Jeffrey P. ORLEANS

Chairman and CEO of Orleans Homebuilders

Sometimes it takes only the simplest wisdom to steer you on the right course.

At a time when I was running two different home-building companies that were a thousand miles apart, I had a talk with my friend Ed Snider. As the original owner of the Philadelphia Flyers, Wachovia Spectrum, and Wachovia Center, to name a few, Ed knows a thing or two about business. He saw me struggling to run the family business in Philadelphia started by my grandfather and the Florida company started by my father. If I could have, I would have split myself in two to manage them both. What I lacked was precisely what I had been to my grandfather for years: a management “team” onsite. Yes, a one-man team, but a resource that freed my grandfather to do what he needed to do.

“Get yourself the right people—the best people,” Ed Snider told me.

The lightbulb went on and, thanks to Ed, I had my “Eureka!” moment. I understood for the first time that even the greatest entrepreneur isn’t going to get ahead without a competent organization behind him. A one-man band can play out of tune, and creativity is easily extinguished when a team isn’t there for backup. I needed to find the right team.

It wasn’t easy. It took some trial and error. I wouldn’t settle for a good management team. I demanded the best one.

Years later, I look back and realize how profound Ed Snider’s “simple” advice was.

And I have never, ever regretted taking it.

Get the best people. They’ll do the best job.