On Sept. 1, 2001, I started a lumber company in Memphis with only $17,000 to my name. I had borrowed everything I could borrow, we were literally eating ramen noodles again, and then the terrorists flew the planes into the buildings 10 days later.
The economy just shut off. I mean, the whole world was paralyzed. So I knew I had just blown it. I was going to be broke.
Somehow we pieced together enough business to make it through, and I bought a little piece of land in the inner-city. I went to North Carolina and bought some old broken-down equipment that was dragged out of the weeds from behind big plants and paid cash for it, brought it back here, put it together, and started working with 12 common laborers. It was tenuous.
Some people think commitment is if I tell you I’m going to be somewhere at 10 a.m. and I show up at 10 a.m. Some people think commitment is working my eight hours. I think of commitment as a whole different thing. I think the greatest measure of the success of a leader is the actions of the followers. And so if the followers are doing well, all the followers are acting right, then I’ll show you good leadership. If the followers aren’t doing well or acting right, I’ll show you crap leadership.
Sam Quinn was one of my 12 followers who became a leader.
He was almost 40 at the time, and most common
