Famous Mentors: Andrew Carnegie

At one time, Andrew Carnegie was the wealthiest man in America. He went there from his native Scotland when he was a small boy, did a variety of jobs, and eventually ended up as the largest steel producer in the United States. At one time he had 43 millionaires working for him. In those days a millionaire was a rare person; conservatively speaking, a million dollars in Carnegie's day would be the equivalent to at least $20 million today. A reporter asked Carnegie how he had managed to hire 43 millionaires. Carnegie responded that those men had not been millionaires when they started working for him, but had become millionaires as a result. The reporter's next question was: "How did you develop these men to become so valuable to you that you have paid them this much money?" Carnegie replied: "Men are developed the same way that gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold; but one doesn't go into the mine looking for dirt - one goes in looking for the gold."