If you aspire to be good at anything, to really excel — including as a CEO — then you better learn how to say “Goodbye, y’all,” as you will be saying it a lot.
Girl whispering to guy, “Look you’re cute as a Labrador puppy, and you have great utility, but I have places to go and people to meet on the road to excellence, so this is goodbye, stud muffin.”
Think of excellence as being a mountain. As you near the top, the air is rarified, the pathway more treacherous, the successful climbers fewer, and that is life. As my billionaire pal Taylor Swift says, “Deal.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Big Red Car — you are no pal of mine, you lying bucket of bolts.”
Come on, babe, play along. You’re making me look bad here.
Who you ask?
1. The kids you grew up with who did not try to excel academically in college? “Goodbye, y’all!”
2. The kids who wanted to smoke weed and get blackout drunk? “Goodbye, y’all.”
3. The folks looking to take the short cut to the pay window, the ones who were not prepared to do the hard work? “Goodbye, y’all.”
4. The dumbasses who believe everything they read on the Internet and fail to harness their skepticism to suss out the truth? “Goodbye, y’all.”
5. The losers who majored in women’s studies? “Goodbye, y’all.”
6. The social media junkies? “Goodbye, y’all.”
7. The ones who think the world owes them a living and are entitled to success (many of whom are currently living in their Momma’s basement)? “Goodbye, y’all.”
“Wow, Mom makes great hot chocolate.” Pajama Boy
Yes and no, dear reader. Sure there’s only one CEO, only one visionary, one leader — so in that context it is lonely but everybody laughs at your bad jokes — but you will make friends amongst those similarly situated.
One of the my most productive and effective initiatives/communities was joining Young Presidents Organization. YPO was open to persons who were CEOs/President of companies with some significant level of revenue and employees.
Current YPO requirements are:
Age: under 45 (used to be 40 in my day)
Title: President, CEO, Chairperson of the Board, Managing Director, Managing Partner, or Equivalent title
Employees: 50 full time or 15 full time with a $2,500,000 payroll
Revenue: $15,000,000 or enterprise value of $25,000,000
This is not startup world; this is small to medium size companies making a profit and paying taxes. Michael Dell was in my YPO chapter as were two other future billionaires.
Part of YPO is something called “Forum” which is a tight knit secretive circle of friends who meet in a secure environment to discuss highly sensitive and personal matters.
What happens in Forum, stays in Forum.
It was one of the greatest confidence builders of my business career for two reasons: I got some great advice with a scholarship rather than at full tuition; and, I realized I was not nearly as bad a CEO as I might have thought.
It was very useful; I learned a lot.
OK, fine, dear reader.
If you want to be a leader, pursue excellence, catch the brass ring, or wander around at the pay window, then you will have to learn how to say “Goodbye, y’all” to all those who are really sand in the gears or bad influences, or just don’t have the bit in their teeth, or who will hold you back in any way, or who won’t eat Ramen noodles for every meal.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.
Texas wins it, but Georgia is the best team in the country. Texas beats Alabama for a second time. What Georgia did to Florida State — 63-3 with the second string playing the second half — would be felony violence in many countries.
Is this a great country or what?
