He started at the bottom — "My first assignment was to get a post office box so we could get literature describing the equipment we couldn't afford to buy"— and worked his way up to the rank of one of the master managers in the history of American business.
Many people looking at those who have become masters of business, like Andy Grove, only see the place where they have ended up, not the enormous struggles and learning it took to get there.
So when they try a little bit of business leadership and management, they are shocked when things don't go as seemingly smooth as they go for those who excel, and usually quit in discouragement before really going through the time and steps it takes to truly succeed.
Almost every great business leader has been more than willing to take on whatever task they're given in order to help a customer and a company. That's what leads them to eventually become a great business leader.
Someone could ask Grove how everything started for him, and he would answer that he went and got "a post office box." That's how he started his leadership tenure at the company.
You could even dig further into the history of Intel (NASDAQ:INTC) and find out that none of the three original workers at the company wanted to be CEO ... least of all Grove. He had to take it because the other two weren't going to do it. If he hadn't, there probably wouldn't be an Intel in existence today. He was scared to death to do it, yet he did it anyway.
If someone wants to excel in business, they must be able to do it at whatever level of challenge is set before them. Many times it's the neglect of little things, which end up building into big things, that can cause the downfall of a company or division.
Learning from the beginning to take care of what's set before you, is one of the best ways to develop and build ourselves up into being effective business leaders. Grove was definitely all of that. It all started with a post office box.
Other Andy Grove Resources:
Andy Grove's Rational Exuberance
The Digital Age . . . driven by the passion of Intel's Andrew Grove
The History and Influence of Andy Grove
Andy Grove enters new post-Intel role as activist capitalist
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