The Cream Always Rises to the Top

By Dr. Gary Screaton Page
Copyright 2006 by Dr. Gary Screaton Page. All rights reserved

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One of the most difficult things for people to do is what someone else tells them to do.

Even when one is willing, to follow orders can be a difficult lesson for many individuals to learn. What is more, the average person increases the difficult by their sullen refusal to follow any commands at all. Or, if they do obey an order, it is with a spirit of rebellion. They not only resist, but also seem to resent, learning one of the most valuable lessons in the world of work: no one is competent to give orders who has not first learned to follow them.

You must be an employee before you can become an employer. Regrettably, many currently entering the workplace have the mistaken notion that they can “cut across lots” and omit proving themselves as employees first. With one leap, they want a position of success without first acquiring the ability to fill that position. No employer—at least not one who wants to stay in business—fills a position with an worker who has not first gone through all the subordinate positions leading to it.

A Western newspaper editor once sent to all the successful men and women in his city this question, “Why do not more of our youth succeed?”

There is much truth in this reply from one respondent, “Because too many of them are looking for white-collar jobs!” The answer was terse but to the point. Far too many people want success, but are unwilling to work for it. Yet, the chief reason for the remarkable succession of able presidents who have presided over some of our nation’s greatest corporations is that in each instance they worked their way up from the shop floors and the roadbeds of their companies to their presidencies. In short, they grew into their leadership positions through the experience they gained as they acquainted themselves with every detail of the very organizations they came to be heads.

This is the reality today! The persons of practical experience come to occupy the great positions about which we read so much. It is they, who progress to fire the minds and ambitions of youth. However, the novice worker looks at these accomplished men and women only after those in leadership have “arrived.” They forget that each and every one of them rose to the top only after many years of work in subordinate positions, which fitted them for their present positions of trust and prominence.

If you doubt this essential for a successful life, then look for a moment at the beginnings of those who occupy the positions, which you might envy today. My uncle, for example, was Vice-President of the then famous Mason Blanc department store in New Orleans. He rose to prominence, winning along the way several medals, from three different countries, for his marketing acumen. My uncle began his career as an advertising copyboy. Mark Victor Hansen and Jack Canfield sold their first Chicken Soup for the Soul books from the trunks of their cars.

Over one hundred publishers turned them down before the agreed to buy the first run of books themselves in order to get even one publisher to print it. Today, these two men have sold more books than virtually anyone in publishing history.

And, who hasn’t heard of Opra Winfrey. Her company, Harpo Productions, is one of the most successful media organizations in America. She is counted among the wealthiest and most influential people in the United States and is respected all over the world. Where did she begin? Opra started life in the Southern United States at a time when being black led to discrimination and worse. What is more, she was sexually abused and dirt poor. Yet, who among us has not heard of her? Opra is one of the most respected and influential voices in America today!

The history of American industry is replete with similar examples: the president of the New York Central Railroad was a freight clerk. And, what was the president of the great Southern Pacific system? A clerk. The president of the great United States steel trust? A laborer.

What was the president of the Western Union Telegraph Company? A telegraph operator. Who was the head of the largest publishing house in the country in the late 1800s? A newsboy. These are just a few of almost countless examples I could give.

Every one of these high achievers made his or her start at the bottom. They learned to obey orders before they gave them. That you must do if you want to succeed. Be clear, it is not a case asking “How high,” whenever someone tells you to jump. No, not that. Rather, it’s a case of honest rise from the lowest rung of the ladder to the next, and so on until you reach the highest: no more and no less!