Ted Turner was a wild man.
There’s little debate. He was nicknamed the “Mouth of the South” and “Captain Outrageous” for his many incendiary comments he made as he went from one high profile adventure after another such as successfully defending the America’s Cup in sailing and even being inducted into the sailing Hall of Fame.
But he has been an amazingly successful businessman as well.
He founded CNN and was the first to broadcast TV signals on satellites, in effect launching the entire cable TV industry. He owned the Atlanta Braves in major league baseball and the Atlanta Hawks in professional basketball. He bought MGM/UA along the way, he founded the TNT cable channel…and too many other accomplishments to even list. At one time he was the largest private landowner in the United States. Now he has slipped all the way to #2.
He has also been a powerful force in philanthropy.
He has donate over a billion to charity and has been awarded the Albert Schweitzer Gold Medal for Humanitarianism. He also founded the charitable Goodwill Games.
He’s a good one to listen to when he talks about business.
Here’s his take on top leaders. He should know…he’s met thousands of them.
“I’ve never run into a guy who could win at the top level in anything today and didn’t have the right attitude, didn’t give it everything he had, at least while he was doing it; wasn’t prepared and didn’t have the whole program worked out.” –Ted Turner
Let’s look at those characteristics:
- Had the right attitude
- Gave it everything he had, at least while he was doing it.
- Was prepared.
- Had a detailed game plan.
