The Way to the Top
DONALD J. TRUMP
THE
WAY
TO THE
TOP
The Best Business Advice I Ever Received
Contents
Title Page
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Half Title
Introduction by Donald J. Trump
George Abercrombie, President and CEO of Roche North American Pharmaceuticals Operations
Adam M. Aron, Chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts, Inc.
Gerard J. Arpey, President and CEO of American Airlines
Diane N. Bark, President of DHB Financial Services, Inc.
Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Colony Capital, LLC
Napoleon Barragan, Chairman and CEO of 1-800-MATTRESS
Anne Beiler, Founder and CEO of Auntie Anne’s, Inc.
Marc Benioff, Chairman and CEO of salesforce.com
Barbara G. Berger, President of Food City Markets, Inc.
Simon Bergson, Founder, President, and CEO of Manhattan Beer Distributors
Angelica Berrie, CEO of Russ Berrie and Company, Inc.
Garry Betty, President and CEO of EarthLink
Robert J. Birnbach, President and CEO of Primordium Holdings, LLC
Cathie Black, President of Hearst Magazines
Robert Bohannon, Chairman, President, and CEO of Viad Corp.
Malcolm A. Borg, Chairman of North Jersey Media Group
Robert C. Bowen, Chairman and CEO of Scientific Learning Corporation
Mark A. Brown, President and CEO of Trump Hotels and Casino Resorts
William C. Byham, Chairman and CEO of Development Dimensions International, Inc.
Gregory B. Calhoun, President and CEO of Calhoun Enterprises
Jim Cantalupo, Chairman and CEO of McDonald’s Corporation
Gregory D. Cash, President and CEO of Vasomedical, Inc.
Robert B. Catell, Chairman and CEO of KeySpan Corporation
Bob Chapek, President of Buena Vista Home Entertainment
Joseph T. Charles, President of Charles Industries, Ltd.
Abe Chehebar, CEO of Accessory Network Group and Ghurka
Thomas Chen, President of Crystal Window and Door Systems
Steve Cody, Managing Partner and Cofounder of Peppercom, Inc.
Barbara Corcoran, Chairman and Founder of The Corcoran Group Real Estate
Jerry Couvaras, CEO of Atlanta Bread Company
Michael J. Critelli, Chairman and CEO of Pitney Bowes Inc.
Michael Dan, Chairman, President, and CEO of The Brink’s Company
Karen N. Danziger, Executive Vice President of The Howard-Sloan-Koller Group
Thomas F. Darden, Chairman of Quicksilver Resources
John Dasburg, Chairman, CEO, and President of ASTAR Air Cargo
Richard E. Dauch, Cofounder, Chairman, and CEO of American Axle & Manufacturing
Harris E. DeLoach, Jr, President and CEO of Sonoco
John M. Derrick, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Pepco Holdings, Inc.
Richard “Bo” Dietl, Chairman of Beau Dietl & Associates
David Dombrowski, President, General Manager, and CEO of Detroit Tigers, Inc.
Donald L. Drakeman, President and CEO of Medarex, Inc.
Ron Drapeau, Chairman and CEO of Callaway Golf Company
Leon Dreimann, CEO of Salton, Inc.
Archie W. Dunham, Chairman of ConocoPhillips
Gerald D. Edwards, President and CEO of Engineered Plastic Products, Inc.
James P. Evans, CEO of Jenny Craig, Inc.
Steven T. Florio, Vice Chairman of Advance Magazine Group
J. Roger Friedman, President of Lebhar-Friedman, Inc.
George G. Gellert, Chairman of Atalanta Corporation
Frances Gershon, CEO of U.S. Toy Company/Constructive Playthings
Kristina Gobble, President of EMK Design
Rick Goings, Chairman and CEO of Tupperware Corporation
Fatima Goldman, Executive Director of Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, Inc.
B. Thomas Golisano, Chairman and CEO of Paychex
Jim Goodnight, Founder, President, and CEO of SAS
M. J. Gordon, Chairman of Tootsie Roll Industries
Mark Granata, Jr., President of RFR Realty, LLC
Earl G. Graves, Sr., Chairman and CEO of Earl G. Graves Limited and Publisher of Black Enterprise Magazine
Alan C. Greenberg, Chairman of The Bear Stearns Companies, Inc.
Paul R. Gudonis, Chairman and CEO of Genuity Inc.
Christie Hefner, Chairman and CEO of Playboy Enterprises, Inc.
Mark Hellerstein, Chairman, CEO, and President of St. Mary’s Land & Exploration Company
Lloyd L. Hill, Chairman and CEO of Applebee’s International, Inc.
Henry R. Hillenmeyer, Chairman and CEO of Cooker Restaurant Corporation
Gary Hirshberg, President and CEO of Stonyfield Farm, Inc.
Stanley S. Hubbard, Chairman and CEO of Hubbard Broadcasting, Inc.
Dawn Hudson, North America President of Pepsi-Cola, Inc.
Susan M. Ivey, President and CEO of Brown & Williamson Tobacco Corporation
Bradley S. Jacobs, Chairman and CEO of United Rentals, Inc.
Thomas S. Johnson, Chairman and CEO of GreenPoint Bank
Curt Jones, President and Founder of Dippin’ Dots, Inc.
Jerry Jones, Owner and Manager of Dallas Cowboys Football Club
Thomas M. Joyce, President and CEO of Knight Trading Group
Parker S. Kennedy, President of The First American Corporation
Richard L. Kinzel, Chairman, President, and CEO of Cedar Fair, L.P.
Michael B. Kitchen, President and CEO of CUNA Mutual Group
Michele Kleier, Chairman and CEO of Gumley Haft Kleier
Robert B. Knutson, Chairman of Education Management Corporation
Robert J. Laikin, Chairman and CEO of Brightpoint, Inc.
Daniel P. Landguth, Chairman and CEO of Black Hills Corporation
Karen Gilles Larson, President and CEO of Synovis Life Technologies
Jean G. Leon, RN, Executive Director of Kings County Hospital and Senior Vice President of the Central Brooklyn Family Health Network of New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation
Timothy H. Ling, President and COO of Union Oil of California
William H. Longfield, Chairman and CEO of C. R. Bard, Inc.
Terry J. Lundgren, President, CEO, and Director of Federated Department Stores, Inc.
John J. Mack, Co-CEO of Credit Suisse Group and CEO of Credit Suisse First Boston
Brad Martin, Chairman and CEO of Saks, Inc.
Jim McCann, CEO of 1-800-FLOWERS.COM
Scott McWhinnie, President and CEO of PEZ Candy, Inc.
Alfred T. Mockett, Chairman and CEO of AMS
Mitchell B. Modell, CEO of Modell’s Sporting Goods
William T. Monahan, Chairman and CEO of Imation Corporation
Alan Mulally, President and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes Group
Dennis M. Mullen, Chairman, President, and CEO of Birds Eye Foods, Inc.
John H. Myers, President and CEO of GE Asset Management Incorporated
Josie Natori, Founder and CEO of Natori Company
Marilyn Carlson Nelson, Chairman and CEO of Carlson Companies
Don Nigbor, Chairman and CEO of Benchmark Electronics, Inc.
Jim O’Connor, Chairman and CEO of Republic Services, Inc.
Gene O’Donovan, President of Montana Mills Bread Company
Nancy Olasky, President of Olasky and Associates, Inc.
Jeffrey P. Orleans, Chairman and CEO of Orleans Homebuilders
Vincent F. Orza, Jr., Chairman and CEO of Eateries, Inc.
Guy Oseary, Copartner and CEO of Maverick Recording Company
Charlotte VM Ottley, President and CEO of C. Ottley Strategies, Ltd. (COS)
Herbert Pardes, MD, President and CEO of New York–Presbyterian Hospital
Richard D. Parsons, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Inc.
Jerry Perenchio, Chairman and CEO of Univision Communications, Inc.
Peter J. Pestillo, Chairman and CEO of Visteon Corporation
Frederick Warburg Peters, President of Warburg Realty Partnership, Ltd.
James Pignatelli, Chairman, President, and CEO of UniSource Energy Corporation
Charles P. Pizzi, President and CEO of Tasty Baking Co.
Steven Plochocki, CEO of InSight Health Corporation
Ernesta G. Procope, President of EG Bowman Company, Inc.
Roxanne Quimby, President of Burt’s Bees
Rich Reese, President and CEO of Jim Beam Brands Worldwide, Inc.
Jerry M. Reinsdorf, Chairman of Chicago White Sox and Chicago Bulls
Peter G. Riguardi, President of the New York region of Jones Lang LaSalle
Richard Romanoff, CEO and President of Nebraskaland
Peter J. Rose, Chairman and CEO of Expeditors International of Washington, Inc.
Laurie Scala, President of Clean Water Technologies, Inc.
Joel A. Schwartz, President of Benihana Inc.
Tim Sear, Chairman, President, and CEO of Alcon, Inc. and Alcon Laboratories, Inc.
Ivan Seidenberg, Chairman and CEO of Verizon
R. Scot Sellers, Chairman and CEO of Archstone Smith
Robert E. Selsam, Senior Vice President of Boston Properties
Mayo A. Shattuck III, Chairman, President, and CEO of Constellation Energy Group
Stephen B. Siegel, Chairman and CEO of Insignia/ESG Inc.
Henry R. Silverman, Chairman, President, and CEO of Cendant Corporation
Larry A. Silverstein, President of Silverstein Properties
Irina Simmons, President and Treasurer of EMC Corporation
Del Smith, Founder and Chairman of Evergreen International Aviation, Inc.
Frederick W. Smith, Chairman and CEO of FedEx Corporation
Robin B. Smith, Chairman of Publishers Clearing House
Carmine N. Stella, President and CEO of Capital Beverage Corporation DBA Diversified Distributors Network
Thomas G. Stemberg, Chairman of Staples, Inc.
John J. Stollenwerk, President of Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corporation
Thomas C. Sullivan, Chairman of RPM International Inc.
William H. Swanson, CEO and President of Raytheon Company
Patrice Tanaka, CEO and Creative Director of Patrice Tanaka & Company, Inc.
W. R. Timken, Jr, Chairman of The Timken Company
James S. Tisch, CEO of Loews Corporation
Preston Robert Tisch, Co-Chairman of Loews Corporation and Chairman and Co-CEO of New York Football Giants
Robert I. Toll, Chairman and CEO of Toll Brothers
John M. Trani, Chairman and CEO of The Stanley Works
William F. Tyree, President of The Tyree Organization
Charles J. Urstadt, Chairman and CEO of Urstadt Biddle Properties
Jack Valenti, President and CEO of Motion Picture Association of America, Inc.
Lillian Vernon, Founding Chairman of the Lillian Vernon Catalogs and www.lillianvernon.com
Alberto Vilar, Founder and President of Amerindo Investment Advisors Inc.
Seth Waugh, CEO of Deutsche Bank America
John H. Williams, Jr., Vice Chairman of Stein Mart
Dale Winston, Chairwoman and CEO of Battalia Winston International
George Zimmer, CEO of Men’s Wearhouse
About the Author
Also by Donald J. Trump
Copyright
To my parents, Mary and Fred Trump
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank all the contributors to this book for their time and expertise. I am very grateful for your enthusiasm for this project from the onset and know you will be pleased with the results.
My special thanks to Norma Foerderer, who has coordinated this venture, watched over the development, and has made it a pleasure all the way for everyone involved. Also, thanks to Bernard Diamond, General Counsel at The Trump Organization, for his invaluable assistance.
THE
WAY
TO THE
TOP
Introduction
DONALD J. TRUMP
You can’t know it all. No matter how smart you are, no matter how comprehensive your education, no matter how wide-ranging your experience, there’s simply no way to acquire all the wisdom you need to make your business thrive.
So I asked the brightest, most successful businessmen and women I know—and some I don’t know—what was the best business advice they have ever received. I decided to pose the question to people who run both large and small companies. After all, it’s definitely not the big guys who have cornered the market in business smarts. Indeed, to run a small company in America takes as much—perhaps more—work, intelligence, and perseverance than it takes to be a Fortune 500 CEO with more resources at his or her disposal.
I was both pleased and humbled by the depth and thoughtfulness of the responses I received. Barbara Berger, President of her family-run business Food City Markets, gave a seemingly dark warning as the best business advice she ever received: The sun doesn’t shine forever. Anyone who’s ever been in business needs to heed Barbara’s words, because every business has its dark days, and you need to be prepared for that. Knowing that this is part of the life of every company is vital to overcoming the inevitable problems and disasters that businesses face and surviving to see the sun again.
From Jim Cantalupo, Chairman and CEO of the McDonald’s Corporation, comes this: Strive to satisfy the customer. That essential pearl of wisdom, so obvious, but often forgotten, was given to Jim by Ray Kroc, McDonald’s founder.
Terry J. Lundgren, President, CEO, and Director of Federated Department Stores, offers advice as basic as it is often ignored: Bloom where you are planted. As much as we would all like to begin our career in the executive suite, nobody starts out there. And the best way—the only way—to get to the top is to do the best that you can in what you are doing right now.
I could go on and on summarizing what the contributors to this book have written because it’s such fascinating and important business advice. But I want to add something else before I let the show begin: there is no substitute for experience. None. But experience comes in two different flavors: your own and the experience of others. Most people can learn from their own experiences quite well, but many people simply ignore the experiences and lessons of others. This is foolish. If you rely entirely on learning from your own mistakes, it’s inevitable that you will make too many, possibly disastrous, mistakes. Pay attention, people! Learn from those around you. There’s no excuse for making the same mistakes that others have made. If you do, it’s your own fault and you should expect no sympathy, no compassion.
The other side of this coin, however, is that you can benefit from others’ wisdom. It’s not just the mistakes that people in business have made that are valuable, it’s the good decisions, the inspiration, the insights and revelations that people in business have to offer. Watch, listen, and learn. You can’t know it all yourself—anyone who thinks that they do is destined for mediocrity.
Let me offer my sincere thanks to everyone who took the time to contribute to The Way to the Top. In this book you’ll find all sorts of wisdom. Learning from the mistakes others have made will help keep you out of trouble; the good lessons—the best business advice—will propel you toward great success.
George ABERCROMBIE
President and CEO of Roche North American Pharmaceuticals Operations
I’ve been very fortunate to have worked with prescription drug products for my entire career, products that make a real difference in the lives of hundreds of millio
ns of mothers, fathers, grandparents, children, and friends around the world. In my mind, there aren’t many other businesspeople that can make such a claim.
After working as a pharmacist in North Carolina, I began my career in the pharmaceuticals industry as a sales representative. As I started out calling on physicians and other health care providers, discussing the efficacy and safety of our products, I was given a simple yet powerful piece of advice that has guided my thinking about this business ever since: sell the medicines as if they would be used by my family, my friends, or myself. This meant explaining the drug’s side effects in as much detail as its benefits, resisting the urge to sugarcoat the drug’s value in order to drum up sales. I would give health care providers all the information they would need to make the best choices for their patients. To this day, the humanity of each patient guides me in my work.
Put yourself in the customer’s shoes
Adam M. ARON
Chairman and CEO of Vail Resorts, Inc.
As much as possible, deal only with good and honorable people. If you deal with good people, you won’t need a contract, and if you are dealing with bad people, no contract can protect you.
Don’t worry about contracts
Gerard J. ARPEY
President and CEO of American Airlines
Right after I had been named Chief Financial Officer of AMR Corporation, former AMR Chairman and CEO Al Casey gave me this guideline: “Borrow money when you can, not when you need to.” Without a doubt, it was the soundest piece of business advice ever given to me.
Be leery of loans
Diane N. BARK
President of DHB Financial Services, Inc.
I’ve really had to learn everything by doing it the hard way, without the benefit of any business advice. Sometimes I think that’s what makes a person successful. Making mistakes gives one a great opportunity to grow and learn.
If there is any advice that I wish I had gotten, it would have been this: be passionate about your work because it will make your life so much more enjoyable in the long run. Don’t do anything just because it will make you a lot of money. Most of all, listen to your heart and your mind and they will guide you in the right direction.