How to Rise to the Top When You're Born at the Bottom

jor-dan-ism (noun)
Definition: a way for you to make the most out of your career and your life

People ask me all the time about my secrets to success. And I’ve got to tell you, it’s not just one thing. It’s many things that I’ve spent a lifetime learning the hard way. So kick back, read and learn how I got to where I am today. Along the way you just might pick up what I like to call Jordanisms: harsh but true realities.

I grew up in a middle class neighborhood in Old Bridge, New Jersey with only 4,500 homes. My grandparents owned a factory in Newark that manufactured cherries, syrups and toppings. I went to the public elementary school, Walter M. Schirra, which is funny because looking back I realize that every school in my town was named after an astronaut except for one, my high school, which was Madison Township High School. My best friends, Vito, Rick, John, Mike, Ben and I played on our high school football team. And it was such a small town that everyone knew us by name…so there was no way to get away with anything! You get the picture: I wasn’t born with a silver spoon in my mouth.

I started my first business when I was eight years old. That’s right, eight years old. I sold greeting cards door-to-door. That was my first taste of business success. It was also my first taste of rejection – I got a few doors slammed in my face. Imagine getting a door slammed in your face at eight years old! But I learned from it. I learned how to make a friend out of a customer simply by exceeding their expectations. I learned that you get a lot of repeat customers by getting their order right the first time and by always delivering early. Word quickly spread through the community about my ‘business,’ and before I knew it, no more doors were being slammed in my face. To me, that was a HUGE win!

You have to have more wins than failures. The only way to do that is to have a belief – some people call it a vision – and the will to succeed. Couple that with a little fear of failing, perseverance, and a winning strategy, and anyone can reach their goals. That’s what I’ve built my entire career on. In those few and far between times when you do lose, you have to look yourself in a mirror and ask why. Then, you have to learn from your mistakes and ensure that it never, ever happens again. People that blame others for their failures are doomed to fail over and over again.

Jordanism: Become a success instead of a statistic

If you accept losing as an option, you’ll be like so many other people out there and become a statistic. Do you think I built the 14th largest advertising agency in the country, generating $2.5 billion in billings annually (according to Adweek), by accepting losing as an option? No way in hell. I did it by having the perseverance to follow through on my vision of building an ad agency like no one had ever seen before.

May sound harsh, but it’s true. Stay tuned for more Jordanisms…coming soon.