Higher Ground

His name is William Weisz but you can call him Bill.

Always better to be friendly, says the retired Chairman and CEO of Motorola, the giant electronics firm with 140,000 employees worldwide. Bill is happy to share the secret of success, he says.

Uphold the highest values every second of every day in all things. Be impeccably honest. Have integrity and live a life congruent with your beliefs. Pursue the highest standard of excellence. And work like hell.

Be kind. Compassionate, but don’t take any baloney. Be fair. And respect everyone. Let your behavior be a model to others, then he says, you will be like a giant magnet drawing to you happiness, wealth, and success. “The true test of leadership,” he says, “is if people trust your integrity.”

He learned it all from his father, whom he adored and who died when he was 17, right before college which meant no money for tuition. A man in the Chicago office where Bill was an office boy had gone to MIT and encouraged him to apply. “Without that scholarship there was no way I would have been able to attend,” says Weisz, who since has enabled scores of students to attend MIT. He and his wife, Barbara, 21 years ago established the William J. and Barbara B. Weisz Undergraduate Scholarship Fund. “We just wanted to help kids who wanted to be helped.”

People first

At Motorola, the people came first. Bill never wore a suit jacket because he didn’t want to send the message he was different from the workers. No executive dining rooms or washrooms, he says. People are equal.

Bill was famous for writing personal letters. He wrote thousands. Once he wrote an employee who saved his letter for 34 years.

Millions of resumes crossed his desk. He did not pass one to personnel. Instead he wrote a note saying thank you. “People,” he says, “have a right to be heard.”

Bill always took his calls. “If a customer called with a complaint and asked to talk to me, I’d take that call no matter what, even if I were in a meeting. If you don’t,” he says, “you lose touch with the world.”

He became an engineer at Motorola in 1948, the year he graduated from MIT. Fast he was promoted — VP, executive VP, president, COO, vice chairman, CEO, then Chairman. “I never said I’m going to be the CEO. I just said, I’m going to do my best,” says Bill, who simply worked hard and lived his principles.

“The way you achieve high ideals in this society is that everybody in society adheres to high ideals every minute of every day. If the CEO doesn’t act that way, then people down the line won’t.

“People learn what’s expected. If it’s expected the way to treat the government is by giving them shoddy parts, that’s what they learn. If you want quality out of a production line, you don’t ask how many units they produce every day and once every six months ask for quality. You ask for quality first. You teach by daily activity of what you want.”

Family together

The best advice Bill ever heard was if you ask for perfection, you’ll be amazed how often you get it. “We have people in plants that go years without making a mistake. Factories have gone six years without missing a scheduled delivery. You just start talking that way. You get people believing they can do it, and you’ll be amazed what they will do.”

People really should strive to be perfect, says Weisz, who knows that he is not. Many times, he says, he has lost his temper or hurt someone’s feelings. The next day he calls or visits them to say he is wrong and to ask forgiveness. It’s important to admit our mistakes, he says. “It helps set the standard.

“You better be a good example if you’re trying to create high standards in an organization or in a family,” he says, adding when you work long hours it is easy for a family to come apart. Keep it together, says Weisz, whose wife accompanied him on nearly every trip he made outside the country. They toured factories and hosted dinners together. Their three children worked summers at Motorola. Earlier he was involved in his children’s Cub Scout and YMCA activities. “You mustn’t say you’re so busy you can’t be involved. Start by saying you’re going to do what you can, and somehow you find that you can do it.”

For fun, he plays golf, reads mysteries, and visits his four grandchildren. Often he passes on to them the teachings his own father gave to him, the knowledge that has been the real wealth of his life.

“I say, believe that in this society you can do anything you want to do. You can get to be anywhere you want to be, as long as you’re willing to spend the time and effort, and as long as you maintain the highest values.

“Don’t be afraid. There’s plenty of room to grow in any field in this country and a lot of other countries. You won’t be forgotten in a big company. Most big companies immediately spot really good people. Don’t be afraid to tackle anything, and I really do mean anything. Just be positive and optimistic ’cause there’s a hell of a lot to be optimistic about.”

by Liz Karagianis

On Topic: alumni/ae, business