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THE YOUNG MAN INBUSINESS The Day's Work Series THE YOUNG... It is true that a young man may not, in everycase, receive the salary his services merit,but, as a general rule, his income is

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Title: The Young Man in Business

Author: Edward W Bok

Release Date: March 3, 2010 [EBook #31494] Language: English

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THE YOUNG MAN IN

BUSINESS

The Day's Work Series

THE YOUNG

IN BUSINESS

BY

EDWARD BOK

Electrotyped and Printed by C H.

Simonds & Co.

Boston, U S A.

THE YOUNG

MAN IN BUSINESS.

A well-known New York millionairegave it as his opinion not long ago that anyyoung man possessing a good constitutionand a fair degree of intelligence mightacquire riches The statement wascriticised—literally picked to pieces—and finally adjudged as being extravagant.The figures then came out, gathered by acareful statistician, that of the young men

in business in New York City, sixty percent, were earning less than $1,000 peryear, only twenty per cent, had an income

of $2,000, and barely five per cent,commanded salaries in excess of the latterfigure The great majority of young men inNew York City—that is, between the ages

of twenty-three and thirty—were earningless than twenty dollars per week On thebasis, therefore, that a young man must beestablished in his life-profession by histhirtieth year, it can hardly be said that theaverage New York young man in business

is successful Of course, this is measuredentirely from the standpoint of income It

is true that a young man may not, in everycase, receive the salary his services merit,but, as a general rule, his income is apretty accurate indication of his capacity.Now, as every young man naturallydesires to make a business success, it is

plain from the above statement thatsomething is lacking; either theopportunities, or the capabilities in theyoung men themselves No one conversantwith the business life of any of our largecities can, it seems to me, even for asingle moment, doubt the existence ofgood chances for young men Take anylarge city as a fair example: New York,Boston, Philadelphia, or Chicago, and ineach instance there exist moreopportunities than there are young mencapable of embracing them The demand

is far in excess of the supply Positions oftrust are constantly going begging for theright kind of young men to fill them Butsuch men are not common; or, if they be,they have a most unfortunate way of hidingtheir light under a bushel, so much so that

business men cannot see even a glimmer

of its rays Let a position of any realimportance be open, and it is the mostdifficult kind of a problem to find any one

to fill it satisfactorily Business men areconstantly passing through this experience.Young men are desired in the greatmajority of positions because of theirprogressive 'ideas and capacity to endurework; in fact, "young blood," as it iscalled, is preferred in nine positions out

of every ten, nowadays

The chances for business success for anyyoung man are not wanting Theopportunities exist, plenty of them Thetrouble is that the average young man ofto-day is incapable of filling them, or, if

he be not exactly incapable (I gladly give

him the benefit of the doubt), he isunwilling to fill them, which is evenworse That exceptions can be brought up

to controvert I know, but I am dealing withthe many, not with the few

The average young man in business day is nothing more nor less than aplodder,—a mere automaton He is at hisoffice at eight or nine o'clock in themorning; is faithful in the duties heperforms; goes to luncheon at twelve, getsback at one; takes up whatever he is told

to-to do until five, and then goes home Hiswork for the day is done One day is thesame to him as another; he has a certainroutine of duties to do, and he does themday in and day out, month in and monthout His duties are regulated by the clock

As that points, so he points Verily, it istrue of him that he is the same yesterday,to-day, and forever No special fault can

be found with his work Given a particularpiece of work to do, he does it just as amachine would Such a young man, too,generally considers himself hard-worked

—often overworked and underpaid;wondering all the time why his employerdoesn't recognize his value and advancehis salary "I do everything I am told todo," he argues, "and I do it well Whatmore can I do?"

This is simply a type of a young man to

be found in thousands of offices andstores He goes to his work each day with

no definite point nor plan in view; heleaves it with nothing accomplished He is

a mere automaton Let him die, and hisposition can be filled in twenty-fourhours If he detracts nothing from hisemployer's business, he certainly addsnothing to it He never advances an idea;

is absolutely devoid of creative powers;his position remains the same after he hasbeen in it for five years as when he came

to it

Now, I would not for a moment beunderstood as belittling the value offaithfulness in an employee But, after all,faithfulness is nothing more nor less than anegative quality By faithfulness a man

may hold a position a lifetime He willkeep it just where he found it But by theexercise of this single quality he does notadd to the importance of the position anymore than he adds to his own value It isnot enough that it may be said of a youngman that he is faithful; he must besomething more The willingness andcapacity to be faithful to the smallestdetail must be there, serving only,however, as a foundation upon whichother qualities are built.

Altogether too many young men arecontent to remain in the positions in whichthey find themselves The thought ofstudying the needs of the next position justabove them never seems to enter theirminds It is possible for every young man

to rise above his position, and it makes nodifference how humble that position may

be, nor under what disadvantages he may

be placed But he must be alert He mustnot be afraid of work, and of the hardestkind of work He must study not only toplease, but he must go a step beyond It isessential, of course, that he should first ofall fill the position for which he isengaged No man can solve the problem ofbusiness before he understands therudiments of the problem itself Once therequirements of a position are understoodand mastered, then its possibilities should

be undertaken It is foolish, as some youngmen argue, that to go beyond their specialposition is impossible with theiremployers The employer never existedwho will prevent the cream of his

establishment from rising to the surface.The advance of an employee alwaysmeans the advance of the employer'sinterests An employer would rather pay ayoung man five thousand dollars a yearthan five hundred What is to the youngman's interest is much more to the interest

of his employer A five-hundred-dollarclerkship is worth just that amount andnothing more to an employer But a five-thousand-dollar man is generally worthfive times that sum to a business A youngman makes of a position exactly what hechooses: a millstone around his neck, or astepping-stone to larger success Thepossibilities lie in every position; seeingand embracing them rest with its occupant.The lowest position can be so filled as tolead up to the next and become a part of it

One position should be only the chrysalisfor the development of new strength tomaster the requirements of anotherposition above it.

The average young man is extremelyanxious to get into a business position inwhich there are what he calls "prospects"for advancement It is usually one of hisfirst questions, "What are my prospectshere?" He seems to have the notion thatthe question of his "prospects" oradvancement is one entirely in the hands

of his employer, whereas it rarely occurs

to him that it is a matter resting entirelywith himself An employer has, of course,the power of promotion, but that is all He

cannot advance a young man unless theyoung man first demonstrates that he isworthy of advancement Every positionoffers prospects; every business house has

in it the possibility of a young man'sbettering himself But it depends uponhim, first If he is of the average come-daygo-day sort, and does his work in amechanical or careless fashion, lackingthat painstaking thoroughness which is thebasis of successful work, his prospectsare naught And they will be no greaterwith one concern than with another,although he may identify himself with ascore during a year If, on the contrary, hebuckles down to work, and makes himselffelt from the moment he enters hisposition, no matter how humble that may

be, his advancement will take care of

itself An employer is very quick todiscover merit in an employee, and if ayoung man is fitted to occupy a higherposition in the house than he is filling, itwill not be long before he is promoted.There are, of course, instances where thebest work that a young man can do goesfor nothing and fails of rightfulappreciation, and where such a condition

is discovered, of course the young manmust change the condition and go wherehis services will receive properrecognition and value But this happensonly in a very small minority of cases Inthe vast majority of cases where the cry ofinappreciation is heard, it is generally thefact that the crier is unworthy of more than

he receives

No employer can tell a young man justwhat his prospects are That is for theyoung man himself to demonstrate Hemust show first what is in him, and then hewill discover for himself what hisprospects are Because so many youngmen stand, still does not prove thatemployers are unwilling to advance them,but simply shows that the great run ofyoung men do not possess those qualitieswhich entitle them to advancement Thereare exceptional cases, of course; but as arule a man gets in this world about what

he is worth, or not very far from it There

is not by any means as much injustice done

by the employer to the employee asappears on the surface Leaving aside allquestion of principle, it would beextremely poor policy for a business man

to keep in a minor position a young manwho, if promoted, would expand and makemore money for the house.

And right here a word or two mayperhaps be fitly said about the element of

"luck" entering into business advancement

It is undeniable that there are thousands ofyoung men who believe that success inbusiness is nothing else than what theycall "luck." The young men who forgeahead are, in their estimation, simply thelucky ones, who have had influence ofsome sort or other to push them along.When a young man gets into that frame ofmind which makes him believe that "luck"

is the one and only thing which can helphim along, or that it is even an element inbusiness, it may be safely said that he isdoomed to failure The only semblance to

"influence" there is in business is foundwhere, through a friendly word, a chance

is opened to a young man But the onlything that "influence" can do begins andends with an opportunity The strongestinfluence that can be exerted in a youngman's behalf counts for very little if he isfound to be incapable of embracing thatchance And so far as "luck" is concerned,there is no such thing in a young man's life

or his business success The only luckyyoung man is he who has a soundconstitution, with good sense to preserveit; who knows some trade or professionthoroughly or is willing to learn it and

sacrifice everything to its learning; wholoves his work and has industry enough topersevere in it; who appreciates thenecessity of self-restraint in all things, andwho tempers his social life to those habitswhich refresh and not impair hisconstitution That is luck,—the luck ofhaving common sense That is the onlyluck there is,—the only luck worth having;and it is something which every right-minded young man may have if he goesabout it the right way.

Things in this world never just happen.There is always a reason for everything

So with success It is not the result of luck;

it is not a thing of chance It comes to menonly because they work hard andintelligently for it, and along legitimate

Now a word about a young man's salary

It is human nature to wish to make all themoney we honestly can: to get just as large

a return for our services as possible.There is no qualifying that statement, and

as most of the comforts of this life are hadthrough the possession of sufficientmoney, it is perfectly natural that thesubject of what we earn should beprominent in our minds But too manyyoung men put the cart before the horse inthis question of salary It is their firstconsideration They are constantly askingwhat salaries are paid in differentbusiness callings, and whether this

profession or that trade is more financiallyproductive The question seems to enterinto their deliberations as a qualifyingfactor as to whether they shall enter acertain trade or profession I never couldquite see the point of this nor the reasonfor it Of what significance to you or to meare the salaries which are paid to others?They signify nothing If the highest salarypaid to the foremost men in a certainprofession is $10,000 per year, what doesthat fact prove? There is no obstacle tosome one's else going into that sameprofession and earning $25,000 The firstconsideration, when a young man thinks ofgoing into business, is not which specialtrade or profession is most profitable, butwhich particular line he is most interested

in and best fitted for What matters it to a

man that fortunes are made in the law if hehas absolutely no taste or ability for thatprofession? Of what value is it to a youngman who loves mechanical engineering toknow that there are doctors who earnlarge incomes? What difference do theproductive possibilities of any line ofwork make to us if we are not by naturefitted for that work?

When a young man is always thinking ofthe salary he is receiving, or the salary he

"ought to get," he gives pretty good proofthat he is not of a very superior make Theright sort of a young fellow doesn't ever-lastingly concern himself about salary.Ability commands income But a youngman must start with ability, not withsalary That takes care of itself

Now, a substantial business successmeans several things It calls, in the firstplace, for concentration There is no truthmore potent than that which tells us wecannot serve God and Mammon Nor canany young man successfully serve twobusiness interests, no matter how closelyallied; in fact, the more closely theinterests the more dangerous are they Thehuman mind is capable of just so muchclear thought, and generally it does notextend beyond the requirements of oneposition in these days of keen competition.

If there exists a secret of success, it lies,perhaps, in concentration more than in anyother single element During business

hours a man should be in business Histho ughts should be on nothing else.Diversions of thought are killing to thebest endeavors The successful mastery ofbusiness questions calls for a personalinterest, a forgetfulness of self, that canonly come from the closest applicationand the most absolute concentration I go

so far in my belief of concentration tobusiness interests in business hours as toargue that a young man's personal lettersshould not be sent to his office address,nor should he receive his social friends athis desk Business hours are none too long

in the great majority of our offices, and,with a rest of one hour for luncheon, noone has a right to lop off fifteen minuteshere to read an irrelevant personal letter,

or fifteen minutes there to talk with a

friend whose conversation distracts themind from the problems before it A youngman cannot draw the line between hisbusiness life and his social life tooclosely It is all too true of thousands ofyoung men that they are better conversantduring the base-ball season with thebatting average of some star player, or thenumber of men "put out at second" bysome other player, than they are with thedetails of their business.

Digression is just as dangerous asstagnation in the career of a young man inbusiness There is absolutely no positionworth the having in business life to-day towhich a care of other interests can beadded Let a man attempt to serve theinterests of one master, and if he serves

him well he has his hands and his headfull There is a class of ambitious youngmen who have what they choose to call

"an anchor to the windward" in theirbusiness That is, they maintain somethingoutside of their regular position They dothis from necessity, they claim Oneposition does not offer sufficient scope fortheir powers or talents; does not bringthem sufficient income, and they are

"forced," they explain, to take onsomething in addition I have known suchyoung men But, so far as I have been able

to discern, the trouble does not lie somuch with the position they occupy aswith themselves When a man turns awayfrom the position he holds to outsideaffairs, he turns just so far away from thesurest path of success To do one thing

perfectly is better than to do two thingsonly fairly well It was told me once, ofone of our best known actors, that outside

of his stage knowledge he knew absolutelynothing But he acted well,—so well that

he stands at the head of his profession, andhas an income of five figures severaltimes over All around geniuses are rare

—so rare that we can hardly find them Toknow one thing absolutely means materialsuccess and commercial and mentalsuperiority I dare say that if some of ouryoung men understood more fully than they

do the needs of the positions they occupy,the necessity for outside work would notexist

Stagnation in a young man's career is but

a synonym for starvation, since there is no

such thing as standing still in the businessworld We go either backward orforward; we never stand still When ayoung man fails to keep abreast of thepossibilities of his position he recedesconstantly, though perhaps unconsciously.The young man who progresses is he whoenters into the spirit of the business of hisemployer, and who points out newmethods to him, advances new ideas,suggests new channels and outputs There

is no more direct road to the confidence of

an employer than for him to see that anyone of his clerks has an eye eager for thepossibilities of business That young mancommands the attention of his chief atonce, and when a vacancy occurs he is apt

to step into it, if, indeed, he does not forgeover the shoulders of others Young men

who think clearly, can conceive goodideas and carry them out, are not soplentiful that even a single one will be lostsight of It is no special art, and it reflectsbut little credit upon any man simply to fill

a position That is expected of him; he isengaged to do that, and it is only a fairreturn for a certain payment made The artlies in doing more than was bargained for;

in proving greater than was expected; inmaking more of a position than has everbeen made before A quick conception isneeded here, the ability to view a broadhorizon; for it is the liberal-minded man,not the man of narrow limitations, whomakes the success of to-day A young manshowing such qualities to an employerdoes not remain in one position long

Two traps in which young men inbusiness often fall are a disregard forsmall things, and an absolute fear ofmaking mistakes One of the surest keys tosuccess lies in thoroughness No matterhow great may be the enterpriseundertaken a regard for the small things isnecessary Just as the little courtesies ofevery-day life make life the worth living,

so the little details form the bone andsinew of a great success A thing half orthree-quarters done is worse than not done

at all Let a man be careful of the smallthings in business, and he can generally berelied upon for the greater ones The manwho can overcome small worries is

greater than the man who can overridegreat obstacles When a young manbecomes so ambitious for large successthat he overlooks the small things, he ispretty apt to encounter failure There isnothing in business so infinitesimal that

we can afford to do it in a slipshodfashion It is no art to answer twentyletters in a morning when they are, inreality, only half answered When wecommend brevity in business letters, we

do not mean brusqueness Nothing stampsthe character of a house so clearly as theletters it sends out

The fear of making mistakes keeps many

a young man down Of course, errors inbusiness are costly, and it is better not tomake them But, at the same time, I would

not give a snap of the fingers for a youngman who has never made mistakes Butthere are mistakes and mistakes; someeasy to be excused; others not to beoverlooked in the case of any employee Amistake of judgment is possible with usall; the best of us are not above a wrongdecision And a young man who holdsback for fear of making mistakes loses thefirst point of success.

A young man in business nowadays, with

an ambition to be successful, must also becareful of his social life It is not enoughthat he should take care of himself duringthe day To social dissipations at night can

be traced the downfall of hundreds uponhundreds of young men The idea that anemployer has no control over a young

man's time away from the office is adangerous fallacy An employer has everyright to ask that those into whose hands heentrusts responsibilities shall followsocial habits which will not endanger hisinterests upon the morrow So far associal life is concerned, young mengenerally run to both extremes Either they

do not go out at all, which is stagnating, orthey go out too much, which is deadly.Only here and there is found one whoknows the happy medium A certainamount of social diversion is essential toeverybody, boy, man, girl, or woman Andparticularly so to a young man with acareer to make To come into contact withthe social side of people is broadening; it

is educative "To know people," says awriter, "you must see them at play." Social

life can be made a study at the same timethat it is made a pleasure To know thewants of people, to learn their softer side,you must come into contact with theirsocial natures No young man can afford todeny himself certain pleasures, or areasonable amount of contact with people

in the outer world It is to his advantagethat people should know he exists,—whathis aims and aspirations are His eveningoccupations should be as widely different

as possible from those which occupy histhoughts in the daytime The mind needs achange of thought as well as the bodyneeds a change of raiment The familiarmaxim, "All work and no play makes Jack

a dull boy," contains a vast amount oftruth