"We don't do business with governments or corporations, or even communities. We do business with people. Life is all about relationships."
John Hope Bryant is a thought leader, founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE, and author of business bestseller LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass).
What the public may not know is that he has also been awarded approximately 100 honorary doctorate degrees from colleges and universities during the course of his trailblazing and history making career and professional life.
"There's not a welfare mother in her right mind that doesn't wants her child to be successful, hard working and taxpaying, if for no other reason than to be proud of them. But you cannot give what you do not have. In a blind town, a one-eyed man is king.
It's what you don't know, that you don't know, that's killing you -- but you 'think' you know."
Approximately 92% of all American jobs come from free enterprise, only 8% of all jobs come from government.
When you have a job, you have dignity in yourself. When you have a job, you can take care of your family and yourself. When you have a job you can provide a roof over the heads of your loved ones, and take care of them when they are sick. When you have a job you have a purpose in your life, tend to feel more valued and valuable, and carry a greater sense of importance about yourself. When you have a job, you have more hope about life. You have more hope in your life.
"Being a victim just wasn't an option in my household. Creating something, making something, developing something, adding to something, becoming something -- was the only option my mom and dad gave me."
One hundred years ago, the American Cancer Society began the fight of a lifetime - the fight against cancer. To celebrate the progress made in the past century, the American Cancer Society has chosen musical legend, producer and composer, Quincy Jones to command an unforgettable evening of artists including James Ingram, Patti Austin, Siedah Garrett, Nikki Yanofsky and Alfredo Rodriguez, Allen Stone, and Pentatonix. One of the most influential jazz musicians of the 20th century, Jones' creative magic has spanned more than six decades. He now brings that magic to the stage with the American Cancer Society to help celebrate 100 years of progress in the fight against cancer and usher the organization into the most ambitious undertaking yet - finishing the fight!
Quincy Jones is a legend and a living icon, and my friend, mentor and brother. Q is the co-chair of Operation HOPE's 5 MILLION KIDS initiative, and we have recently launched Banking on Our Future, Quincy Jones Edition, a cutting edge financial literacy curriculum, in his honor. I am also honored to serve on the advisory board for the Quincy Jones Musiq Consortium.
Please support Q and the American Cancer Society, as he and they support so many others.
Bestselling business leadership author and philanthropic entrepreneur
The thing I am most proud of in my professional career is that I meet a payroll every two weeks, and have been doing this successfully for more than 20 years now through Operation HOPE alone. In 20 years, I have never bounced a payroll check, and never had an employee arrive at a hospital emergency room only to be told that their benefits were no good. I am proud of that.
The Power of Role Modeling
But I didn't just 'become' a guy who could do this out of no where. I meet a payroll, because my father did. I saw my father meet payroll when I was a small child, typically on Friday nights, out the front door of our modest home in South Los Angeles. My entrepreneurship DNA was planted at an early age. Thank God my parents instilled in me a powerful sense of "who I am," and "yes I can." Being a victim just wasn't an option in my household. Creating something, making something, developing something, adding to something, becoming something -- was the only option my mom and dad gave me. And yes, I was also fortunate to have a mom and dad at home. This is not a foregone conclusion in an inner-city home.
Today, I am who I am, because my father was who he was. And I am thankful.
Those who make payroll possible once or twice a month in this country are a very unique breed, and as far as I am concerned, represent true American royalty. Why? Because they create the thing that drives most all other good things -- JOBS.