Successful People are …

I am Charlotte, and I am reviewing the Chapter: Successful People Are Professionals and Entrepreneurs.

‘Doctor lawyer businessman’ is the commonly heard refrain among Jewish people deciding on an occupation.

A Jewish mother is walking down the street with her two young sons. A passerby asks her how old the boys are.
“The doctor is three, and the lawyer is two.” The mother answers.

The Jews apply the principle of delayed gratification.

By the middle of the twentieth century, 20% of Jewish males were professionals, 35% were proprietors. The Jewish females are not left out. By the year 1980, nearly half of thirty year old female Jews had professional occupations. A 1980 study of Jewish female college freshmen found that 9% wanted to become lawyers, 6% elementary school teachers; business managers 6%; doctors, 6% and secondary school teachers, 1%.

From 1881 to 1910, the Eastern European Jews poured into the slum of New York, Boston, Philedelphia, Cleveland, Chicago and Detroit. Conditions were terrible. Small two bedroom apartments often housed twenty people, and the occupants slept in shifts.
This did not stop them, as Jews have proved to be succesful as professionals and entrepreneurs. Today, forty percent of partners in the leading law firms in New York and Washington are Jewish. The American Medical Association estimates that Jewish Physicians total about 100,000 of the 815,000 doctors in the US. The Jews also pioneered great discoveries in medicine.

Jews have made great contributions and impacts in the various pillars of society. Macy, Sears, Bloomingdale’s, Saks, Fifth Avenue are all Jewish owned. By 2008, Jewish individuals account for 31% of the forbes 400 list.

What is to be learnt from the Jews on professionalism and entrepreneurship?
1. Pursue a professionalism career, but be prepared to turn into an entrepreneur.
2. Within your career, leave time for entrepreneurial pursuits.
3. Pursue new opportunities or areas that are outside the mainstream.

(Book Review.. Jewish Phenomenon)