What drives an
entrepreneur- In this excerpt from his autobiography
Half Luck & Half Brains, Memphian Kemmons
Wilson reveals the character traits and business
savvy that have made him a legend in American
business. At a spring banquet in Pittsburgh in
1982, Kemmons Wilson received an award that brought
back memories of the glory days with Holiday Inn.
Dinah Shore presented Kemmons with the award from
Junior Achievement and Fortune magazine honoring
him for induction in the Hall of Fame for U.S.
Business Leadership.
In an article profiling Kemmons and other Hall
of Fame inductees that year,
Fortune magazine wrote, "In every age, some
businessmen recognize the opportunity of a lifetime
where others see nothing. Whether one calls them
mavericks, plungers, visionaries or geniuses,
the crucial fact is that such people are rare."
With Holiday Inn, it said, Kemmons Wilson and
Wallace Johnson "smashed the competition,
transformed the industry, and built the
world's largest lodging chain."
When Kemmons was a subject of Sybervision System's
video Profiles of Achievement a few years later,
it asserted that one can trace Kemmons' success
through several "key elements" that
Sybervision considers common to all leaders and
achievers. The profile concluded that Kemmons
is a model of achievement we can all learn from
because:
- Since childhood, Kemmons has had a strong sense
of purpose - never to be hungry again. That is
what drove him to work so hard throughout his
life. As a means to that end, he became a leader,
not for the sake of leading, but to fulfill his
purpose.
- Another key factor is his persistence. From
the days when he first peddled The Saturday Evening
Post as a youngster, through his founding of Holiday
Inn, up to his creation of Wilson World and Orange
Lake, he has stuck to his goals.
- Knowing his strengths and weaknesses is one
of Kemmons' strongest characteristics. He freely
admits that he did not have a good education.
But he makes up for it by positioning the right
people around him. Kemmons says finding those
key people has been critical to his success.
- Kemmons has an insatiable curiosity about the
way people live and work. He credits that curiosity
for some of his best and most valuable ideas.
- Above all, Kemmons really loves his work. He
says he is the happiest man who ever lived. And
he is quick to remind us, if you are doing things
that you like, it's really not work.
- Kemmons has a natural talent to attract, motivate
and unite people toward a common goal by using
a charisma to lead. As a youngster, he soon had
10 boys selling magazines for him. And today,
he energizes his forces with a zeal that makes
each individual realize they are an integral part
of the organization.
- Kemmons' ability to interact with people, his
people sense, is an obvious trait. He realizes
that leadership is a human skill. He thoroughly
enjoys people.
- When it comes to taking risks, Kemmons is a
high-roller. For instance, when Holiday Inn was
first trying to finance a computerized reservation
system, Kemmons had to sign for the $8 million
loan personally. He knew the computer world would
be critical to his vision of the future of hotels.
He says he could have lost everything, but he
was not afraid. Looking back, Kemmons remembers
that day as the turning point when Holiday Inn
took control of its destiny.
- Kemmons' ability to take risks stems from a
fail-safe attitude that views a momentary setback
not as a mistake but as a long-term learning experience.
The fact is, Kemmons does not believe in failure
at work or at play.
- Kemmons' winning ways extend to his ability
to recognize a need and then make a profit from
it. When the nation's highway system was being
built in the 1950s, Kemmons realized that traveling
families needed affordable hotels with a name
they could trust.
- Behind all of Kemmons' creations, there is a
remarkable common sense. He is quick to compare
his own experiences with those of others, cross-referencing
and evaluating information to stay in touch and
deal with shifting circumstances.
- When it comes to meaning, family is the center
of Kemmons' life. As patriarch of 26-member family,
he thrives on the give and take and heartfelt
rewards of developing warm and lasting relationships.
Always Hustling:
On another television special in the 1980s called
Living Legends, Kemmons credited his success to
a sense of self confidence instilled by his mother.
He said he gets so many great ideas because "I
guess I am probably the most curious guy you ever
knew. I want to know what makes everything work.
I was always hustling, always trying to find a
way to make a dollar."
He said the success he has known is still possible
for young people today: "Absolutely, it is
just as possible as it was back in my day. But
you've got to give up a lot of things. You've
got to give up the 40-hour-a-week job that you
want. You've got to work after you get through
with that job and go on somewhere and make some
money for yourself. Anybody can be a successful
entrepreneur if you work hard enough. You can
do anything if you just work hard. Most people
aren't willing to work hard enough."
Kemmons said he never had much faith in relying
on business consultants. "A consultant is
a man who knows a hundred ways to make love but
doesn't know any women. I think you have to have
your own ideas, believe in your own judgment and
go ahead. I'd rather trust my judgment than anybody
I know."
He spelled out his philosophy of leadership by
example: "I am always leading. I feel the
boss has got to lead. I never ask anybody to do
anything I wouldn't do myself."
Genius and Heart:
In 1982, a roast of Kemmons was held at the Holiday
Inn Rivermont in Memphis as a fundraiser for the
Big Brothers/Big Sisters organization. Many friends
and longtime associates told tales of Kemmons'
that highlighted his genius and his heart, as
well as his stubbornness and peculiarities - secrets
of greatness revealed on that evening to entertain
as well as illuminate.
John Martin, Kemmons' longtime attorney, recalled
the time Kemmons wanted to put in a commercial
development next to the exclusive Chickasaw Gardens
residential area. Martin warned Kemmons he would
have opposition from Chickasaw Gardens residents
in the hearing before the zoning board over the
matter. Kemmons said he wouldn't, because he was
bringing busloads of his own supporters early
to fill up the meeting room so there would be
no space for opponents. According to Martin, it
worked so well that opponents never got anywhere
near the meeting room, and Kemmons got the vote
he wanted out of the zoning board.
Martin also said that after the trouble Kemmons
had building houses on other people's lots, it
led Kemmons to adopt his habit of asking to be
given land free for Holiday Inns. He said Kemmons
once made progress persuading the Argentine government
to give him some very choice land...until he also
asked to be given the money for building the Holiday
Inn as well.
World-Class Blooper:
Sam Phillips regaled the large crowd gathered
with the story of how Kemmons gave Sam the famous
advice to sell Elvis Presley's contract to RCA
for $35,000. "Kemmons is still my friend.
But I checked on it today, and if I had just held
onto one cotton-picking percent of Elvis on just
the records he sold at retail price list, I would
be worth $100 million without having to get up
in the morning!" Phillips cried.
Then he pulled out a recent edition of the Midnight
Globe tabloid newspaper. Among the articles "Joan
and Jackie Fight for Prince's Love" and "Thin
Thighs in 30 days," was an article Philips
wanted to tell the audience about as an example
of Kemmons' "sustaining power."
It was headlined "If You Think You Have Goofed
Consider These World-Shaking Bloopers." No.
1 on its list was "The college admission
director who turned down Albert Einstein on the
grounds that he showed no promise." No. 2
was "All 21 New York publishers who rejected
the manuscript of a Korean novel titled M*A*S*H."
And No. 3 on this list of World-Shaking Bloopers:
"Sam Phillips, the recording executive who
for $35,000 sold to RCA all future rights to a
young singer named Elvis Presley."
Cecil Humphreys, president emeritus of The University
of
Memphis, said the audience should take note of
Kemmons' reputation as an international diplomat.
When Marrakech Holiday Inn was dedicated, Humphreys
said, the ceremony was conducted in front of the
Holiday Inn, with top officials from the government,
Holiday Inn and Occidental Petroleum, a partner
in the hotel. Within five minutes after the speeches
began, Kemmons was sound asleep and had to awakened
by Dorothy (Wilson's wife) when it was his time
to speak. "I'm sure this greatly aided relations
with the government," Humphreys said.
"Scientific" Research:
George Falls, who was then vice president for
government relations at Holiday Inn, said he was
very comfortable participating in the fundraiser
for Big Brothers/Big Sisters: "Working for
a volunteer organization reminds me of working
for Kemmons - and the pay is approximately the
same. Bill Walton used to call Kemmons and say
'So-and-so needs a raise.' Kemmons would say,
'Give him a title.' Bill would say, 'He's already
up to senior vice president.' And Kemmons would
say, 'Well, think up a new one, or start him over.'"
Falls...also detailed an example of Kemmons' "scientific
research methods." He recalled once, during
a meeting, someone from the advertising department
at Holiday Inn said that they wanted to buy time
on the Huntley-Brinkley News Show, then the dominant
evening news program on television. Kemmons said,
"Have you lost your minds- Nobody in the
world we'd want to reach gets home from work early
enough to watch the 5:30 news, and I can prove
it. How many people in this room get home to watch
the 5:30 news- "
Falls said, "Well if you think a hand went
up, you are dead wrong, If Kemmons had asked if
anyone got home by 7, not a hand would have gone
up. So that was the end of the advertising plan
for Huntley-Brinkley."
Memphis real-estate developer Philip Belz...told
the story of how Kemmons once ordered all the
Holiday Inn franchise owners to install trampolines,
because he though they were great recreation.
Belz said Kemmons told the franchisees, "Don't
worry about the insurance. Nobody can get hurt,
especially if you build them level with the ground."
Many of the franchisees grumbled about it, but
the trampoline program went ahead because Kemmons
insisted upon it.
"Well, one of the trampolines was installed
just outside Kemmons' office at Holiday City.
And one day, as chance would have it, a young
man jumping on the trampoline came crashing through
Kemmons window in the middle of a business meeting.
The young man recovered, but the trampoline program
did not. You would have though there was a gravediggers'
convention at all the Holiday Inns the way they
were covering up the trampolines the next day,"
Belz said.
Get On The Plane:
Kemmons' dearest partner, Wallace Johnson, concluded
the roasting. He recounted the oft-told story
about Kemmons coming over to see him in 1953 to
persuade Wallace to become his partner and take
Holiday Inns national. Wallace claimed the letters
he sent out to home builders around the country
said, "We invite you to come to Memphis,
and we will show you how to make a million dollars.
Don't ask any questions; just get on the next
plane."
Wallace said Kemmons was the first person he ever
met who shared Wallace's habit of always saying
"I love you" to his wife before hanging
up at the end of every phone call. He said that
as they traveled around for Holiday Inn, whenever
Kemmons called home, he always would say "I
love you" to each of his children and to
his mother.
Wallace also told one of his favorite yams, about
a time Kemmons and Wallace and other Holiday Inn
executives supposedly went on a bear-hunting expedition.
When Kemmons and Wallace got up the next morning,
the others told them they had already been hunting.
So Kemmons and Wallace went out by themselves.
They spotted a bear and shot at it, but both missed
and the bear began chasing them.
Kemmons and Wallace ran back to the cabin and
charged through the front door, leaving it open
as the bear pursued close behind. Then they ran
out the back door and Kemmons slammed it shut,
yelling back to the other executives still inside,
"You boys skin that one! We'll go get another
one."
KEMMONS WILSON'S 20 TIP FOR SUCCESS:
1. Work only half a day. It makes no difference
which half - it can be either the first 12 hours
or the last 12 hours.
2. Work is the master key that opens the door
to all opportunities.
3. Mental attitude plays a far more important
role in a person's success or failure than mental
capacity.
4. Remember that we all climb the ladder of success
one step at a time.
5. There are two ways to get to the top of an
oak tree. One way is to sit on an acorn and wait;
the other way is to climb.
6. Do not be afraid of taking a chance. Remember
that a broken watch is exactly right at least
twice every 24 hours.
7. The secret of happiness is not doing what one
likes, but in liking what one does.
8. Eliminate from your vocabulary "I don't
think I can" and substitute "I know
I can."
9. In evaluating a career, put opportunity ahead
of security.
10. Remember that success requires half luck and
half brains.
11. A person has to take risks to achieve.
12. People who take pains never to do more than
they get paid for, never get paid for anything
more than they do.
13. No job is too hard as long as you are smart
enough to find someone else to do it for you.
14. Opportunity comes often. It knocks as often
as you have an ear trained to hear it, a trained
eye to see it, a hand trained to grasp it, and
a head trained to use it.
15. You cannot procrastinate. In two days, tomorrow
will be yesterday.
16. Sell your wristwatch, and by an alarm clock.
17. A successful person realizes his personal
responsibility for self-motivation. He starts
himself because he possesses the key to his own
ignition switch.
18. Do not worry. You cannot change the past,
but you sure can ruin the present by worrying
over the future. Remember that half the things
we worry about never happen, and the other half
are going to happen anyway. So, why worry-
19. It is not how much you have but how much you
enjoy that makes happiness.
20. Believe in God and obey the Ten Commandments.
An Itch for New Things:
The Saturday Evening Post once described perpetual
entrepreneur Kemmons Wilson as "a good-natured
tiger who lives in a cloud of business ideas and
constantly itches to get into new things."
Wilson landed his first job, posing for an ad
for Sunbeam Bread, at age 5. At 6, he was already
selling copies of The Saturday Evening Post at
a nickel a copy. In addition to being a founder
of Holiday Inn, Wilson has started and/or owned
numerous businesses, including:
- Popcorn machines
- Jukebox/cigarette and pinball machines
- Movie theater/drive-in theater
- Ice cream store
- Funeral home
- Radio station (WHER, with Sam Phillips)
- Television station (WMKW)
- "Orange Crush" soft drink franchise
- Residential and commercial building firm
- Real estate firm
- Insurance company
- Bank
- Lumberyard
- Ice skating rink
- Commercial catfish and bullfrog farm
- Fountain pen manufacturing firm
- Plastic products manufacturing firm
- Color photo lab
- Driving range
- Mobile home plant
- Coal, oil and gas company
- Printing company
- Automobile dealership
- Nursing home; intermediate-care hospital
- Racquet club (now Wimbleton Sportsplex)
- Country club/timeshare resort
- Interstate signs manufacturing company
- Candy and snack manufacturing company
- Airport for private aircraft
- Factory outlet malls
"I'm probably a terrible manager,"
Wilson has said. "A guy who is a good manager
has more or less a mechanical mind. I've got a
curious mind. The way l keeps from getting bored
is to do different things all the time."
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