[GOP Poet]

Very much enjoyed your article on "The Secret to Ultimate Business Success." Having been captain, first mate, and crew as well having observed many businesses' structures and management styles I shook my head wildly in agreement in some parts and chuckled from validation of my experience as well.

Nice blog. Good luck also with your next writing project. You're wonderfully multi-talented. Too bad more of those workers in the field didn't listen. They would have found you to be filled with some very good pragmatic wisdom.

[The Duke]

That "Secret to Business Success" article was inspired by a story from a friend. He told me about his brother's construction company that failed because "He kept going out drinking with his employees every night."

That caused me to begin contemplating the role of personal relationships in business success.

Later another friend shared with me his intent to "rule with an iron fist" when he started his next company, and it occurred to me that this extreme was also doomed to failure.

Those discussions were the genesis of that particular article. My challenge these days is in putting it into practice. Where I have put it into practice, however, I've been pleased with the results.