Succeeding with What You Have (Life-Changing Classics

by Charles Schwab, Charlie Jones (Narrator)

CHARLES M. SCHWAB (1862-1939), who became president of Carnegie Steel at age 35, was Andrew Carnegie's right hand man and was also one-time president of U.S. Steel and Bethlehem Steel. This essay by one of the country's top millionaire businessmen shares his secrets of success. Schwab had a deep appreciation for the common, dedicated working man and he gave the power to succeed to any employee who was willing to pay the price. Schwab pointed out that he motivated his workers by "appeal[ing] to the American spirit of conquest in my men, the spirit of doing things better than anyone has ever done them before."

"In that time it has been my good fortune to watch most of the present leaders rise from the ranks, ascend step by step to places of power. These men, I am convinced, are not natural prodigies. They won out by using normal brains to think beyond their manifest daily duty."

Charles Schwab

Genres: Biography

Audio CD

First published October 28, 2005

Reviews

[Darian Onaciu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Although my version of the book has 54 pages, this should be considered at most an essay because of its palm-sized format and large letters.

It praises hard work above all else as the key to success but the premise is you should do it harder than anyone else and only after you've achieved success (money) you can dedicate your time to other activities.
Put into context: late 1800 - early 1900 in the manufacturing business this approach makes sense.
However if you apply a bit of logic to it: the bar of working hard is always compared to the peers and if they start working harder you will work harder and so on, until a threshold is reached which becomes the new standard so that if everyone works super hard in your group but the comparison is still intra-group, all are just working according to the expected standard.

In no way am I trying to discredit hard work - I also believe that being fully dedicated to what you do can bring happiness if you enjoy what you're doing and the more positive reinforcement you get for performing the better you get and the more you'll like it. I'm just saying that in today's context there are more variables to take into consideration as life grew more complex.

I liked the 'book' as it provides a short glimpse into USA's past and reflects the views of the era along with several nuggets of useful info.

[M.Mujtaba · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by experienced of a man who shows the importance of being polite, hard working, giving loyalty to your employer, respecting your senior, behaving rightly towards employees... I really enjoyed reading this book.

[Daniel Wolfert · Rating 5 out of 5]

A small gem that I am always glad to see on my shelf. It is great for perspective and working hard. This is a book about being an honest man when it comes to doing a job that is being paid for by someone else.

[Greg Kulawik · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly inspiring and containing many useful and practical tips.

[Tanner Thetford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quick read. Will reference. Worth every bit of the $2.50

[Ximena FT · Rating 4 out of 5]

Easygoing pamphlet. Good old hard working values. Some ideas are outdated, as is to be expected, but other principles remain valuable, especially in this tech enabled and social media addicted society. Hard work, kindness, sharing of profits, is always a good policy.

[Charles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and also to sweet

[Nora Olmo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Business people should read his book. Treat your employees with respect— you will build them and your business you need each other..

[Jeremy Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you have personality, cherish it; if you have not, cultivate it. For personality can be cultivated, although the task is not easy.

[Ebook Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, the e-book version can be found at:
https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/succ...