The wit and wisdom of Pineland Farms Potato Co.'s Rodney McCrum
I've interviewed hundreds of people in all walks of life during my 30-plus years as a working journalist, and have learned something from every one of them. Few have been more colorful than Rodney McCrum, president and chief operating officer of Pineland Farms Potato Co. Inc., recently honored by Mainebiz as our 2016 Business Leader of the Year honoree in the large business category.
I wasn't able to fit everything he shared with me into my recent profile — and I couldn't bear to leave all these life-lessons on the “cutting room floor.”
So here's some more of Rodney's wit and wisdom for all our readers to ponder and enjoy:
“You make your own destiny and you inflict your own wounds, which can lead you to your destiny if you're making the changes you need to make.”
“'No' doesn't always mean 'no.' 'No' isn't always the final word.”
“If you have a will you have a way and money will follow — if you're right.”
“If you wait on the sure thing, don't run your own business.”
“I like building things, but there's risk involved. You have to be careful and not build too fast.”
“In business today, you have to be willing to recognize your weaknesses and have the willingness and the ability to change course when necessary. If you're satisfied with what you have and want to continue, then continue what you're doing. But if you're not satisfied, you have to change.”
“The secret of any business is to try to convince enough people of the vision you have and to have the staying power to see it all the way through to the end.”
“Life is full of changes and you'd better change if you want to stick around.”
“It's easy to recognize what's wrong, but it's harder to recognize what to do about it.”
“When you are entrepreneurial and you're pursuing a vision, the book is not written yet. You have to write the book.”
“We will not let fear enter our minds here. We have a meeting once a week in my office, 14 or 15 of us. We challenge each other, we disagree with each other, but at the end of the day, when the sun goes down, we're all on the same page. We make decisions together and, bingo, we know before we go forward what our capabilities are. That's why it's critical that we meet regularly. It's all about working together as a team. We will not let fear enter our minds here, because we depend on each other to find the right way.”
“Don't get into the boat alone. Two pulling on the oars is better than one. Five is better than two.”
“We're always looking for new opportunities. We're not resting on our successes and we're aware that new challenges will come up.”
“I don't think there's anything wrong with failure. What matters is what you do after the failure.”
“It's the little things that separate a company from the rest, that make you better. Little things add up and make you better. Little things become big things after a while.”
“If we want Maine to succeed, we have to do it ourselves. It's not going to come from outside the state. We should express to our young people, 'It can be fun.' There are all kinds of success stories in Maine — like ours and those that are waiting to happen.”
“You must always believe in what you are doing and have a great team around you that believes in the goals you and the team have set for yourselves. But you have to be ready to change course when necessary. Most importantly you must never — and I mean NEVER — give up.”
“Maine is the breadbasket of the East. We just don't know it yet.”
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