Business Ideas - How to Create a Culture, Work Hard, and Make Customers Happy like G Steinbrenner

Hi, I'm Evan Carmichael, and welcome to another edition of Modeling the Masters. I believe that the fastest and most effective way to grow your business is to model the strategies of people who've already done what you're trying to do. So today we're going to look at how a young man went against his father's wishes to run the family business in order to follow his dreams in the world of sports. He went on to own one of the most successful franchises in sports history. This is the story of New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner and the top 3 lessons that you can learn from his success.

George Steinbrenner went from coaching college football to saving his family's business and finally owning one of the greatest baseball franchises in history, the New York Yankees. When Steinbrenner started college, he chose English literature. Which was not what his father wanted him to do. Instead, Henry Steinbrenner wanted George to come back and run the family shipping business. After graduating college, George went into the US Air Force where he would get his first taste of the business of sports by establishing a sports program in his spare time. George had no plans on joining the family business or ever owning a professional sports team. After his tour in the Air Force was complete, he went on to join the coaching staff at Northwestern University and then Purdue University, but family problems would take him away from what he loved. He would get a call from his father pleading with him to come home and help prevent the family business from going under. "He told me to get home and get busy," recalls Steinbrenner. "I wish I could have stayed in coaching. My father never asked that much, but when he did, it was an order." After successfully saving his family's shipping company and becoming president of the company within 4 years, George went against his father's wishes and left the business to pursue his love of sports. He would go on to buy the Cleveland Pipers, an American Baseball League team, but the league would fold after a few seasons. George would then set his sights higher the next time and buy the New York Yankees for $8.7 million in 1973. Today, the New York Yankees are worth more than $1.3 billion and are the most successful professional baseball franchise in history, at the same time making George Steinbrenner one of the greatest sports entrepreneurs icons in history.

By refusing to bow to the pressures that his family put on him to run the family business, Steinbrenner was able to follow his dreams and become a sports icon. To help you become an icon in your industry, here are 3 action items that you can learn from George Steinbrenner.

Action item number 1: Create a culture. Once you start building a team around you, you'll realize how important it is to build a culture that supports your company. You want people who have different skill sets but all have the same value system and believe in what you're doing as a company. Now, when you're hiring, you need to make sure people fit within your company culture and don't just have the skills you're looking for. One bad hire can bring the morale and spirit of your entire business down, so take your time and do it right. George Steinbrenner knew from the first time he stepped into ownership of the New York Yankees that he would have to change the perception or culture of the team and its fans. Being the best meant that he would have to get the best players and start winning in order to get the fans to start coming to the games and backing the team. One of his new policies that he implemented was the grooming of his players. By implementing a strict grooming policy, he would make sure everyone viewed the Yankees as professionals. He wanted every player to be poster boys so others could use them as examples. To be the best, you had to look your best. This policy was not just for the players. Even the executives and other employees of the Yankees had to abide by these policies. According to Steinbrenner, "It's an incredible achievement, particularly when I remember that when I bought the Yankees, we had trouble drawing 1 million to the stadium. We have the greatest fans in the world. Winning was everything. I don't care what they tell you, Winning is the most important thing in my life, after breathing. Breathing first, winning next. Action Item #2: Earn by working hard. You won't find many successful entrepreneurs who'll tell you that it was easy to build a big business. Being an entrepreneur comes with a lot of hard work and energy. It's going to be more work than any job you've ever had, but hopefully it's also a lot more fun than you've ever had too. It all starts with hard work. If you're not willing to give it everything you've got, don't expect anything great to happen. One thing that George Steinbrenner believed in down to his core was that a person can only be an earner if they worked hard. A hard worker can get themselves out of a lot of trouble and build a business that is successful. He believed that working hard could bring along its benefits. By working hard, a person can do just about anything they want. And having people around you that work hard will also make you even more successful. Steinbrenner's working habits reflect that value system. He worked from home from 8 AM until noon, when he left for the office and worked there until 7 PM. He would make his last call at 11 PM before retiring for the day. According to Steinbrenner, my father wasn't a believer in monetary allowances for my sisters and me, so he set us up raising chickens. We sold the eggs to our neighbors. If one of our neighbors wanted a fresh chicken, then we also had to kill and dress the chicken. Every night we had to update the books and everything we sold, and the earnings were equally split 3 ways. My best and worst boss was the same man, my father. He never, and I mean never, took "I can't" for an answer. He taught me the value system that to this day I have continued to practice. Action Item #3: Make the customers happy. Successful businesses thrive because of happy customers. Make your customers happy and they'll make you successful. Do whatever it takes to know your customers, understand their core issues, and solve their problems. Give them an outstanding experience on top of it, and they'll line up to come back to you and tell their friends. Despite all the rumors and complaints about George Steinbrenner being a tough boss, boss, he did believe in the fans, which he commonly described as his customers. He's one of the most customer-centric businessmen in the industry. More than any other sports franchise owners, Steinbrenner went out of his way to please his fans and give them what they wanted. There were numerous ways in which he showed his fans that he was listening to them. First of all, he thought his fans had the right to watch and support a championship team. That is why he was willing to spend whatever he needed to to get the best players and win championships. More than the money, however, Steinbrenner also tried to cultivate a culture of proud New Yorkers. According to Steinbrenner, "Our team played hard, but we let our fans down. We will do better. We know how to win. As I've always said, the way New Yorkers back us, we have to produce for them.

Owning the New York Yankees is like owning the Mona Lisa." So remember, create a culture, earn by working hard, and make the customers happy. To finish up this video, I wanted to share one of my favorite true stories about George Steinbrenner and some of his best quotes.

Since George Steinbrenner's father did not believe in giving allowances to his children, George and his sisters were set up in a chicken business. They would sell eggs for 50 cents a dozen or chickens to the neighbors to make extra money. They would have to kill the chicken and pluck the feathers. If the neighbors wanted to buy a chicken to cook. He did this job from the time he was 9 years old until he was 15, when his father would decide to send him off to military school. However, George knew that he'd have to give up his portion of the chicken business. Despite the fact that it was family, he had no problem doing whatever it took to take a profit. He was a businessman, bottom line, and he did not let anyone, not even his own sisters, stand in the way of his business aspirations. 'I sold my egg company to my sisters for 3 times what it was worth,' he said.

'They've never liked me since.' Thank you for joining me for another edition of Marlin the Masters. If you liked the video and you want to see more, please give it a thumbs up below. I'd also love to hear what you have to say if you want to leave a comment underneath the video, and stay tuned for the next episode.

Mm-hmm.