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To be successful, start by taking responsibility for your actions, Jazz owner says By
Debbie Lamb
"We can be in denial and blame it on other people but that's not going to make us any more successful or happy," Jazz owner Larry H. Miller says. / Photo by Debbie Lamb Larry H. Miller, owner of 37 car dealerships and owner of the Utah Jazz, told USU students Monday that true success comes through taking responsibility. Miller spoke in the Sunburst Lounge as part of Business Week. "I think as I try to look at circumstances through your eyes, even though we're what would be described as a full generation difference in age," Miller said. "I feel that I can still relate clearly to the time of my life when I was your age, when I was looking ahead probably with a viewpoint of life and of the world similar with what you are today. I think that there are some significant differences that you're faced with that I wasn't, mostly technologically based and morally based." Looking ahead can be intimidating, Miller said, especially when students consider how many graduate from college and enter the work force each year. "When you ask yourself, questions like, 'Is there room for me? Can I withstand and deal with and match up to the competition that will be out there?' The effect would be kind of intimidating," Miller said. "Those are natural questions to ask. "To me even though those questions are logical and justified, I would say yes, there is room. To eliminate that competition -- 50 percent of it, basically, show up; to eliminate 75 percent of it show up on time; and to eliminate 90 percent of it, show up on time with a good attitude." One great concern is how much people blame each other for their failures, he said. "There is an example. We hear a term quite often today, called road rage," Miller said "What the heck is that all about? There is a bumper sticker that I love it says, 'Get a grip. It's only a lane change.'" In a much more important and damaging extension of that, many people who are charged in crimes plead not guilty, and for a bunch of reasons. Many believe they are not responsible for their actions because they were under the influence of alcohol while driving, or got arrested, or that the victim deserved what he got. Basically some people who are guilty make excuses because of lack of control of their own actions, he said. "The point is, as we go through our lives I think that if you take a look at people who are successful as the world sees it, there is a common ingredient with people who are successful with those who aren't," Miller said. "People generally have a lot higher tendency to be successful if they accept responsibility for their own actions; externally and internally they realize they are the person, the sole person who is most responsible for our success or lack of it. We can be in denial and blame it on other people but that's not going to make us any more successful or happy." Miller said he enjoys interacting with young people. If people base what they know about the world solely on what they see on TV or in the newspaper, they would tend to think the world is full of bad people, Miller said. "But when I have an opportunity to interact with you sometimes one on one and sometimes in a group, I come to know that there are a lot of good people out there," Miller said. "As I look at your generation, I believe that you are the most gifted generation that has ever been on Earth. I think that you are also faced with some of the greatest challenges that there have ever been. But because you are as gifted as I think you are, you will have within you what it takes to meet those challenges." Miller related business to basketball. Once he was asked by a group of owners what his advice would be to them. After many years, his advice still hasn't changed. "Don't try to make sense out of it," Miller said. "If you try to make sense out of it, it will eat your lunch. Because there is no rhyme or reason to what makes 12 young men go out and play well one night and lousy the next. Witness the Jazz in Boston and in Washington the last three days. The point is when you get into trouble, Jerry [Sloan, the Jazz coach] just starts emphasizes back to basics. Business is exactly the same. It takes three things to be successful; hard work, consistency and integrity. Those are the basics that have to be applied in business. You have to work at it every day."
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