CHAPTER 1

THE JOURNEY BEGINS

Just as all business starts as small business, all business leaders start asstudents. We must never lose the openness to surprise, discovery, and adventurewe had as young students.

Last Day of Class

Tony Simms was restless. At the front of the classroom, the good Professor Daviswas working hard. It was the last class session of the school year, and aheadwere finals and a full three months to do something other than sit in classes,read books, write papers, and take tests. The students in Entrepreneurship 101were ready to escape, and the good professor was trying to make a few finalpoints by summarizing the highlights of the semester's studies.

The students were unaware of the fact that their final exam would leave many ofthem with their mouths hanging open. It would be a final exam unlike any theyhad ever taken. Professor Davis wondered how it would be received.

This last class in entrepreneurship wasn't going well at all. The studentsseemed preoccupied, perhaps thinking of their summer jobs or the loomingincrease in leisure time. They were entrepreneur students after all, perhapsmore wired for action than for sitting.

Tony's mind was contemplating an old issue. He was finishing his third year atCarroll College, majoring in business, and for three years he had wondered whyhe was in school and not working full time in the family business. He was havingthose same thoughts today, even though it was the last day of class.

His mother reminded him often that it was his dad's wish that he be the first inthe family to get a college degree. So here he was, a good student, but hewanted to be somewhere else. He reminded himself of his personal commitment tomake the most of his time in school regardless of his preference to be working.But his mind wandered anyway.

Is this really what dad wanted? Mom is certainly capable of running theshow; she's been doing that successfully since dad died and was his partnerbefore the accident. But I know I could be of more help to her. I'm not surethat dad thought about this. Did he anticipate that she would double the size ofthe business? I could be working full time and taking courses on the side. Ienjoy learning, but I should be helping mom.

The sound of chalk against slate drew Tony back to attention, and he read whatProfessor Davis had just written on the board:

The Customer Is Always Right

"The business world is full of aphorisms. This statement is perhaps the mostcommon. The customer is always right. But in business school we try tolook beyond the obvious and think for ourselves. Is this statement true?"

Half a dozen hands went up.

"Simms?"

Tony wasn't surprised when Professor Davis called on him for a seemingly obviousanswer. He knew Tony was having trouble deciding on a topic for his seniorthesis, and there was the fact that Professor Davis had been a lifelong friendof his dad and was scheduled to be on that ill-fated chartered plane three yearsago for their annual fishing trip to Canada. Professor Davis's wife, Betty, gotill, and he reluctantly decided to skip the popular annual fishing trip andremain at home. Tony had a vivid memory of his dad reassuring Professor Davisand telling him, "There's always next year Rob! You take care of Betty."

"True," Tony replied after a slight pause, "and not true. Because evenif he's wrong, it accomplishes nothing to make her wrong, so he is right." Good-natured laughter filled the room at his wise use of gender.

"Clear, concise, and whimsical as always, Tony," Professor Davis said. "Care toelaborate? What happens when it's obvious to everyone that the customer iswrong?"

Tony thought about how he had seen his father and his mother handle customers atthe family chain of fitness centers.

"It's not that the customer is really always right. It's ourpredisposition that the customer is always right. It's with thatpredisposition that a good businessperson approaches every customer interaction.And if the customer turns out to be wrong, we still try to make it right."

Tony continued, "There is, of course, one big exception. The customer is notright if she or he is acting in an abusive, crude, or offensive manner with anemployee or another customer, even if he or she is right about the issue.Abusive customers we can do without because our employees are our firstcustomer."

"Spoken like someone who has spent some time in the trenches," chuckledProfessor Davis. "What does Tony mean when he says the employee is the firstcustomer? Ping?"

Ping paused, and with a quick movement of her head, she tossed her luxuriousblack hair back so that her face was fully visible, smiled, and responded,"First, I want to compliment Tony on his sensitive nature when it comes to therole of women at work. I am sure that all the women in this room deeplyappreciate his use of language ... and would like to know him better." With thatshe glanced at Tony with a faux temptress smile, and Tony turned a bright shadeof red.

Tony and Ping had known each other since grade school, and their rivalryfollowed them to college. Lately, Tony had felt completely outclassed by Ping onseveral occasions. This was one of those occasions.

Professor Davis commented quickly, "Ping. I know it's springtime, but could weget back to the point, please?"

"He means that if we want to take care of customers, we have to take care ofthose who take care of customers. I remember seeing a film about SouthwestAirlines, and the president of Southwest at the time, Colleen Barrett, was realclear about this point when she said that employees are our firstcustomer."

"Thanks, Ping. You've said it well. Our employees are our first customer," andthe good professor went on to further illustrate this point and bring the classto a...