Who Is Your ... Favorite Role Model?
Stop!
????Think about this …
You Will Acquire the Qualities …
????You Admire in Others!
Choose your role models wisely.
I never had a mentor. That is a statement, not a regret. Even though I had no mentors, I found several excellent role models.
My favorite role model was Hubert Hollums.
As a youngster, Mr. Hollums and my family were members of the same church, but I did not know him.
My first contact with him was as a customer. I was a 13-year-old-boy delivering afternoon newspapers on a bicycle. The newspapers were dropped off from a truck at a vacant lot next to his Shell service station.
I never spent more than 10￠ in his service station. That was the amount of my usual purchase, a Coke, and a candy bar or a package of peanut butter crackers.?
He treated me like a valued customer!
In fact, Mr. Hollums treated me with the same respect as a customer who bought a full tank of gas or a new set of tires.
While waiting for the truck to bring my newspapers, I liked to watch the men working in Mr. Hollums’ garage. The people at most businesses didn’t want a 13-year-old boy hanging around watching them work and would chase me off.
Mr. Hollums was different. No matter how long I was there ?… no one ever suggested that I was not welcome and should leave.
At an early age, I recognized there was something special about Hubert Hollums.
Mr. Hollums started in business with a service station and became one the most successful and respected businessmen on the south side of Atlanta, Georgia.
He was a devoted family man and very active in our church.
When I was elected to serve on the board of our church, I saw him as an extraordinary member. He never sought the spotlight; he quietly encouraged people and promoted harmony.
He was sincerely kind and … always found … the positive side of every issue.
Mr. Hollums was generous and benevolent, but he was quiet about his giving and did not seek recognition.
I admired him as I grew older as much … no … even more, than when I was a boy.
Over the years, I had many opportunities to watch Mr. Hollums.?Whatever he did … he was all-in … not a token in-name-only participant. ?
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I was privileged to serve with him more than 20 years as a trustee of Atlanta Christian College (now Point University). He quietly supported the college financially and openly shared his outstanding business skills.
At a college board meeting, Mr. Hollums surprised the trustees when he announced because of his age, 83, he would retire so he could be replaced with a younger person.
I took advantage of the opportunity and asked the chairman to let me make a few comments.
I stood … faced Mr. Hollums, and … spoke directly to him.
I doubt that, before that day, Mr. Hollums knew … what he had meant to me.
I told him for the first time, that he had been my favorite role model and … why. Beginning with when I was a newspaper boy 47 years earlier, I described how he had served as a role model for me.?And thanked him for the powerful and positive impact he had on my life.
I went into more detail and used more examples than I have space here to write.
Controlling my emotions was difficult, but it was an experience that I treasure. ?I knew I might never again have the opportunity to thank him directly for modeling qualities I admired so much and I told him …
“You have been my favorite role model.”
When the meeting adjourned and we began to leave, a professor came up to me and said,
????“Jimmy, you are Mr. Hollums.”
??????????Did I become the man I admired?
Will you become the person you admire?
?????Choose your role models wisely!
Have you chosen your role models?
????Choose your role models wisely!
Remember …
?????You Will Acquire the Qualities You Admire In Others!
--- Jimmy Collins
Like stories? My latest book?Jimmy’s Stories?is available on Amazon.
More principles are in my book,?Creative Followership. Available on Amazon.
cashier, opener, cater, at Chick-fil-A newnan ga
1 年Love this
The Tick Terminator
1 年Wow jimmy I pray you eyes are doing better soon!
Founder, CEO, Managing Partner at Gerwig French West Indies SARL, 97150, former Private Equity Principal, NASDAQ ORBC Board member, former Wendy's executive,(1000 Wendys stores opened in less than 8 years)
1 年Jimmy, Your story of your role model was excellent. Your recall is amazing! In my life, Dave Thomas, the Founder of Wendys, was my role model! I met Dave when he built a home near my parents in Westerville, Ohio in 1967. At that time, he was the KFC franchisee for Columbus, Ohio. He asked me if I needed a summer job, and I accepted. He was very soft spoken and shared that he only had a 2nd grade education due to having no parents. That summer job lasted 24 years. I quickly became a KFC GM, and in 1989, Dave asked me to resign from KFC and join the founding team of Wendys. We opened Wendys #1 on November 15, 1989. All of this was due to Dave's policy of recruiting young, positive, and energetic people to his companies. Dave had two amazing accomplishments. First was his love and care of his family, and secondly was the Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption, which is focused on assisting those who wish to adopt. Secondly, his foundation also assists in the placement of foster children. To date, over 15,000 foster children have been placed in foster homes, and remarkably, the number that have been returned is zero. All of this is why Dave Thomas was, and is today, my role model.
DNJETC
1 年Awesome story with much valuable insight! Thank you for sharing, making readers of your articles much more rounded!
Film Producer & Film Distribution A Native American Entertainment Company
1 年Thanks Jimmy. That role model was my dad and even in disciplining me (which I greatly needed) I respected how he handled those situations.