Chapter 19
Career Plan Step #9: Return on Investment
We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give.
—Winston Churchill
Percy Ross was known for making and losing fortunes. In his twenties and thirties Ross made and lost two fortunes. In his early forties, Ross started a third venture investing in plastic bag manufacturing and nearly lost everything, but with the help of his wife, Laurian, who sold her expensive furs and jewelry for capital, Ross turned the company around and made millions. In 1969, he sold the firm for $8 million. He took the money and invested in box manufacturing, and also bought General Motors stock. When the big money started coming in, Ross began living the high life. He had five luxury cars in his garage and had a color television installed in his shower. He continued this frivolous spending until he decided he could do more productive things with his money.
Ross decided to write a column in the newspaper called “Thanks a Million,” which would be considered a cash giveaway column. Readers would write to Ross asking him for money and the reason they needed it. Ross would make a decision about whom he would give the money to. Ross provided money to readers to fix a leaky roof, help out a farmer, and replace a stolen artificial arm. If the reason was a good one, Ross would send the money or deliver it in person. The readers could forget any financial help if they needed money to pay rent, utility bills, or credit card debts; Ross felt those should be paid by the debtor. His column ran from 1983 to 1999 in more than 800 daily and weekly newspapers. Although known to be a publicity hound, Ross must also have had altruistic motives. He estimated he handed out more than $30 million during the 16-year column run. He stopped the article in 1999 because he had spent a majority of his fortune. To the readers of his column, he wrote: “You have given me so much over the years. In many respects, I'm far richer today than when I started.”
As you begin to reach your career goals and attain the positions and income that you have worked so hard for, it is important to determine what you are going to do with your success. Whether your success is defined by knowledge, money, authority, or the influence to create change, you need to make the decision now what you will do with your success and whom you will help. This return on your investment (ROI) is about more than just giving money, it is about giving back in ways that only you can. There is only one you, and your career and personal journey have taught you many skills and information about the specific industries and trades you have worked in. It can be incredibly satisfying to put that knowledge and experience to use in helping others.
Achieving success from the career plan manifests itself in numerous ways. Some will increase their wealth, others will become experts in their field, and some will learn how to use all their experience and knowledge to help others. I am hoping you will have all three. There are a lot of people with money (and many of them have done much to support good causes), but there is only one you who can share and teach what you have learned.
Return on Investment (What Are You Going to Do for Others?)
To guide your thoughts and ideas on how to best give your return on investment, I have included five questions. I am fine with you not immediately writing down an answer. Think about this topic, and when the answer comes and you feel good about it, then write it down. My goal is to get you to think about this right from the beginning so as you progress through the career plan, you can make decisions about your ROI long before you reach the end.
- How can you give back to your family? (Immediate and extended)
- How can you give back and use your skills for your work team?
- How can you give back and use your skills to mentor those who are new to the industry or just starting their careers? How can you make their lives easier and help them avoid some of the pitfalls that you experienced?
- What can you do for your industry? With your knowledge and success, what can you contribute to make it better?
- What can you do for the people in your community? In the world?
Don't get overwhelmed by the questions. This is not an Accomplish Everything on the list type of task. This is getting you to see the bigger picture and the possibilities of how you can affect those around you. I encourage you to start small and begin by finding a way to give ROI at least one to two hours a month. You will be amazed not only at how it makes you feel, but also how much you can do and the impact you can make.
I Don't Have Extra Money
“But Dr. Bray, I don't have a lot of money to give at this point.”
This ROI isn't only about the money, in fact I would encourage money to be one of the last things you give. It is easy to give money. It is much more difficult to give of yourself. I want you to give your hard-earned knowledge, expertise, advice, and mentoring. Give them something worth more than money. Give them your time and your knowledge.
Here is a great example of giving back with little or no money. Benard Didacus Opiyo is from Uradi Village in Kenya, Africa. In 2008, Benard and his friend George started talking about the horrible educational standards in his village. The poverty level in his region is high and a large percentage of both girls and boys were dropping out of school. Even among those who graduated, only a small fraction of students were making it to the university level. The situation of the girls was dire because of early pregnancies and a long-held cultural perception that girls were not worth spending funds on for an education.
Benard and George knew something had to be done, so they decided to build a school and create a change in their village. In 2010, they founded the Uradi Girls High School with the motto of “molding achievers.” They currently educate nearly 100 girls at the school. When the school is fully completed, they expect to educate a total of 360 girls. The goal of all those involved in this village school is to successfully keep students in school no matter what the challenge and help them graduate from university so they can become self-sufficient business people who will then mentor and financially assist other girls. (See http://liveyourlegend.net/.)
With little money, Benard and George did much of the work themselves: they taught the girls, they helped build the school, and they inspired others in the village to help them without pay. They inspired a vision of a better future for the girls in their village.
I could go on with hundreds of examples to inspire you with what is possible, but this is something that only you can decide. Let me give one warning: in the excitement of reaching your goals and everything that goes along with it, be careful not to forget your ROI and your responsibility to give back. Helping others will only make your journey more rewarding.
Interesting Research
As I wrote this chapter, I couldn't help but wonder (and then of course, research) who gave away the most money in 2014. The results were shocking! An article released by the Chronicle of Philanthropy laid out the donations made by the 50 most generous Americans in 2014. Let me share the top 10 for the sake of some fun.
| Bill Gates | $1.5 billion (Microsoft, in case you have been living under a rock) |
| Ralph C. Wilson | $1 billion (founder and owner of the Buffalo Bills) |
| Ted Stanley | $652 million |
| Jan Koum | $556 million (built Whatsapp and sold it to Facebook) |
| Sean Parker | $550 million (yes, that's Sean Parker of Napster and Facebook fame) |
| Nicolas Woodman | $500 million (GoPro guy) |
| Michael Bloomberg | $462 million (CEO of Bloomberg L.P.) |
| Rachel Lambert Mellon | $411 million (Philanthropist) |
| Sergey Brin | $382 million (Creator of Google) |
| Paul Allen | $298 million (Microsoft) |
Your return on investment is the best way to reward yourself before, during, and after you achieve your goals. According to a study published in the American Review of Public Administration, helping others while on the job can boost your happiness at work. The study showed that being altruistic not only improves one's well-being at work, it also makes people feel more committed to their work and less likely to quit. Study researcher Donald Moynihan, a professor at the La Follette School of Public Affairs at the University of Wisconsin, said, “Our findings make a simple but profound point about altruism: helping others makes us happier.”1 You get the point—find a way to give back.