The Joy in Business

24Bankruptcy, Cancer, and Heart Attack

• Q. Have you ever experienced challenging times?

  A. Of course you have! Everyone has. What happens next is the key.

The worst of times…. .

Steve Jobs was ousted from his company. Elon Musk topped that! Not only was he ousted as the CEO of his own company, but he was fired while on his honeymoon! Being that he was the founder of SpaceX, co-founder of Tesla, co-founder of X.com, which eventually became PayPal, and many other successful organizations, the advice here is that, if you are going to fail, fail like Elon Musk or Bill Gates, who before launching Microsoft was a Harvard dropout and co-owner of a failed business called Traf-O-Data. But driven by his passion he later built the world’s largest software company.

The Queen of England, Elizabeth II, called her “rough patch” annus horribilis in a speech to Guildhall on November 24, 1992, marking the 40th anniversary of her accession. She also said, “1992 is not a year on which I should look back with undiluted pleasure.” That’s royal-speak for the worst year ever! Windsor Castle was burning, two of her children were divorcing amid torrid scandals, and a tell-all book on Princess Diana’s tumultuous angst was released. What was to be a celebration became an “honest reflection.” Even the Queen has hard times.

In 2007–2009 when the U.S. recession hit, the Dow plummeted from 14,164 to 6,594, a more than 50% drop. I couldn’t bear to open my bank statements. Did you happen to experience any ...