CHAPTER
17
The Future
Herb, who is now in his mid-eighties, says he gets calls every week from investment firms who are interested in buying Caliper. “The conversations are always interesting,” he says. “At the very least it gives me insights into what investors believe my company is worth. But I am not interested in hanging up my hat. Why would I retire? To pursue what? What could I possibly enjoy more?”
He reflects, “The reality is, if money meant a damn to me, I’d sell Caliper tomorrow. I’d retire very comfortably. My children would be very comfortable. I wouldn’t have to work another day of my life. But so what? I would be completely unfulfilled if I did that.”
What do you still want to do?
“I want to make Caliper all that it should be,” he says. “Mainly, what I want is for Caliper to grow, to be seen, to be appreciated, to make the kind of impact that our philosophy is capable of making.” He pauses, then adds, “My hope is that I built something important. I know it is the gold standard. I’d like everyone to know that. That is what I want to focus on in whatever years I have left to work. Those are my hopes and dreams.”
Caliper is about your identity.
“Absolutely. No question,” he says. “In addition, though, my attitude toward retirement is that when people do stop working, they have a tendency to die soon afterward. They get very old. They retire at, say 65, and they are vigorous. They are at the height of their powers, then they take up golf or whatever, and a couple of years later, you meet them and they’re old already. And a couple of years after that, you’re at their funeral. I’m convinced (and this is a very important point for me, personally) that the brain is the most important muscle you have. And you have to exercise it, just like you have to exercise all of your other muscles. If you don’t, it is going to decay. It’s that simple, in my view.”
You have to keep moving.
“That’s my opinion. When you get to my age, there are constant reminders that time is precious. I was just at City College, where I and a few other alumni were honored, and Floyd Lane was sitting next to me. He was part of the City College basketball team that won both the NCAA and the NIT championships. I can remember him flipping the ball to Eddie Warner, who would drive down and score. Well, Floyd is still with us, but Eddie and most of the rest of them are gone.”
When you consider that, do you realize that you are one of the lucky ones? Or do you think that it is sad that they’re not around anymore?
“Both things, really. I think it puts me in a frame of mind where I’m in even more of a hurry to get everything done that I can get done.”
I get it. Some people might figure they are going to just slow down and smell the roses, as they say. But you are thinking, “I’ve got a lot of things that I need to get done.”
“Right. That’s me,” Herb says, then adds, “It’s not that I have a specific goal or a checklist. I just want to do a bunch of things that add up to giving back some of what I got. And I got a lot. So I have a lot that I want to give back.”
That’s a great message. Let me squeeze in one last question: What about the future of Caliper? How are you feeling about your company’s future?
“Well, my son Mark is now president, so that brings a great sense of continuity. And we are surrounded by an executive team that has been with us through the hard times and through some of the best times. And, of course, I have no plans of going anywhere. So I am feeling optimistic. Very optimistic.”
In the meantime, Herb keeps moving, always searching, continually striving to be “just a little better.” Just recently, he was asked to speak on a panel with several other distinguished business leaders at the White House, his life’s work was featured in Fortune and Inc. magazines, New York University just honored him with a Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award, and his alma mater City College honored him with a gala, commemorating his achievements, his philanthropy, and his moxie.
Fighting Illness
For just shy of two years, Herb has been battling cancer, which came upon him, as it all too frequently does, out of the blue.
Do you mind talking about what you’re going through right now?
“I don’t,” Herb says, “particularly if it might help someone else.”
How are you feeling?
“Right now, the only time that I feel sick is occasionally when I am trying to eat. This thing has really impacted my appetite,” he says.
What is the worst thing about it?
“I’ve always resented feeling that I can’t change things. And this disease could make me feel that way if I let it,” he says. “But I won’t. Instead, I’m doing everything in my power to fight it. But it is clear that there are things that I cannot control. In other words, if I reach a certain level of being tired, late in the day, I’m not going to fight through it. I’m going to just go home from work an hour or two early, if I need to, then be back the next morning. I’m rolling with it, but I am also determined to beat it.”
When you first found out you had cancer, how did it hit you?
“I couldn’t believe it. I mean, that’s just not me. I was feeling perfectly well, so it just didn’t jive with what I felt was going on,” he says. “But, first some blood work, then x-rays and MRIs erased any doubts I might have had.”
Was it hard to accept that you had cancer?
He pauses, then slowly says, “I accept that I have it. My lack of appetite, my inability to sleep sometimes, the occasional pain, all that physical stuff lets me know that something is going on. And, of course, I have all the medicine to take, which is an added reminder. But I am waging the battle as it needs to be waged. I’m researching whether there are alternative approaches that my doctors are not considering. But I’m not obsessed about it. You know, I’m just mostly annoyed by it.”
Was there any point where you wanted to just rant and rave?
“No. Not really,” he says. “What good would that do? I’m not really wondering about ‘Why me?’ I’m just trying to get on the other side of this.”
That reminds me of how you described your initial reaction to going blind.
“I actually resent the cancer more than the blindness,” he replies, “because the cancer threatens to wipe me out altogether. I don’t think it will, but there is that threat. So I resent it a little more.” He adds, “What it probably gives me is even more of a sense of urgency than I usually have, if you can imagine such a thing. You know, I want to get everything done in case, at a certain point, I’m not around. I want to make sure that whatever I can provide has been provided.”
When you are researching about cancer and treatments, what frame of mind are you able to put yourself in? Because your research is obviously very personal.
“Now you’re going to a scary place, trying to get me to describe how I think,” Herb says, smiling at the thought. “I just do it the way I do anything. I am not interested in finding separations between traditional and alternative medicine. I just want to know what works. So I’ll explore anything and everything.”
In many ways, the personal and the professional have always blended for you.
“I know what you’re saying,” he says. “When you are a leader, and you recognize a threat, something kicks into high gear.” He adds, “It’s like in 2009 when the Great Recession hit and we sought the best counsel humanly possible, looking for consistency as well as any insights that might hint at a way out of that situation. You just have to keep looking and believing—in yourself and in the world around you.”
Besides improving Caliper, is there anything else you feel an urgent need to do?
“I’d like to go on a cruise,” he says. “Then I say to myself, wait a minute. Who am I to think about going on a cruise? (I’ve been on a dozen or more of them.) But how can I possibly be the guy going on a cruise? That image clashes, if you know what I’m saying.”
Clashes with what?
“Well, because I’m poor, I’m broke, I have no money. I can buy a girl an ice cream soda for nine cents, and that’s about all.”
Are you talking about when you were growing up?
“I’m reflecting,” he says. “When I feel sick, I reflect back to when I was young and the young Herb Greenberg is lying here, saying, ‘Who the hell am I to go on a cruise?’ “
So there’s a young Herb Greenberg inside of you who never thought he could possibly go on a cruise?
“Exactly,” he says, nodding. “And my cruise back then was the Staten Island Ferry.”
It is a time of bringing together the best of the past with the possibilities of the future.
“It is. That’s a good way of putting it,” he says.
If you don’t mind my asking, what is your biggest fear right now?
“There are two fears, really. One is that I won’t be able to continue to tolerate the medicine. The other is that as they adjust the medicine so that I can tolerate it better, I won’t be getting enough medicine to keep the cancer at bay,” he says, then pauses. “You see, I don’t want people to feel that I’m in a life-and-death situation right now. I just need to carry on. And beat this thing. I’m certainly not prepared to say, the hell with it, I’ll just live the remainder of my life as fully as I can for the next ‘X’ period of time, and then quietly die. That’s not me.”
Do not go gently into that good night, right?
“No. Absolutely not. I still have much to do.” Pausing, he adds, “I want to make sure that Caliper carries on with the same intensity, the same passion, the same zest that I created. And I’d like to make sure that our concepts have more of an impact on people’s lives—on making this cockeyed world just a little better.”
Advice for a Young Entrepreneur
What advice might you have for someone who asked you what it takes to be an entrepreneur?
“Well, the first thing is money,” Herb says, smiling. “It really is a question of if they have enough money—at least enough to survive their early, unexpected failures, which are going to be inevitable.”
In your case, you borrowed the money.
“Right. However you get it,” he says, “you have to be comfortable with owing money. More than you’ve ever owed before. And realize that that is the cost of trying to build your own business. The next question is, How tough are you? Can you survive a beating? Of course, I don’t mean physically. But can your ego survive the difficulties, rejections, and even failures that are bound to happen?”
How long do you need for your money to last?
“You just never know,” he says, shaking his head. “In our case, we borrowed all we could get. But even with three months free rent, we ran out of it very quickly. All I can say for sure is that you need to have as much money as you have moxie.” He pauses, then adds, “I’m not trying to be discouraging. It’s just what you need to enter the game.”
Like a boxer would not enter the ring without expecting to get punched a couple of times?
“Right. You’re going to take a beating, financially and emotionally. And the odds are against you. So you have to be willing to enter a situation where you know that you probably will not make it—while you absolutely believe that you will. You’ve got to know somewhere deep inside that you can take it, that you are in it to the end, whenever that may be. You have to know that what you are pursuing is worth it and that it means that much to you. So when you get knocked down, you can pick yourself back up and go at it again. Even though you might lose rounds five and six, a championship bout is 12 rounds. You’ve got to be willing to lose some of those rounds and still believe that you will win the match. Through all of that, you’ve got to be willing to bleed.”
That’s an interesting phrase. To bleed?
“Sure. You’re going to bleed,” he says. “If you are on the cutting edge, pursing something that you are passionate about, giving it your all because you see that it could be your future, you’re going to bleed.”
But then all you need are some Band-Aids.
Questions to Ask Yourself About Your Future
These questions are posed for you to consider as you create your own vision, tap into your personal strengths, and pursue your own leadership journey. Your answers to these questions will provide a starting point to consider the role that your view about the future plays into your approach to leadership. You are encouraged to consider these questions at different times, as your answers will undoubtedly evolve and change as your leadership journey unfolds.
1. Do you know the next step in your leadership journey?
2. Do you know who could replace you in your current position? Have you been grooming him or her to replace you?
3. Are you ready to let go of your current responsibilities?
4. Are you ready to take on new leadership responsibilities?
5. What appeals to you most about taking on these responsibilities?
6. What will you miss most about what you are currently doing?
7. Do you have a trusted advisor?
8. Are you a trusted advisor to someone else?
9. What are your trusted conversations about?
