Men of this sort are numerous, and all of them cher ish the belief that their ability is not appreciated. They are, of course, mistaken. Their ideas may be as excellent as they seem and their plans may be prac tical as well as ingenious, yet these men occupy hum ble positions because they lack the power, the will, the grit and gumption necessary to vitalize their ideas. They lack what is commonly called "initiative." By initiative, as the word is used in business circles, is meant the ability to think and do new things. It is a quality that the executive must possess. The man who lacks initiative gets into a rut and cannot lift him self out of it. If market conditions change he does not make quick adjustment, and suffers loss. The man of initiative, on the contrary, is happiest when be is springing something new on his competitors. He does not like ruts or beaten paths. He is always on the frontier looking for new territory to conquer.
7. is evident that a timid or ultra cautious man must lack initiative and be incapable of great achievements. Alany men decline to undertake anything unless they have positive assurance of suc cess. In their youth they look for employers who will promise them advancement, for they want to feel certain that they are going to be promoted and that their salaries will be raised as time goes on. Alen of this type lack courage, that quality which makes a man boldly attack- an enemy who looks stronger than himself.
A moral coward, one who is afraid to do what he thinks right because other men will disapprove, is never a valuable member of any community. In busi ness, cowardice of any kind is a serious detriment, for it will make a man hesitate and hang back at the very time when he should be pushing ahead. The business executive must be resolute and stout of heart. He must not fear his competitors, but on the contrary make them fear him. He must have the courage to meet opposition face to face and make those who deal with him realize that they are in contact with a real man. If he is weak and timid he will vacillate, and his subordinates will have no respect for him. They will pretend to respect his wishes, but behind his back they will speak of him contemptuously and do as they please.
All great business men have been courageous. They have dared things which would have frightened and paralyzed weaker men. The odds were often against them, but they kept on fighting. They had courage as well as initiative.
8. listless, languid, flabby man can not amount to much as an executive. Instead of driv ing things forward and getting the best out of his subordinates, he will be petulant, irritable, fault-find ing, and the men under him will always be dissatis fied.
The executive who succeeds wastes very little time finding fault. He is so full of power that he wants to get things done. If a subordinate disappoints him, he jumps in and does the work himself, if need be, and either discharges the delinquent or assigns him to a task for which he is better fitted or where the respon sibility is less.
What we call energy in a man is the product. of physical vigor, or health, and of a purpose, or end, clearly conceived and strongly desired. An energetic man thinks quickly, feels strongly and loves activity. A great executive, therefore, cannot be a physical weakling. He must expend a vast amount of energy, or force, and this he can get only from the air he breathes and the food he eats.
Professor Enoch Burton Gowin, of New York Uni versity, in his very interesting book, "The Executive and his Control of Men," presents some statistics that deserve the reader's attention. In various ways he obtained information in regard to the height and weight of over 2,000 Americans who were occupying positions of leadership. He found that a majority of them were over 5 feet 10 inches tall, and that their average weight was over 175 pounds. The average height of the sixty-one university presidents was 5 feet 10.8 inches, and their average weight 181.6 pounds. The presidents of small colleges averaged one inch less in height and seventeen pounds less in weight. His returns showed that railroad presidents on the average had the better of station agents by 1.5 inches in height and 31.7 pounds in weight.
Professor Gowin's statistics do not prove, of course, that the medium-sized man of light weight cannot hope for distinction, but they certainly do indicate that a strong, well-nourished body is a human asset worth possessing. A man's lungs and his stomach are the • sources of his energy ; if these two organs are weak, he cannot be expected to amount to much.
The energy which the executive needs must not be confused with its counterfeit—a pretentious, bustling kind of activity in connection with petty affairs. There are people who give an impression of great en ergy because they are never still or silent. They al ways have on band a g,reat many more things than they can do, while their minds seem charged with more messages than they can deliver. If you watch them work 3,,ou wonder at their tirelessness, and if you listen to their talk long enough all your mental faculties go on strike. People of this sort are not energetic. They are best described as fuss-budgets or fuddy-dud dies. They have small tho very active brains, but their activity lacks purpose and continuity.