For as long as I can remember, I’ve been an avid moviegoer interested in a wide variety of film genres. Furthermore, I’ve seen numerous movies over the years that delivered important, valuable lessons about what it takes to reach and exceed your goals in life (personally and professionally). I’ve been thinking about these lessons and the individuals from whom they originate on the silver screen. It just so happens that the fictional characters I’m referring to happen to be unethical, dishonest and corrupt individuals. To further complicate things, they all exhibit important and inspiring (yes, that’s right) characteristics necessary for success in any marketplace.
Charged with the vital task of selecting the inaugural inductees to the Fictional Entrepreneur Hall of Fame, I carefully scrutinized and evaluated all nominated parties. In the end, a trio of upper echelon candidates with lasting forces that elicit both respect and disgust were elected for membership. For better or for worse, I present the 2011 inaugural class of the Fictional Entrepreneur Hall of Fame (in no particular order):
Martin Scorsese’s Casino, anchored by Robert De Niro as Sam "Ace" Rothstein, follows a sports bettor from the Midwest who moves to Las Vegas to manage the fictional Tangiers casino. His rise to power is executed almost flawlessly, thanks to his expertise as a gambling handicapper and odds-maker.
If you’ve seen Casino then you know this 3-hour epic is filled with dialogue portraying Sam Rothstein as a money-hungry shark with unwavering attention to detail. There’s one scene inside the Tangiers where Ace and a business associate are eating blueberry muffins that were made by the casino’s kitchen staff. After a few bites and comparison of the two muffins, he realizes there are significantly fewer blueberries in his than that of his casino floor manager. Cut to the next scene where Ace demands an explanation for the inconsistency in blueberry distribution resulting in a less than favorable treat. Furious and beside himself, he tells the chef, “From now on, I want you to put an equal amount of blueberries in each muffin….I don’t care how long it takes. Put an equal amount in each muffin.”
Success is rooted in your approach from the smallest detail to the largest issue of a product/service. No matter the issue, it’s crucial to handle situations with an equal passion, sense of ownership and accountability. Successful individuals, whether in business, sports, or arts, need to be committed to constant and never-ending improvement. If you want to be more successful, you need to ask yourself, “How can I make this better? How can I do it more efficiently?”
In today’s world, a certain amount of continuous improvement is necessary just to keep up with the rapid pace of change. New technologies are announced nearly every week. Improving is therefore necessary simply to survive. But to thrive, as successful people do (whether they’re fictional or not), a more dedicated approach to improvement is required.
Obvious choice. Gordon Gekko’s (Michael Douglas) passion and will to succeed resonate with me years after first watching the influential central figure of Oliver Stone’s 1987 drama Wall Street. Gekko's meticulously gelled-back hair, bevy of beautiful women, expensive cars and high-end suits made a lasting impression on Wall Street and has become a symbol in pop culture for uninhibited greed.
I personally don’t agree with cutting legal corners or engaging in dark deeds (i.e. insider trading) like Gekko but I do respect the man’s unshakable passion for success and opportunistic approach to business.
Gekko’s image is not helped by what many see as an immoral attitude towards power. It’s easy to have unfavorable feelings toward someone who brazenly says, “Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” There’s no doubt that this character was corrupt, fraudulent and deceitful however he’s also a man with huge intellect and an even larger desire to beat his competition in the marketplace. If you want to reach the heights of success, dedicate yourself to persistent hard work. Competition is everywhere. In business, it’s the survival of the fittest. If you can gain a competitive advantage and outperform your competition, your chance of being successful should increase. Bottom line: Play to win, but never sacrifice your integrity for the sake of a few bucks.
Boiler Room is a film about a college dropout who, in an effort to please his overbearing father, gets a job as a stock broker and quickly is on the fast track to success. Unfortunately for him, things take a turn for the worse when he learns his job isn’t what he originally thought it would be.
Some of the more memorable scenes occur when Jim Young (Ben Affleck), a senior broker and head of Human Resources at J.T. Marlin, welcomes and periodically addresses new recruits in an executive conference room. At one point he says, “There's an important phrase that we use here, and think it's time that you all learned it. ‘Act as if.’ You understand what that means? Act as if you are the [expletive] President of this firm. ‘Act as if.’ Okay? ‘Act as if.’”
Portraying someone who “acts as if” creates an inner experience, a mind-set if you will, that can take you to the actual materialization of that experience. Be who you want to be and do the actions that go along with being that person. Successful people like Jim Young, “[he] drives a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet…what’s up,” ask for what they want and say what they don’t want. They think anything is possible, take risks, and celebrate their successes. These things don’t cost money, just intention. Once you know what that looks like, start being it – now.
The author of this post, Jordan Vandeputte, along with his other accomplishments, was a contributing member of the AGS GM Program Office that had been selected as a 2010 GM Supplier of the Year – an award recognizing the significant contributions of GM's suppliers as part of the company's global product and performance achievements. Click here to find out more about Jordan.