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4Business Basics

The best job lessons I ever learned

The San Francisco Chronicle Examiner recently called me to participate in a story on “What job taught you the most lessons?” I had 100 words or less, which is pretty tough, especially for someone like me.

I had to think about that for a while since I’ve only had a couple jobs in my adult life. My first job out of college was for another envelope company, where I toiled for nearly five years. I learned plenty in that job, of course, but most significantly, that I wanted to own my own company. In 1959 I bought a failing envelope company, and the rest is history. I learn something new in this job every day.

After giving it some thought, I realized that the job that taught me the most was possibly when my father, who headed the Associated Press Bureau in St. Paul, Minnesota, encouraged me to sign up for a paper route at age 10. I learned many valuable lessons at an early age.

Here are some of the lessons I remember learning:

• Hard work. Seven days a week, I had to get up at 4 a.m. when it was pitch dark and possibly snowing or raining, and deliver my papers by 6 a.m. There were no days off. And nine months of the year I had school to look forward to after my route. Child labor laws would probably prohibit this now, but I’m pretty sure it didn’t hurt me.
• Focus. I knew I had to get up early every morning, so I knew I had to get my homework done and get to bed early. I’ve always felt that if you put your mind to it, you can do ...