Sometimes Rich People Get It

“Thank you for coming.”

“Thank you for introducing yourself.”

I heard these words repeated over and over again at a recent travel agency conference. But what was interesting was that the two people repeating these thank you's are 20-something boys... er young men – the sons of two brothers who co-own one of the industry's largest companies. Rich beyond anything I can ever hope to achieve, they have clearly been groomed to be gracious.

From the way they make eye contact when greeting someone to how they shake hands, these guys have been taught everything they need to know to succeed.

Of course, I'd love to see how they act when they're not “on,” especially the really good-looking cousin, who KNOWS he's good-looking!

But I will say their fathers have done a great job preparing these boys for their eventually take over of the company. What I find most impressive is that each cousin is doing an intensive two-year on-boarding program, where they will work in every department of every company their family owns. They're even each going to spend a day at a travel agency seeing what a travel agent does, and more importantly deals with, every day.

I think this is fantastic, and truly says a lot about their dads. Rather than simply hand the reins of a company over to an inexperienced and spoiled son (like an employer I had previously did), these fathers are making their sons work first, and making sure they understand all the different elements of the company, and what their employees do.

I wish more companies would do that, not just if they have heir apparents, but for any executive who is running, or will run the company.