3. CHAPTER 1 Becoming a Member of the Club
As a kid, I caddied at the local country club for the homeowners and their children living in the wealthy town next to mine.
It made me think often and hard about those who succeed and those who don't. I made an observation in those days that would alter the way I viewed the world. During those long stretches on the links, as I carried their bags, I watched how the people who had reached professional heights unknown to my father and mother helped each other.
They found one another jobs, they invested time and money in one another's ideas, and they made sure their kids got help getting into the best schools, got the right internships, and ultimately got the best jobs. Before my eyes, I saw proof that success breeds success and, indeed, the rich do get richer.
Their web of friends and associates was the most potent club the people I caddied for had in their bags. Poverty, I realized, wasn't only a lack of financial resources; it was isolation from the kind of people that could help you make more of yourself. I came to believe that in some very specific ways life, like golf, is a game, and that the people who know the rules, and know them well, play it best and succeed.
And the rule in life that has unprecedented power is that the individual who knows the right people, for the right reasons, and utilizes the power of these relationships, can become a member of the "club," whether he started out as a caddie or not. This realization came with some empowering implications.
To achieve your goals in life, I realized, it matters less how smart you are, how much innate talent you're born with, or even, most eyeopening to me, where you came from and how much you started out with. Sure all these are important, but they mean little if you don't understand one thing: You can't get there alone. In fact, you can't get very far at all. Fortunately, I was hungry to make something of myself (and, frankly, even more terrified that I'd amount to nothing).
Otherwise, perhaps I would have just stood by and watched like my friends in the caddy yard. I first began to learn about the incredible power of relationships from Mrs. Poland.
Carol Poland was married to the owner of the big lumberyard in our town, and her son, Brett, who was my age, was my friend. They went to our church. At the time, I probably wanted to be Brett (great athlete, rich, all the girls falling over him). At the club, I was Mrs. Poland's caddie.
I was the only one who cared enough, ironically, to hide her cigarettes. I busted my behind to help her win every tournament. I'd walk the course the morning before to see where the tough pin placements were. I'd test the speed of the greens. Mrs. Poland started racking up wins left and right. Every ladies day, I did such a great job that she would brag about me to her friends. Soon, others requested me.