don't shy
(05:15):
away from it.
Dig into things and it reallycomes through that.
Jondi Rockefeller he was allabout work.
He celebrated job day everyyear, more so than his own
birthday, because he loved thework and he was all in for that.
So in 1859, rock Rockefellerenters the commodities business
(05:36):
with his partner Maurice B Clarkforming Clark and Rockefeller,
and Then, feel it, few yearslater he enters the oil industry
by investing in an oil refineryin Cleveland, ohio.
Here's another quote from thebook a very ordinary plan.
If it is Actually implementedand developed, it will be much
(05:59):
better than a good plan that isabandoned halfway, because the
former will be carried outconsistently.
So there's a whole letter aboutaction, taking action.
Opportunity comes fromopportunity.
Action is another positiveattribute of mine.
I never like to talk in vain,because I know that there is no
result without action andthere's nothing in the world
(06:21):
that that is obtained from justthinking.
Here's another quote many peoplewho lack action naively think
that others will care abouttheir affairs and, in actual
fact, other than yourself,others will not be very
interested in them.
People are on, only interestedin their own things.
So basically saying nobody'sthinking about you.
Handle your own business, takeaction and go.
(06:42):
Don't worry about what othersare gonna think they don't
really care about you anyway, orwith the details of your life
or what you're doing.
So Worry about your stuff, yourbusiness, and take action and
get things going.
And here's another quote son,life is a great battle to win.
You need to take.
You need to act, act again andact forever.
(07:02):
So basic let lesson here istaking massive action.
Do not sit back, do not over,don't get stuck in analysis,
paralysis, don't just read abunch of books and don't
implement them.
You need to take action.
He even says, says the you knowthere's that phrase knowledge
(07:22):
is power.
He doesn't like that.
He thinks that's like half ofthe equation.
He's a knowledge is not power,getting knowledge and taking
action on that.
Knowledge is power and one ofthe things that really comes
through reading Rockefeller ishe seemed to be.
He was very fond of Napoleonand he, even in one of the
letters he goes into about whyNapoleon was, was an amazing
(07:47):
person.
He basically said that Napoleonwas able to organize resources
and inspire and lead his menvery effectively.
And he wonders you know whatkind of business person Napoleon
would have been if he was,instead of conquering on the
battlefield, if he wasconquering in the business world
?
And he really admired the factthat he that in Napoleon
(08:08):
inspired his officers and madethem and trained them to be very
Capable on the battlefield.
And that was something that Ithink Rockefeller tried to do in
his own business Inspire his,his team and empower them to
take action on his behalf.
In 1870, rockefeller co-foundStandard Oil Company, which
(08:29):
quickly becomes the leading oilrefinery company in the United
States.
And then, a couple years later,he begins aggressive expansion
and acquisition strategy, knownas the Cleveland Massacre,
significantly increasingStandard Oils market share.
And here's a quote from thebook visionary businessmen are
(08:49):
always good at findingopportunities in every disaster,
and that's how I did it.
Before we started our journeyof conquest, the oil industry
was in chaos and there was nohope at all.
90% of the refiners inCleveland had been crushed by
the increasingly fiercecompetition.
If they did not sell thefactory, if they did not sell
(09:11):
the factory, they can only watchthemselves go extinct.
This was the best time toacquire an opponent.
So basically this during thistime they're in the Cleveland
Massacre, there was a lot ofcompetition and Rockefeller
capitalized on this opportunityto get some funding from the
banks and buy out his largestcompetitor and then work down
(09:34):
the line from there.
He went up, went to the topfirst, bought them out and then
went down to the subsequentsmaller oil refineries and
bought everybody out.
Basically and here's anotherquote from the book it really
has nothing to do withconscience and enterprise is
like a battlefield, and thepurpose of strategic goals is to
create the most beneficialstate for oneself.
(09:55):
For strategic considerations,the first target I choose to
conquer was not a small companythat was vulnerable, but the
strongest opponent, clark Payne.
This company was well known inCleveland and were ambitious, as
they wanted to acquire my staroil refinery.
I will have to strike first togain the upper hand.
I took the initiative to meetthe largest stakeholder of Clark
(10:16):
Payne.
I told him that the chaotic andsluggish era of the oil
industry should end in order toprotect the industry that
countless families depend on forsurvival.
I wanted to build a huge, highperformance oil company and
welcome to him to join my planand press Payne, and finally
they agreed to sell the companyfor $400,000.
I know that paying Clark Payneis not worth that amount at all,
(10:41):
but I did not reject them.
Acquiring Clark Payne meant thatI would gain the title of the
world's largest oil refinery andwill also serve as a strong
pioneer in the industry toefficiently bring together the
refiners in Cleveland.
The trick really worked.
In less than two months therewere 22 competitors under the
(11:01):
leadership of Standard Oil.
Basically for the ClevelandMassacre, he first did the bold
move of going straight to thebiggest competitor and pitching
him this plan that he had tounite the oil industry and
bought them out for $400,000,which he got from bank loans.
Then, once he got the top dog,the other smaller ones fell like
(11:27):
dominoes.
Basically, in the followingyears I conquered oil refineries
in Philadelphia, pittsburgh andBaltimore and I became the only
master of the oil refiningindustry in the United States.
If I were only lamenting on mybad luck at the time and
followed the crowd, I might havebeen conquered, but I planned
my luck.
Anything can happen in thisworld.
He sounds a lot like theNapoleon.
(11:50):
When Napoleon discusses luck,luck is the remnant of design.
In other words, we create ourown luck In.
No action can eliminate it.
Rockfiller doesn't reallybelieve in lucky things.
That you create luck by takingaction and making things happen.
That was also what Napoleonsaid as well.
Something very similar to thesame effect.
(12:12):
In 1882, standard Oil Trust isformed to control multiple
companies under one entity.
And here's another quote fromthe book.
I'm well aware that if we wereto be profitable again and make
money forever, we must tame thisindustry and have everyone act
rationally.
I regard it as a responsibility, but it's very difficult to do.
(12:34):
It requires a plan, a plan thatplaces all the oil refining
refining businesses undercontrol my control, john.
To be a good hunter in aprofitable hunting ground, you
need to think hard, be carefuland be able to see all possible
dangers and opportunities andthings, as well as to study all
kinds of strategies that couldendanger your dominance.
(12:55):
Like a chess player, Ithoroughly researched the
situation and evaluated mystrength.
I decided to use the base campof Cleveland as my first
battlefield to launch a war inorder to rule the oil industry.
After conquering more than 20competitors there, I moved
quickly to open up a secondbattlefield until I conquered
all of their opponents andestablished an oil industry in a
(13:17):
new order.
You could tell from the languagethat he's using.
He thinks of himself as aconqueror.
This is very.
He planned everything out.
He talks a lot about action,but it's not like he's just
taking action with no plan.
He has a very thought out planto go about taking over the oil
industry.
The other component is theknowledge.
(13:38):
He says knowledge is not power,basically getting that.
You want to get the knowledge,but the biggest thing is also
taking the action to put thatknowledge into practice.
In 1892, the Ohio Supreme Courtdeclared standard oil must be an
illegal monopoly.
Then, several years later,eventually, the US Supreme Court
rules that the standard oil isa monopoly.
(14:01):
It must be broken up into 34smaller companies.
Ironically, that's whenRockefeller actually becomes the
first billionaire, right aroundthat same time.
Then, also around that sametime, andrew Carnegie, who
started the steel industry, cameand visited Rockefeller and
(14:21):
they were talking.
Carnegie asked Rockefeller aquestion.
He said that your people, thatyou work for you.
They seem to be invincible.
They're able to accomplishanything.
What do you do?
Are you incentivizing them withmoney?
What is it that you're doingthat keeps them so motivated and
inspired to work for you sodiligently?
(14:42):
Rockefeller said it's basically, I have a principle where I
don't blame the folks that Iwork with, my subordinates.
I don't ever blame them, but Ialso don't ever take any excuses
for or tolerate any kind ofirresponsible behavior.
If something bad happens, ifsomebody makes a mistake, I just
(15:05):
work to solve the problem.
Try to work through it,understand what my
responsibility is, what theirresponsibility is, and ensure
that they're takingresponsibility and that they're
not being irresponsible in theirbehavior, as long as they're
not being irresponsible in theirbehavior.
I'm not going to punish them orblame them, because punishing
(15:26):
people or blaming them, you'lllose respect from the folks you
work with.
You want to entrust the folksyou work with with great
responsibilities and hold themaccountable to those
responsibilities.
If they make a mistake, don'tget mad at them or blame them.
(15:48):
I thought that was a veryinsightful distinction of don't
ever blame folks if they make amistake but at the same time you
don't want to tolerateirresponsible behavior.
You have to distinguish thosetwo things.
In 1913, the RockefellerFoundation was established.
In 1937, John D Rockefellerpassed away at 97 years old.
(16:12):
He had a long, long life.
I think some of the lessonsthat we can take from John D
Rockefeller is, again, bigvision, common thing that we
keep hearing over and over again.
He had a huge vision from whenhe was a kid.
He wanted to be the richestperson in the world.
He stayed with that visionthroughout his life and ended up
(16:34):
accomplishing it.
Another thing is understandingall opportunities and dangers
through planning.
He was a big planner Startingfrom a young kid when he was
playing chess.
He was very thoughtful in everymove that he did in chess.
He also did the same thing whenhe was taking over the oil
industry.
(16:54):
As very planned out, he thoughtof all the dangers, all the
opportunities before he tookaction.
The next big thing we shouldlearn from him is taking action
with the knowledge that yougained.
You studied the opportunities,you studied the dangers, you
studied the history.
Now it's time to take action.
(17:14):
And you take bold action andthis is also a very common
thread that we hear again andagain with these biographies is
taking bold action.
Fortune favors the bold.
And then another theme thatcomes out of studying
Rockefeller's life is beingpersistent.
(17:35):
John D Rockefeller works hard,he's persistent, he's reliable
and throughout his whole life heis working towards a goal.
And then the last thing I thinkwe can take away is how do you
treat your team to get the mostout of them?
And he gives that basicallythat idea of don't lay blame.
(17:57):
Don't blame your folks or getupset at them for making
mistakes, but at the same time,don't accept irresponsibility.
So if they're beingirresponsible, it's time for
them to go, because you shouldbe clearly telling them what
their responsibility is and whatyou expect of them.
They can make mistakes, that'sfine.
We'll fix it, we'll figure itout, we'll solve it, but if
(18:20):
they're being irresponsible,that's the time for them to go,
and so, with that, I definitelyrecommend getting the 38 letters
from John D Rockefeller to hisson.
It's jam-packed full of wisdom,really interesting read, and
with that, I'll see you nextweek.
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