Rebuilding from Nothing: A Father’s Leadership Lessons
A note to young leaders.
Lessons from my father.
When the Lebanese Civil War broke out in 1975, Dad’s engineering company was in the middle of delivering two major construction projects. Overnight, both projects were indefinitely suspended.
A run on the banks froze his cash deposits – except for a meager weekly stipend barely enough to cover groceries. Meanwhile, real estate markets collapsed, leaving Dad’s property assets worth thirty cents in the dollar.
Faced with financial ruin, he got on a flight to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in search of new business. Saudi had recently discovered vast oil reserves and German companies were being awarded major infrastructure projects.
My father soon bid on a multi-million dollar contract to install HVAC systems in a regional hospital in Riyadh – and won.
There was just one problem: he had zero working capital to start the job.
He flew to Munich to meet with Mr. Simon Schuster to finalise the contract. When every detail had been settled, my father paused then said:
“Mr. Schuster, I have a very unusual request to make of you. The war in Lebanon has frozen all my assets, and I don’t have the working capital I need to begin this project. I need you to pay me 10% of the contract sum upfront.”
My father thought it an outrageous ask – mobilisation fees were highly uncommon at the time. So he could hardly believe it when Mr. Schuster agreed and wired the funds that same afternoon.
That’s how my father relaunched his business with zero working capital.
Two lessons I carry from this:
- If you find yourself in a predicament not of your own making, don’t be afraid to share it and ask for help; and
- Make the request only after you’ve established your character and competence.
Ask and you shall receive.