I saw a movie the other day – American Gangster.  It’s a story based upon the life of a man by the name of Frank Lucas. Under the most incongruous of conditions, Frank (more or less) entrepreneurs his way to the very top of his profession.
 
The profession? Well, it seems that Frank Lucas understood supply chain management, because in the 1960’s, he built an organization that brought illegal drugs non-stop from the poppy fields of Southeast Asia to New York City. Depending upon whose estimates one chooses to believe - this was a half-a-billion dollar a year operation.
 
Did I mention that Frank Lucas was illiterate? Did I also mention that he never attended even one day of school in his entire life?
 
One day, Frank is sitting in a restaurant when he spots a pretender to his throne, who also happens to owe him money, starting to get mouthy. Frank calmly leaves the restaurant and walks up to this man - asking right there that he pays the money that he was owed.
 
The gangster wanna-be told Frank, “no” and that Frank would just have to deal with that fact (“After all”, the man said, “What can you do about it … shoot me?”) Wherein, Mr. Lucas calmly pulled out his handgun and shot him dead.
 
Of course, this shooting all took place on Frank’s own “turf”, and so he knew that there was virtually zero chance that anyone would possibly testify to what they had just seen. Frank holstered his gun and walked back to the diner to finish his breakfast.
 
So what the heck does any of this have to do with entrepreneurism?
 
Well, one might say that it has everything to do with entrepreneurism; because being an entrepreneur is all about growth, painful decision-making, and excruciating conflict.  And there are plenty of all of these elements in this movie.
 
The first occurring when the newcomer directly challenged Frank Lucas’ position in the marketplace. He had purchased product from Frank but never fully paid his bill. Secondly, this man was ridiculing Frank in front of the consumers of his product. Not good for company credibility.
 
As CEO, Frank Lucas had a choice. He could ignore this man (after all, how many people even knew that this guy owed Frank?) and, in effect, do what so many businesses do today, which is, “send him a statement” of his account’s status.  Or, he could take over his organization’s collections function right then and there - without even checking with his A/R people.  Which is exactly what he did.
 
This was a classic conflict situation. And when confronted by conflict, business owners and managers always react one of two ways; either they ignore the conflict, or address it head-on.
 
I always tell my associates, “When you get up in the morning, there are going to be fifty-plus tasks that you can work on that particular day that will make you productive. But really, only a couple of these tasks will actually “advance the ball” downfield on behalf of your company. The rest will merely fill up your day while creating what I (and Walt Disney) like to call “The Illusion of Movement.”  
 
Those “couple of” tasks are almost always the toughest tasks, too. They’ll range from meeting with the firebrand employee who is demanding a reply to his request for a pay increase; a request that you promised to discuss with him some months ago, to a sit-down with an obstreperous customer who is barely worth keeping, to a budget planning discussion with your accountant that you know will kill at least two days while providing no immediate payback.
 
Meanwhile, conflict is everywhere. An associate stops you in the hallway, wanting to know the status of the health care issues.  An innocuous trip to the rest room finds you drawn into an argument with the heads of Sales and Product Development. Which side do you come down on – performance or safety?
 
It’s your neighborhood, “Boss.”  And just as Frank Lucas had to pay a visit to one of his distributors who had taken it upon himself to adulterate the quality of Frank’s product thus defiling his “Brand Promise”, you must take it upon yourself (sans the handgun) to insure that all standards of ethics and quality are adhered to each and every day. This is wearing. This is work.  And don’t forget that all the while your spouse demands your time and presence. And your kids are growing up without you.
 
But you are the one gunning for that big prize. YOU are the one wanting to earn your “Screw the World” fortune, so that you can retire by 50.
 
And this is why there are so damned few multi-millionaires!  You can read the second part of this series in December’s TEQ.  Stay tuned…