As a young printing salesman in Little Rock, Arkansas, back in the late 1960s, I had the good fortune of working for a man by the name of Bert Parke. He was president of a printing company and very active in the community. I had spent the previous seven years in production with another printer, and had learned the business well. I had also inherited my father’s gift of gab, and Bert took a liking to me. Of course, it did not hurt that I was selling a lot of printing and earning his company a good deal of money.
Over the next several months, I became active in the Little Rock Chamber of Commerce and the Pulaski County United Way. I was also elected to the Pulaski County Quorum Court, where I served on the Budget Committee. Back then, the Little Rock Chamber went on an annual “good will” tour to other cities, and Bert took me along. We were hosted by their chamber members, given the red-carpet treatment, met community leaders and learned a good deal about the history and economy of each city. We also picked up some great ideas we could bring back home. During the years I worked for Bert, we went to San Antonio, Houston and Denver.
Each of these trips was fantastic, and as a young 30-year-old, I received a valuable education. The first two trips to San Antonio and Houston were great, as was our last trip to Denver, Colorado. There were countless highlights on this trip, including a trip to the Loveland Ski School, where I never quite mastered the technique. I found out one thing: when you point those ski tips downhill, you had better be ready to go. We stayed in the Brown Palace Hotel, and my room was on the 15th floor looking down on the gold dome of the Colorado State Capitol. I had met Gov. John Love at a reception the second evening we were there.
As a quick aside, something happened on this trip that I will never forget. One evening about 9 p.m., a member of the staff of the Little Rock Chamber invited me to go down to the bar on the bottom floor and have a drink. While I am not a drinker and never have been, I went along just to have a chance to spend some time with him. Soon after we arrived, a lady came up to me and asked me to buy her a drink. I was caught off guard and so I said, “Sorry, I can’t buy you a drink because I am a preacher,” which was not true of course. Well, the next morning at the big breakfast, with more than 400 people in the room, they started the program and paused for the invocation. Who do you think they called on to do this? It served me right.
If you are wondering why I have taken the time to share these personal experiences, it is because it was here that I learned something special: the most important and successful people — and that’s who we had from the Little Rock business community — were also the nicest people you would ever meet. I learned that these people would help you if you needed help. Rather than going out on the town with some of the others, I preferred to sit around the hotel lobby and just visit with some of these men. On these trips I learned to be comfortable around top executives and was never again intimidated at the thought of making a sales call on any of them. This insight helped me in my speaking career as well.
In time, I got to know many other top people in my community and they became my mentors. The message here is simple: It is very important from whom we learn, and to be the best, we must learn from the best, regardless of the field or career. My friend, who are your mentors? Hope you will think about what I have been sharing. This information can be found in my new book.
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(Editor’s Note: Jim Davidson’s new book, “Your Future Begins Today” is destined to become a New York Times Best Seller. Get your copy at www.jimdavidsonnsc.com. He is giving a good portion of book sales to begin Bookcase Literacy Projects in other communities all across the nation.)