After reading the Fast Company tribute to what nine business leaders and game changers have learned from their fathers, it inspired me to think about what I learned from my own father, Richmond Lewis Scott, OD. It’s especially timely not just because it was just Father’s Day, but because my father has just been posthumously accepted into the 2016 National Optometry Hall of Fame, recognizing his achievements in that profession from establishing  educational standards to introducing the use of prescription drugs into optometric practice to setting standards of the international practice of the profession.

Below are six life lessons that my father taught me, and may it inspire you to think about what you’ve learned from your fathers and how it directs you today:

  • Always leave something on the table. Being generous and magnanimous is to only fair it builds relationships that will make difficult negotiations into alliances. That’s why one of his peers called my dad, “the great diplomat of optometry.”
  • Never mind the money. Just do what’s right. Many times my father lost money or gave away money that he never recovered, because he thought it was the right thing to do. I’ve done likewise, and never regretted it. What goes around, truly does come around – in good will from others and in self-respect.
  • Know that when things look dark, they will always turn around. Life is truly like a roulette wheel – sometimes you are up and sometimes you are down. It’s not that you failed, or that life is against you, it’s the nature of the game. Wait it out, keep your head up, and it will turn around.
  • Be patient. In negotiations, in work, and in life, don’t jump to conclusions, don’t think the game is over, don’t think the cause is lost. Wait.
  • Always do the right thing. There is no other alternative.
  • The hardest thing about having your own business, is managing the employees. The personalities, the power struggles, the surprises in peoples’ behavior – there is no escaping it or the frustration of, “why don’t people just be reasonable?” They are not reasonable. That’s the nature of the game. Again, be patient, always do the right thing, and stick to your principles in dealing with partners and employees. Not everyone will respond in the same way, but you can’t control their behavior.
  • Have fun. In the end, it’s not about work but about family, friends, and time spent with loved ones doing things we love.

What did your fathers teach you? Let us know.

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