The Carpenter

A Story About the Greatest Success Strategies of All

Jon Gordon

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781118915257
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Personal Success

Bestselling author Jon Gordon returns with his most inspiring book yet—filled with powerful lessons and the greatest success strategies of all.

Michael wakes up in the hospital with a bandage on his head and fear in his heart. The stress of building a growing business, with his wife Sarah, caused him to collapse while on a morning jog. When Michael finds out the man who saved his life is a Carpenter he visits him and quickly learns that he is more than just a Carpenter; he is also a builder of lives, careers, people, and teams.

As the Carpenter shares his wisdom, Michael attempts to save his business in the face of adversity, rejection, fear, and failure. Along the way he learns that there's no such thing as an overnight success but there are timeless principles to help you stand out, excel, and make an impact on people and the world.

Drawing upon his work with countless leaders, sales people, professional and college sports teams, non-profit organizations and schools, Jon Gordon shares anentertaining and enlighteningstory that will inspire you to build a better life, career, and team with the greatest success strategies of all.

If you are ready to create your masterpiece, read The Carpenter and begin the building process today.

Chapter 1
Collapse

The last thing Michael remembered before waking up in the hospital was running through the city streets and thinking about ways to build his company. Now he was lying on his back with wires and machines connected to his body as his wife, Sarah, sat by his side and a nurse stood over him.

“What am I doing here?” he asked groggily. “Did I get hit by a car or something?”

“You passed out on your run,” answered Sarah, who was crying and shaking. In all the years she had known him, she couldn’t recall him having more than a cold, never mind being in the hospital.

“How? Why?” he asked.

“That’s what the doctor is trying to figure out right now. He’s reviewing your tests and should be in shortly,” the nurse said.

“I hope I’m okay,” Michael said as he looked around the room and then at Sarah. She tried to smile and be reassuring but she couldn’t. She was scared and expecting bad news.

Michael lifted his arm and felt a bandage and lump on his head. “How did I get here?”

“The ambulance brought you. Your head hit the ground pretty hard. The EMTs told us that a man saw you collapse and helped you. He used his shirt to stop the bleeding and called 911. He just might have saved your life.”

“Who was it?”

“They didn’t get his name. He just gave them that card sitting on your table.”

Sarah picked up the card and showed it to Michael. It was a simple plain white card with only the word Carpenter and a phone number in black, bold ink.

“Not much of a marketer,” Michael said, coming to his senses and regaining his usual humor.

Sarah’s nervousness turned to laughter as she shook her head. Even while in the hospital he was thinking about business. She was thankful, at least, that he was feeling more normal.

In that moment the doctor walked in and stood over Michael’s bed. “Well, the good news is that you didn’t have a heart attack like I had feared,” he said as he shook Michael’s hand.

“Heart attack!” Michael exclaimed. “I’m too young to have a heart attack!”

“Not necessarily,” the doctor countered. “In fact, your body is warning you that you better slow down and manage your stress or you’ll experience the real thing before too long. Have you been under a lot of stress lately?”

Michael and Sarah looked at each other. “We own a business,” Sarah said. “We’ve been building it together, and with two kids, it’s been a whirlwind.”

“Well I advise you to slow down,” the doctor said as he made eye contact with Michael. “No business or success is worth your health and life. I want you to rest for a few weeks before heading back to work. It will do your heart and your head some good. You have a minor concussion as well. Nothing major or serious but we want your head to heal, too.”

Michael looked at Sarah. Rest was the last thing he needed with everything they had going on.

The doctor walked toward the door but before leaving the room he turned around and said, “You’re lucky this was just a warning. I see people all the time who don’t get a warning like this. Remember, life gives us warnings for a reason. Learn from this. Do things differently. Your health, kids, and future grandkids will be thankful you did.”

Chapter 2
Rest

The next day Michael read and watched television at home as he tried to heed the doctor’s advice. He wouldn’t tell Sarah, but he would rather die than rest. Besides, the thought of her running their business by herself was killing him. From the beginning they had done everything together, and no matter how much they had going on with their children’s school, sports, and activities, neither of them had missed a day of work until now. He knew Sarah was more than capable of running the business. She was the brains behind the software and services they sold, and also ran operations when Michael left early to coach their daughter’s youth basketball team, but he was the driving force behind their revenue and business growth, and the reason their company, Social Connect, had grown exponentially in the past year. He and Sarah had spent a number of years at different tech start-ups before venturing out on their own together. It was a scary feeling knowing that their future and family depended on Social Connect, and Michael was driven to make it a success.

But now his strongest character traits—drive, work ethic, and passion—were affecting his health, and he had no idea what to do. He felt like a baseball pitcher told he could no longer use his fastball. He wanted to go back to work immediately, but Sarah wouldn’t allow it. You’ll be divorced before that happens, she told him. “A few weeks won’t make or break our business, but it will make or break your health,” she said.

Unable to change Sarah’s mind, Michael spent his time pacing around the house, trying to relax and knowing he was failing miserably at it. He stopped in front of his flat-screen TV in the family room, sat on the couch, and thought of the entertainment center Sarah wanted to build. For the first time he could picture it. At first he thought of building it himself, but then laughed at the idea. His father had always said that Michael had better make a lot of money because he would need to hire people to fix things around the house. And Michael did something even better: He married a handy woman who could fix things. Her dad was a mechanic, her brothers were plumbers, and when something broke in the house, the kids went to her instead of him. Yet, building entertainment centers was beyond even her skill set.

Michael then thought of the carpenter who had saved him and remembered he had his card. I really should call to thank him, he thought. But what do you say to a stranger who saved your life? “Hi. You saved my life. Can you build entertainment centers?” Michael found the card on the counter and decided he was just going to say thank you and ask him where he could send a gift. He called the number and after a few rings Michael heard the voice of the man who saved his life: “Hi, I’m not answering my phone right now because I’m building kitchen cabinets at 111 Main Street. I’m putting my heart and soul into these cabinets so I won’t be returning calls until I’m finished with the job. Please know I will give the same attention and care to your work, as well. If you need to talk to me feel free to come by 111 Main Street during my lunch break at noon.”

Michael shook his head. A carpenter who doesn’t say his name on his voicemail and won’t return calls to potential clients. How does he have any clients? Michael wondered. Not only does this guy need a new business card, he also needs a lot of help to build his business.

Chapter 3
The Carpenter

A few days later, after helping Sarah and the kids get ready for school in the morning, Michael took a slow walk in the park. It wasn’t something he wanted to do. It was something Sarah made him do. The doctor advised him to do some light exercise to keep his blood flowing and also said he could do any of his normal activities, besides work, that didn’t cause him stress. After walking, Michael grabbed a water bottle in the kitchen and saw the carpenter’s card still sitting on the counter. He looked at it for a few moments and decided it was time to say thank you in person.

It’s not every day you get to meet the person who saved your life, Michael thought, as he sat in bumper-to-bumper city traffic. What if I don’t like him? We know he’s a horrible marketer. What if he turns out to be a horrible person? Michael considered a number of possibilities as he passed the road construction that was causing the traffic, and decided the man deserved a thank you regardless of the kind of person he was. After all, it’s not every day you need someone to save your life.

At noon Michael pulled up to 111 Main Street, a large, beautiful, newly constructed home with a circular driveway packed with pick-up trucks. When he walked in the front door he saw a bunch of men painting the walls and ceiling as the sounds of hammering and sawing filled the air. He walked to the kitchen and noticed a dark-skinned man with shoulder-length brown hair. He was dressed in blue jeans, brown sandals, and a white t-shirt, and sat at the kitchen table eating lunch. When the man looked up and saw Michael, his eyes lit up. He ran toward him with a big smile and wrapped his arms around him. “Michael, it’s great to see you. You sure look a lot better than the last time I saw you,” he said before letting out a hearty laugh. “I’ve been wondering how you were doing. What a nice surprise!”

“I’m doing well,” Michael said awkwardly. He was not a big hugger and didn’t expect such a warm welcome from a stranger.

The carpenter stepped back and stared at Michael’s forehead before placing his finger near the cut. “It’s healing well,” he said with a big, radiant smile. “I’m thankful to see that.”

“Yeah, me too,” Michael said nervously. “I want to thank you for helping me that day.”

“Oh it was nothing. You would have done the same for me,” said the carpenter as he walked back to the kitchen table and motioned for Michael to sit down with him.

“What exactly happened?” asked Michael.

“Well, it was really early and the sun was just coming up. I was walking to this job, which is how I get to all my jobs, and the next thing I know, I see you running, and then—bam!—you go down like s...