Great Throughts Treasury

This site is dedicated to the memory of Dr. Alan William Smolowe who gave birth to the creation of this database.

Mark McCormack, fully Mark Hume McCormack

American Lawyer, Sports Agent for Professional Athletes and Author, Founder and Chairman of International Management Group

"Winners are known as much by the quality of their failure as by the quality of their successes."

"Delegation is the process of building up people, then letting go of a responsibility. It sounds easy, but it almost never is. Egos get in the way. People would rather be perceived as the authority than support the authority or expertise of the people who work for them. "

"All things being equal, people will do business with a friend; all things being unequal, people will still do business with a friend."

"Commit yourself to quality from day one ... it's better to do nothing at all than to do something badly."

"People retire to do what I do every day."

"The Ten Commandments Of Street Smarts - 1. Never underestimate the importance of money. It’s how business people keep score! 2. Never overestimate the value of money. Cash is important, but sometimes not as important as respect, thanks, integrity, or the thrill of a job well done. 3. You can never have too many friends in business… Given a choice always do business with a friend. It’s the best way to leverage your success. 4. Don’t be afraid to say, “I don’t know.” People will respect you much more and will always place more weight on what you do say…because they know you’re right. 5. Speak less… No one ever put their foot in their mouth when they were not speaking. Worse, if you are speaking, you can’t be listening, and we always learn much more from listening. 6. Keep your promises, the big ones and the little ones…both the starting point and the staying point in any business relationship is trust…not suspicion. Someone who does what he says he will do will always succeed over a person who doesn’t keep his word. 7. Every transaction has a life of its own… Some need tender loving care, some need to be hurried away. 8. Commit yourself to quality form day one… It’s better to do nothing at all than to do something badly. 9. Be nice to people…nice gets nice, and all things being equal, courtesy can be very persuasive. 10. Don’t hog the credit…share it. People will work with you and for you if they are recognized. They will also work against you if they are not."