Business View Caribbean | May 2016

100 May 2016 - Business View Caribbean Business View Caribbean - May 2016 101 with a laundry list of principles, or a menu of pithy say- ings, or a mish-mash of equally ambiguous bromides. In fact, quite often, success comes almost as an after- thought. That is not to suggest that hard work, focus, and forward thinking are not its handmaidens. It’s just that, many times, the successful businessperson who winds up successful finds him or herself looking back- wards, simply to notice a time, an incident, or a situa- tion that has changed the paradigm and launched them on their own particular road to greatness. Recently, BVM posed the following question to several company founders, presidents, general managers, and CEOs from many different industries and sectors, ask- ing them to take a glance at the road they’ve been on – just to see if there was a signpost there that gave them the precise direction to follow: “Can you point to a defining moment in your life or career that you feel had the biggest impact on your success?” The answers we received were all very revealing. And furthermore, they suggest, as we had anticipated, that everyone does, indeed, take his or her own path to suc- cess. Herein are ten responses to the question – all dif- ferent, all personal, and all worthy of reflection: “For me, it was the knowledge that I acquired through TOP TEN ROADS TO SUCCESS Shakespeare once wrote: “Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon them.” In the world of business, though, very few are born great or successful. Yes, some people are lucky enough to have been blessed with a range of incipient talents that may later help them achieve a certain level of proficiency, but unlike the kings and queens of past ages, there are no guarantees made in the cradle. Regarding having greatness thrust upon oneself: it’s true that some businesses are generational, and those who are fortunate enough to inherit an ongoing enter- prise may, indeed, have a leg up on the competition. That being said, though, there are still no guarantees there, either. History is laden with businesses that have failed when sons or daughters who took them over lacked the acumen, interest, timing, or just plain pluck of their progenitors. The unvarnished truth is that greatness in business is almost always achieved. And it is just as true that there are no sure-fire methods for how that success may be accomplished, notwithstanding the many books in the business section of the local bookstore that are filled