Title: Shoe Maker : The Untold Story of the British Family Firm that Became a Global Brand
CHAPTER 1
Some People Run to Win
I have a confession. Two confessions, in fact. The first is, I don’t like running. The second is that I’m a lousy shoemaker. By that, I mean it’s not where my particular set of skills lies. There, it’s out there. I feel better now.
Though for a book about the founder of Reebok, a book titled Shoemaker, you might be confused. Hopefully, you’re also a little intrigued. You should be. My story, the Reebok story, is not a standard business tale about how I worked hard, hunched over a shoe last for thirty-five years. Nor is it a linear journey along a well-thought-out path, or a tale of how I risked millions and came out smelling of shiny leather. It is a book about motivation and the importance of gripping onto an opportunity when Lady Luck presents it.
But there’s more to it than that. A lot more. Like every success story, there’s been a sacrifice, a muddy pay-off for the glitter and gold that comes with industrial celebrity. There’s only room for one love when your heart is fully invested in your passion.
Somebody once said, ‘You can’t get to the top without standing on a few heads,’ or something like that. But that wasn’t my way, at least I like to think it wasn’t. There were no people harmed in the making of this business, and subsequently this book, although I could be wrong, of course.
I was brought up in a world of the remarkably average, where aspiring to be better was frowned upon. It was an era of ‘know your place’, ‘don’t rock the boat’, and other edicts injected into the masses to keep society in order. And it was also a time when old-fashioned values were in place, when people were generally kind to their neighbours, their elders and even to their peers.
Decency was paramount, my mum had always instilled that in me, alongside respect for others. But in my mind, contrary to societal expectations, so was growth and improvement through challenging myself, and it was on these foundations that my (eventual) success in industry was founded.
The path to that success wasn’t straight, nor was it defined. A lot of it was based on decisions that were made on the hoof. Many of those decisions were reactive rather than proactive, but always with the same aim in mind: to sell more shoes than the day before. (Shoe Maker : The Untold Story of the British Family Firm that Became a Global Brand)
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