CHARACTER
The man who said, “I would rather be right than president,” expressed in seven short words what some other statesmen have required volumes to express—and have done it with less clearness. He expressed to the world that he was a man of character and that he placed above all other things, even the greatest honor the country can give, the importance of holding to a principle of right he had set for himself.
In speaking of business character we mean the sum total of all those uplifting qualities of honesty, ambition, courage, loyalty, courtesy, enthusiasm, and a dozen others that go to make up the moral fiber of a man. Bring these all together, or as many of them as the individual may have, and you get a product which is that man’s character. There were times in the pioneer days of the United States when it was possible for a business man to “shade” some of his dealings and still retain his position among his associates. Nathaniel Drew, who was a financial power a few generations ago, was one of the first men to practice stock watering. Driving his cattle from upper New York State to the wholesale market in New York City, he very carefully provided that they should be given no water to drink until about ready to enter the market. Just before being weighed-in, the thirsty animals were given water to their fullest desire. The result was that Drew collected on “watered stock,” and was considered clever.
But those days have passed. No business or any other enterprise can hope to be permanently successful unless it is built upon character. Time was when the traveling salesman could go out on the road with a trunk half filled with samples and the other half filled with cigars and booze. But those days have passed too. Today, with the traveling salesman, it is a matter of open competition on the basis of the worth of the goods plus the service of the salesman. Get right on these factors that make for character—courtesy, ambition, honesty, and the like. Only then will you naturally improve personality and become a real salesman.