“Always carry a notebook. Write down ideas and information. Write down everything you know and hear about a person you meet. That way, next time you meet them, you know how much time to give them.”
In 1970 Aristotle Onassis was relaxing in the bar of the London Palladium during a performance. The variety show on stage held no interest for him, he was most likely with Jackie and some friends and he had removed himself from the audience and was now enjoying his customary Johnnie Walker Black Label.
At the Interval the audience started to fill the bar and a man and woman walked in with their 8 year old son. Onassis looked at the boy, who was wearing a suit and a tie, and smiled, walked over to the couple and said in his gruff voice something along the lines of, ‘You have the smartest young man I have seen in a long while’. He then patted the boy on the head and gave him a five pound note. Then, with a smile, a slight nod and a wave he walked off to meet his party of guests. People looked at the couple with their son and the man said to his wife, ‘You know who that was don’t you?’
£5 was a LOT of money in 1970. The evening out for the couple and their son had been something the man had been saving up for for two months. The suit the boy was wearing (a blue two tone single breasted) came from the Peter Pan Outfitters for children in the Commercial Road in East London.
The couple were my Mum and Dad. If ONLY I had kept that five pound note Onassis gave me!
Ever since that moment I have been interested in the life of Aristotle Onassis.
I spend a great deal of time training and coaching people and corporations to overcome hurdles. Some easily recognize the need to change habits and to utilize pieces of the Onassis template. They often have the ability to succeed. Many more unfortunately, decide that they know best, markets will adapt to their wants and a shortcut to success can be taken. They always fail. This is an absolute observation.
At the harbour of Nidri is a statue of the man who has inspired me and, through my work, inspires others. You can also see Skorpios from there. There is no way I can visit his grave as he is entombed with his two children on the private island but the statue is the nearest I can get to ‘The Great Onassis’ again in person.
Quotes:
“To be successful, keep looking tanned, live in an elegant building (even if you’re in the cellar), be seen in smart restaurants (even if you only nurse one drink) and if you borrow, borrow big.”
“If women didn’t exist, all the money in the world would have no meaning.”
“It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.”
“We must free ourselves of the hope that the sea will ever rest. We must learn to sail in high winds.”
“The secret of business is to know something nobody else knows”
“After a certain point, money is meaningless. It ceases to be the goal. The game is what counts.”
“I have no friends and no enemies — only competitors.”
“Get a sun lamp to keep you looking as if you have just come back from somewhere expensive”
“Find a priest who understands English and doesn’t look like Rasputin.”
“The more you own, the more you know you don’t own.”
“Always carry a notebook. Write down ideas and information. Write down everything you know and hear about a person you meet. That way, next time you meet them, you know how much time to give them.”