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FROM THE FOUNDER
Mantras to live by
Never give up, act decisively, share the numbers, and lead by example to build a stronger, more resilient firm.
A fter more than 55 years of working in my own and others’ privately-held businesses, there are certain mantras I have grown to live by. Maybe some of these will be helpful to our readers.
Here are a few of them:
“There is always something you can do.” This one has been critical to me and I use it in every aspect of my life. It goes along with one of my late father’s favorite mantras – “Decide. Act.” Make a decision. Act on it. Paralysis and inaction are rarely the path to success. You have to keep trying new things to get through whatever mess you are in. And there is a big difference in experimentation and failure that I think deserves some attention here. Experiments don’t all work out. But you don’t fail until you stop experimenting. Otherwise you are still on the path to success.
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Mark Zweig
“If you never give up you never fail.” I have already gone on the record with my complaints about the “failure mentality” that seems to be preached constantly these days by supposed “entrepreneurship experts.” They advocate failing early, failing often, and that all successful people fail with their first business, along with a bunch of other nonsense that gives people the idea that failing is normal and great. But I have a different idea. Mine is to never give up. The stain of failure is not a badge of honor. I don’t want to be tainted by it myself. When you work in a tight- knit industry or community, no one ever forgets your failures. And they won’t trust you the same way they will someone else who hasn’t had big failures in their past.
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■ “HR problems, if ignored, will either mushroom or go away.” This may seem obvious but it again lends itself to taking action if you really understand what I am saying here. “Going away”
See MARK ZWEIG, page 8
THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 15, 2025, ISSUE 1613
ELEVATE THE INDUSTRY®
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