Search THE READING ROOM

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

He has been blind since age 10, but the company he founded generates revenues worth millions of dollars

How did Herb Greenberg, now 84, do it?


Read this feature on the newly redesigned website of Fortune magazine (which, by the way, has consistently been publishing high-quality writing) and learn more about this phenomenal man who was once unable to get a job but who now teaches companies how to hire:

Believing in the Power of Potential

When Herb Greenberg, with all that experience under his belt, offers advice, it make sense to listen carefully. Here are some gems from the interview:
  • Seventy percent of workers are in jobs to make a living; they don’t love what they’re doing. We say, “Let’s find out what you love doing, then get you the training to do it.”
  • Hiring is a lot better than it used to be in terms of discriminating against physical handicaps, race, and gender. But there are still elements of discrimination. For example, why would an inability to walk affect the ability to answer a phone? Forget the disability. Grab the ability, and ride it to death.
  • Ask references more than just “Did he do the job well?” Ask “What is he like?” and “How’d he work with people?” You can always teach skills. You can’t train attitude.
ALSO READ, in the same issue, a top-class news feature on Patek Philippe, the 175-year-old Swiss watchmaker: "Patek Philippe crafts its future". And this absolutely fascinating story of a unique power couple: Both husband and wife are CEOs of billion-dollar companies; the husband's firm is situated on the U.S. West Coast, the wife's on the East Coast. How did they get where they are today? And how do they make their marriage work? Answers to these and other questions can be found here: "Power couple: John and Tamara Lundgren’s merger of equals".

ADDITIONAL READING: "Good ideas and good writing need to be backed up by good design".

No comments:

Post a Comment