CEOs Without Degrees

CEOs Without Degrees.

Throughout my school career i was indifferent towards my academic results. The school systems rarely embraced individualism so i reluctantly conformed by doing the bare minimum. If all i need to pass was 40%, all i was gunning to know was 45%. TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT. In Grade 11 i got a rude awakning, i was told that my Grade 11 results had a huge bearing on being accepted into varsity.

Suddenly the joke was on me. You see i come from a family that believes in tertiary education as they do in God. And in life you get two types of people, those that went to varsity also known as Doctors, Lawyers, Engineers and those that didn't also known as Pick n Pay cashiers and receptionist at best. So naturally i thought if i didn't go to varsity i would be bound to the life of an eternal failure, working as a Pick n Pay cashier (not that there's anything wrong with that, i worked as a cashier at C.N.A all of my tertiary years). Or the horror of attending STAR school (that was not going to happen especially not on my watch)

I could almost forgive my family elders for holding such primitive perceptions to this vast playground called life. They come from a different school of thought. I was however shocked when sitting with some friends some months ago and the topic came up. Folks argued that tertiary education was the right of passage to success. This became heated as not all of us were afforded the same privilege and in a country like ours were an alarming rate of the people will never smell the polished corridors of ANY tertiary institution. It made me feel that if that argument holds any water then the implications are unpalatable.

Some of the past and current most successful people don't have degrees. But what they lack in academic credentials they make up for in being relentless students of life, they make up for it in dreams, tenacity, ambition, brains, guts and strong business sense. Lets take Ty Warner for example. Ty dropped out of Michigan to pursue an acting career, when this failed, he returned to Chicago and worked in a toy company. Today Warner is the sole owner, CEO, and Chairman of Ty, Inc (very very very few people can say this). Ty is a savvy business man whom in 2007 made $700 million in a single year with the Bienie Babies craze without spending money on ANY advertising. Today his estate stands at a whopping $4.4 Billion.

So imagine if we took that one or three lil boys that ALWAYS made the best wire cars, his peers chanting "haai untswembu saan", told him that there is more to life than a reluctant career path in IT, when his blatant passion lies elsewhere. Imagine if we told him about Henry Ford who at 16 left home to apprentice as a mechanic. Later he started Ford Motor Company, Ford's first major success, the Model T, allowed Ford to open a large factory and later start the assembly line production, revolutionizing the car making industry

Imagine if we sat that orphaned girl down and told her about Coco Chanel. An orphan for many year, Coco trained as a seamstress. Determined to invent herself, she threw out the ideas that the fashion world deemed as feminine, boldly using fabric and styles normally reserved for men. A perfume bearing her name, Chanel No. 5 kept her name at a buzz that transcended generations. Now years later the bold elegance of the Chanel brand remains unparalleled.

If we took that 19yr old that dropped out due to lack of funds not to dispair and told him about Steve Jobs. Who after attending one semester of college dropped out to work at Atari, Co-founded Apple from his parents garage. Now Apple includes innovative products such as the iPod, iTunes, iPhone and most recently iPad.

Imagine if we told them about Anus Friis who was named Times Magazine's one of the 100 most influential people yet has had NO formal education. He co-founded Skype and in early 2006 sold Skype to eBay for $2.6 Billion. Or, Barry Diller who started his career in the mail room of the William Morris Agency after dropping out at UCLA after just one semester. He was hired by ABC in 1966 where he created the ABC movie of the week. Pioneering the concept of the made-for-television movie. At age 32 he became president of Paramount Pictures. Producing a string of successful TV shows and films (Saturday Night Fever, Beverly Hills Cop) under his helm. Imagine if we encouraged their ideas even if we didnt fully get them, because God placed in them the same capacity and greatness as Walt Disney who also had no degree to his name .If we told them about Marverick Cater, Michael Deli, Richard Brandson , Rachael Ray, Felix Deniis or John Paul DeJoria.

A couple of years ago Forbes 500 conducted further research of they annual Top Forbes 500 CEOs in the world. It was found that 163 CEOs with no degree made 16% in Median total returns to shareholders (which is annualised over the CEO's tenure) versus the 165 CEOs with MBAs who made 15.2% in Median total returns to shareholders.

The road to being a CEO via lecture halls is the road most travelled but for many it is a one way ticket to a life of mediocrity and playing by someonelses rules. While the other is the road least travelled, those that pursue it do so seldom by choice but rather by conviction. Its the road to self actualisation where your heart is the CEO, your gut the MD and you a mere employee. I don't particularly care which road you pick....Just pick one and commit to it already.

SALUTE.