When Rodney Brady began his career about 40 years ago, he started keeping two lists of lessons - one on governing business life and another on governing personal matters.
"As I developed these two lists, it became more and more evident to me that there is overlap," Brady told the Salt Lake Rotary Club on Tuesday. "To manage a company, people need to manage themselves."Brady is president and CEO of Deseret Management Corps., a corporate holding company that oversees the profit-making, tax-paying firms owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints including the Deseret News.
His career has been wide ranging and includes a term as president of Weber State University; a term as president and CEO of Bonneville International Corp.; and a job as assistant secretary for administration and management of the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare.
He also has served on many corporate boards in private industry and has been a leader in a variety community and charitable or-ga-ni-za-tions.
Along the way, Brady said he discovered it's impossible to separate personal success - defined in terms of a happy family life, solid personal ethics and good behavior - with business success, which also calls for harmonious relationships, strong ethics and good behavior.
He compiled a list of 15 lessons that he said could apply in business, government, education and community service.
Among other things, Brady said he has learned it is possible to do well financially while doing good in the community. Individuals and businesses who believe that and put it into practice "not only strengthen our community and society in general, but they often prosper as well," he said.
Brady also lauded the importance of setting goals, perseverance, developing a well-balanced life, improving communication skills, putting family first and making an effort each day to be better tomorrow, often by finding an attribute in another to emulate.
Another important tip, he said, is to make some quiet time to think about and establish a set of personal beliefs and ethics to guide behavior. "Many of the major mistakes people make in life are made on the spur of the moment and under stress," Brady said. "Let's decide ahead of time."
It's also essential to develop good interpersonal relationship skills. "The ability to relate effectively with and deal with other people allows one to accomplish much in cooperative action," he said. "The key to interpersonal relationships is the development of a genuine, selfless concern for others."
Brady said he has seen a lack of empathy most often in business - and it can have dire results. "The most skillful accountant, engineer, scientist, attorney, whatever, hits a barrier and cannot excel because of the lack of interpersonal skills."
Another lesson: Remember that life is meant to be joyful.
"A positive, upbeat, optimistic and enthusiastic attitude can carry one through times of difficulty and can catapult one to heights of satisfaction and success far beyond one's greatest aspirations," Brady said.