He places people into 4 general categories. Here’s what they are (and as always, please share your thoughts and respect others):
Most men fall into one of four general categories:
In the first group are those individuals who work best when they work entirely for themselves – when they own and operate their own businesses. Such men do not want to be employed by anyone. Their desire is to be completely independent. They care nothing for the “security” salaried job offers. They want to create their own security and build their own futures entirely on their own. In short, they want to be their own bosses and are willing to accept the responsibilities and risks this entails.
Next are the men who, for any of a large number of reasons, do not want to go into business for themselves, but who achieve the best, and sometimes spectacular, results when they are employed by others and share in the profits of the business. There are many widely different types of men in this category. They range from topflight salesmen who prefer neither working on a commission basis – earning in proportion to what they produce, with neither floors nor ceilings on their incomes – to the finest executives in the business world.
My third category includes individuals who want only to be salaried employees, people who are reluctant to take risks and who work best when they are employed by others and enjoy the “security” of a steady salary. People in this group are good, conscientious, and reliable workers. They are loyal to their employers, but are content with the limited incentives of a regular paycheck and hopes for occasional raises in salary. They do not possess the initiative and independence – and, perhaps, the self-confidence and drive – of individuals in the first two groups.
Lastly, there are those who work or others but have the same attitude toward their employers that postal clerks have toward the Post Office Department. I hasten to make clear thatI intend no slight or slur against postal workers, who work hard and well – But they are not motivated by any need or desire to produce a profit for their employer.
Postal deficits are traditional and they are met regularly by the Federal Government. I doubt very seriously if there is one postal clerk in ten who cares whether the Post Office Department makes a profit or operates at a deficit. That is, perhaps, as it should be – in the Post Office Department. but, obviously, such attitudes are fatal to any business operating in a free-enterprise system.
Yet there are far too many men who hold-or would like to hold management positions in business whose outlook are virtually identical with those of the average postal clerk. They don’t really care whether the company that employs them makes a profit or shows a loss as long as their own paychecks arrive on time.
Key take-away: The Millionaire Mentality is one which always above all cost-conscious and profit-minded.