LU alum, biz whiz speaks at university. Check it out:
(Beaumont Enterprise, The (Texas) (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Sep. 29--Jack M. Gill spent about nine years in college earning degrees in chemistry, engineering and organic chemistry and today runs a $500 million venture capital firm and teaches entrepreneurship at Ivy League schools.
But the Lamar University alumnus never set foot in a business class, and as he told scores of young entrepreneurial hopefuls packed into the Galloway Business Building's Landes Auditorium on Thursday: They don't have to, either.
Becoming a successful entrepreneur has as much to do with a person's leadership qualities and interpersonal skills as with formal business education said Gill, the featured speaker for the Lamar Institute of Entrepreneurial Studies Executive Lecture Series.
"It's usually the people who are really bright but just a few notches below the highest guys in the class," Gill said. "It's not just native, raw intelligence that's going to get you there, it's a whole lot of things."
Studying successful business, political and cultural leaders throughout world history, Gill said education level is not the primary source of success for many of them.
All of those leaders, however, do share qualities such as confidence to take risks, the ability to attract and motivate people and, most of all, determination and what Gill termed "street savvy," which comes from life experiences.
Gill cited media mogul Oprah Winfrey, former presidents Ronald Reagan and Bill Clinton, and college dropouts Bill Gates of Microsoft and Michael Dell of Dell Computers as examples.
They, similar to many leaders who have excelled, have a "unique mix" of several different qualities other than intelligence, he said.
Allen Perkins, a junior music business major, said Gill's emphasis on leadership energized him.
"I actually own a book that describes exactly what he's talking about," said Perkins, 22. "Now I plan to put that book into action."
Perkins said he plans to apply Gill's lesson of listening to people who have expertise in areas Perkins might not be familiar with to accomplish his personal business goals.
"Now I have more confidence that I can use my ideas," Perkins said.
Lamar's next business lecture will be in November, College of Business dean Henry Venta said.
Rick Neal, Lamar alumnus and chief financial officer for McCoys Building Supply, will be the featured speaker for the ExxonMobil Executive in Residence Series, Venta said.
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