| Q |
By
your own admission, you had the reputation of
being able to sell ice to Eskimos. What is at
the very heart of a salesman? There are many
technical and scientific people who have an
excellent knowledge of their work and even enthusiasm
for it but they lack that drive to make money,
that drive for success and recognition. What
made you work day and night, sometimes, as you
say, to the neglect of marriage and family?
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“It’s just a game—it’s
fun!” This is how Merlo described
his working years in the timber industry.
From his childhood, Merlo recalled, as he
often did in the interview, advice that
his mother had given him. “Mama would
tell me,” Merlo said, “‘We
can’t play so we have to make fun
out of work.’” That idea of
making fun out of work stuck with him. In
this, Ralph Rounds was like-minded. “Ralph
Rounds would always ask me,” Merlo
said, “‘Harry, are you having
any fun?’” Merlo would assure
him that he was—the most fun ever.
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