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    Lessons from the Len Master: Business and Life Lessons Learned by a Grateful Son
    Lessons from the Len Master: Business and Life Lessons Learned by a Grateful Son
    Lessons from the Len Master: Business and Life Lessons Learned by a Grateful Son
    Ebook130 pages2 hours

    Lessons from the Len Master: Business and Life Lessons Learned by a Grateful Son

    By Ron Zayas

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    About this ebook

    What is the secret to success? Why do some people find it and others search around in vain? While he has no magic bullet, Ron Zayas was fortunate enough to have an involved father who has provided a varied and rewarding set of advice throughout his life on everything from overcoming cliques at work, to being an ethical business leader, to negotiating deals that last, to spotting liars and disarming them. Using his years as a CEO, entrepreneur, and C-level officer at a large, global company, Ron wraps sage advice from his Cuban father in short, funny stories that anyone can relate to. Lessons from the Len Master is an entertaining, funny, and concise manual perfect for CEOs, managers, entrepreneurs, and anyone looking to reach goals or simply get more out of life.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPost Hill Press
    Release dateMay 26, 2020
    ISBN9781642934304
    Lessons from the Len Master: Business and Life Lessons Learned by a Grateful Son

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      Book preview

      Lessons from the Len Master - Ron Zayas

      A POST HILL PRESS BOOK

      ISBN: 978-1-64293-429-8

      ISBN (eBook): 978-1-64293-430-4

      Lessons from the Len Master:

      Business and Life Lessons Learned by a Grateful Son

      © 2020 by Ron Zayas

      All Rights Reserved

      All people, locations, events, and situations are portrayed to the best of the author’s memory. While all of the events described are true, many names and identifying details have been changed to protect the privacy of the people involved.

      Although every effort has been made to ensure that the personal and professional advice present within this book is useful and appropriate, the author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to any person, business, or organization choosing to employ the guidance offered in this book.

      No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

      Post Hill Press

      New York • Nashville

      posthillpress.com

      Published in the United States of America

      Dedication

      To my wife Elizabeth, for all the love, support, and friendship I could ever need.

      To my father: Turns out, I may have been listening after all.

      To Declan, Cam, and Peyton for reminding me about the importance and joy of family wisdom.

      Contents

      Prologue 

      Twenty Years Earlier 

      Working with Don Draper’s Eviler Twin 

      October 2000 

      My Father and Me 

      Section 1: Three Lessons for Success in Business

      Lesson 1: If the Powers That Be Won’t Let You Play in Their Reindeer Games, Get Your Own Set of (Loyal) Reindeer. 

      Lesson 2: Teach a Person to Learn and She Will Thank You. Teach Her to Think and She Will Be Successful Throughout Her Life. 

      Lesson 3: People Lie. Get Over It, but Learn to Spot a Lie. It’s Easy. Es mas facil cojer un mentiroso que un cojo. 

      Section 2: Three Lessons for Negotiating Well

      Lesson 1: The Aim of War Is Total Victory. A Negotiation Isn’t a War. 

      Lesson 2: No Is Not Maybe. No Is Not a Negotiation Point. No Is a Line in the Sand, So Use It Carefully. No es no, nunca, jamas. 

      Lesson 3: You Shouldn’t Punch an Angry Bear or Kill a Fly with an Elephant Gun. 

      Section 3: Three Lessons for Life

      Lesson 1: Everything You Are Today Is Because of What You Did Ten Years Ago. So If You Want to be Successful Ten Years From Now, You’d Better Get Started 

      Lesson 2: The True Measure of a Person Is What They Do When They Are Stressed. 

      Lesson 3: Never Forget Your Children Are Watching, or Your Name Is My Name. 

      Bonus Lesson: Hagate Hombre (or Mujer). 

      A Final Thought 

      Acknowledgments 

      About the Author 

      PROLOGUE

      August 15, 2000

      I had been with the company five years. I was still in my twenties and advancing quickly, having negotiated my way to a director’s position and then making assistant vice president. The company was profitable and a leader in its industry. My salary was decent, and with three small children and a wife finishing college, this was a comfortable situation.

      And then events turned against me, so quickly and disastrously that it felt like my life became a French film. Note to non-film buffs: French movies never have a happy ending.

      The Internet (it was still capitalized back then) was making companies rethink their existence, and any organization with a retail footprint wondered if they would be around in ten years. My company, old and stodgy as it was, lacked a web strategy and was too complacent to react to the changes that technology was bringing.

      The former vice president of marketing was an affable guy who had a fifteen-year history with the firm. He was not digitally savvy but was smart enough to sense what was coming and jumped ship to another company. This should have been my opportunity for advancement, but a new, seasoned vice president with illustrious credentials had been chosen instead. They wanted me to stay and serve as his implementation arm and his protégé. So far, so good. Not what I wanted, but not fatal either.

      Then I met my new boss, DJ. One meeting was enough to realize the guy was a desperate, sexist opportunist who had only stayed long enough at Fortune 500 organizations to avoid getting fired before moving on to dupe some other company. His one positive attribute was that he looked like a senior officer, almost straight out of Mad Men. Fifty years old (Jesus, that seemed ancient back then), well dressed, tan, and fit, he had tricked everyone into believing he knew what he was doing.

      It started to look like I wouldn’t have much of a future at this company. Fortunately, something in my past allowed me to change the narrative in my favor.

      TWENTY YEARS EARLIER

      C heck.

      I looked at my situation and knew it was hopeless. My father was two moves away from checkmate. I loved chess, but hated losing with every fiber in my body. Losing was bad enough; watching it happen was even worse. Half in anger and half in respect, I tipped my king over.

      It’s not fair, I protested. You’ve been playing much longer than me. I will never beat you.

      Probably not, he laughed. But in life you will often come up against people who are smarter, more experienced, better looking…

      I get the point, I interrupted.

      But that doesn’t mean you can’t win. Let’s play again, only this time I’ll tell you what I am going to do: you open yourself to a weakness when you castle [a defensive move in chess designed to protect the king]. I am going to attack you right here, he pointed, and force a checkmate. Now that you know what I am going to do, you should have the advantage. Set up the board and remember to use your knights better.

      Unfortunately for me, the game soon ended and I was mated again. Disgusted, I pouted like the nine-year-old sore loser I was. You changed your strategy. That’s not fair.

      I had to, because you played like you knew my strategy.

      You told me your strategy, I whined.

      Yes. And knowing what I was going to do should have given you the game. But instead of using that knowledge to win, you squandered it. You didn’t castle. That was your whole game: not castling. Once it became clear you weren’t going to castle, I switched tactics and beat you.

      But, but…I had no choice, I stammered. You told me you would beat me by getting me to castle. Then you changed your game. You lied.

      Not castling doesn’t win the game. Killing my king wins the game, he scolded. "You knew what I wanted you to do. Instead of making that obvious, you should have used that knowledge to find a weakness in my defenses. Once I knew for certain that you were not going to do what I wanted, I had to change my strategy, and you lost your advantage.

      "In real life I would not have told you my motives, but sometimes you can figure out what people are doing. The lesson is, if you know something I don’t, use that to win. Don’t tip me off, or I will change my plans.

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