BARBARA GERAGHTY, President, Idea Quest
When Barbara Geraghty set out to interview some of Orange County’s most successful male and female executives for her book “Secrets of Peak Performers,” she expected them to be driven, aggressive professionals. Instead, she found thoughtful business leaders, most of whom had suffered severe setbacks and outright failures during their climb to the top. Geraghty gives advice on how workers can approach 1994 with a positive outlook in the following discussion with Times correspondent Debora Vrana.
Q: We’re about to embark on a new year. How can people get motivated to approach their lives and work in a positive way during 1994?
A: First of all, this is a great time of year for people to do an appraisal process, establish where they are and think about where they want to be in the future. What I discovered interviewing some of Orange County’s most successful people is that each of the people, although very different, had a very clear vision of what they wanted to achieve, and sometimes this was 10 to 20 years before it actually happened. So I think it all starts with having a personal vision of what you want to accomplish. And then once you have that personal vision, it will serve as a motivator to stay on track and stay motivated even when things get a little bit frustrating.
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Q: How does someone develop a personal vision? While some people seem to know exactly what they want, others are pulled in many different directions.
A: Actually, I have developed a formula for creating a personal vision--once I realized how important this was, because it really was the most important commonality I found in successful people. The formula I’ve developed is: First of all, passion. Each of them had an absolute passion for what they were involved in. Whether it was computers, hamburgers or real estate, they felt extremely passionate about it. The second is strength and ability. That is your competitive edge. You can feel passionate about doing something, but if you don’t have the strength and ability, it will be very difficult, especially if it’s something a lot of other people want to do. The last is future intent--to look forward and say, “Where do I want to go with my life?” Those three things combined are your personal vision. This sounds simple, but arriving at it can be very difficult. A lot of times it will come to you in an absolute flash--you will see what you’re meant to do.
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Q: What are some of the mental roadblocks that keep people from being peak performers?
A: You have to have a lot of self-confidence to be a peak performer. The first question I ask in the interviews is: “If I could go back and observe you when you were 12 years old, what would I notice about you that would set you apart?” And every single one said, “You wouldn’t notice anything. I was just an ordinary kid, but even then I felt I had the seeds of greatness.” So it was a real internal process. The funniest one was John Crean (chairman of Fleetwood Enterprises), who told me he was always in trouble and said, “I had no friends. I was really a weirdo, and the few friends I had were weirdos like me. I was always busy doing something, but they were always the wrong things. But even then I felt I was going to be great.” So they had these internal feelings of confidence. A lot of them seemed to surge forward and start doing well when people told them they couldn’t do it.
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Q: Why did you write this book?
A: My major objective was to shatter the myth that success is easy. Working with people of all ages, but particularly with young people, I find that when they start running into obstacles, they think, “Oh, this was a stupid idea. I don’t have what it takes.” In every one of these success stories, the people made huge mistakes, ran into tremendous obstacles and suffered major setbacks. So, in hearing their stories, my first thought was “Wow, this is normal. It’s normal to have difficulties and obstacles.” A couple of them even had outright failures and bankruptcies. But instead of taking it personally, they seemed to realize on some deep, intuitive level that they could rise above it.
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Q: You’ve interviewed some of Orange County’s most successful people. What most surprised you?
A: I went into this thinking that they would be exactly alike--driven, fairly aggressive, powerful, charismatic--a “captains of industry”-type thing. What I discovered, with a couple exceptions, is that they were the complete opposite, more interested in being part of the team and serving others. People like Terry Hartshorn (CEO) of PacifiCare, Kathryn Thompson, a developer, and Les McCraw (CEO) of Fluor Corp. were very centered, very philosophic, spiritual, intuitive people.
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Q: What do you mean by spiritual?
A: Well, one thing I really did find in common was a strong, strong thread of spirituality. For example, Les McCraw left a great career--he was climbing up the ladder at another company--and Fluor at the time was on the verge of bankruptcy. When I asked him why he made the decision to join Flour, he said he prayed for guidance. Kathryn Thompson said she prays before every major business deal, and Terry Hartshorn told me of his experiences as a “born-again” Christian.
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Q: What about the successful women you interviewed? Anything similar about them?
A: They all had great people skills. And with the women more than the men, their careers were launched when they were told they couldn’t do something or when they were held back. Kathryn Thompson said that when she first came to Orange County, she couldn’t even get a job in a real estate office. They told her she was too young, too pretty, so they totally discounted her. Louise Pomeroy of Abigail Abbott Personnel was told she was too old. They were challenged and responded to it.
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Q: Who would you like to interview for your next book?
A: Marie Gray, vice chairman of St. John Knits, Donald Bren (owner) of the Irvine Co., Chip Lacy, CEO of Ingram Micro, and Timothy Aitken (chairman) of Abbey Healthcare.
