Good afternoon innovators, change-makers, and entrepreneurs.
This newsletter and podcast feature stories about the people – past, present and future – who change the world. They make decisions and take actions enlivened by what I call The Entrepreneur’s Ethic. The Entrepreneur’s Ethic infuses people, organizations and places where the future is created, and the world is made a better place.
One of the Entrepreneurs featured in my upcoming book, The Entrepreneur’s Ethic, is Ewing Kauffman. Kauffman founded Marion Laboratories, a pharmaceutical business, in Kansas City in 1950. By the 1980s, Marion was a billion-dollar business.
Matt Pozel is an Associate at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri, which provides access to opportunities that help people achieve financial stability, upward mobility, and economic prosperity. He is deeply knowledgeable about Ewing Kauffman’s story and legacy, and I enjoyed insight that Kauffman offers us on attracting and developing talent and translating business success into community and philanthropic impact.
There are seven parts of The Entrepreneur’s Ethic. Kauffman’s work exemplifies Ethic 7: Mentor in All Directions. This is the teaching and learning-orientation of entrepreneurship.
Good Reads
Experts Agree! Scholars Don't – Robert Graboyes
The "Rest of America" and the Role of Joy – Dr. Naomi Wolf
Doctors Transplanted a Pig Kidney Into a Person a Month Ago. It’s Still Working – Wall Street Journal
Three Things I Think (I Think)
Matt Pozel and I spoke about Ewing Kauffman’s two guiding principles, 1) treat others the way you want to be treated and 2) share in success.
1. I think the highest impact entrepreneurs and innovators make a difference well-beyond their businesses. Ewing Kauffman created a billion-dollar business, no small achievement. But he also left as a legacy a major league baseball franchise, the Kansas City Royals, and a foundation that supports education and entrepreneurship to this day. If you’ve ever went to a Million Cups event, you’ve been to something originally created by the Kauffman Foundation.
2. I think the Golden Rule works everywhere, all the time. Matt pointed out that the Golden Rule, treat others as you want to be treated, has roots in every major world religion. There’s a reason. It works in business, community, and family. Everywhere. All. The. Time. Give it a try. Even in social media.
3. I think we can learn a lot from Kauffman about sharing, too. Before there was widespread use of options and employee ownership, Ewing Kauffman was spreading ownership among contributors. And his sharing makes many of the option pools I see today look… modest at best. Hundreds of Marion Laboratories Associates became millionaires after the company’s public offering. “Sharing Marion’s wealth with the people who helped produce it hasn’t hurt me personally,” Kauffman said. “Which would you rather have – 100 percent of $2 million or 43 percent of $175 million? I am more proud of our people that are millionaires than I am of anything I’ve got.” Among the millionaires was a thirty-year-old assistant office manager, a widow who worked in the accounting department, and a fifty-six-year-old plant maintenance worker. When your business becomes a $175 million concern, how many millionaires will you have made?
Farm to My Table
It’s high garden season, so new combinations are fun to try. Or maybe just necessary. What to do with an abundance of crazy-big green peppers? How about stuffed green peppers? Grand View Beef ground beef along with our tomatoes, Clayton Farms lettuce with our cucumbers drizzled with Figueroa Farms Camino al Cielo Extra Virgin Olive Oil. And Penfolds Bin 28 Shiraz.