Next month will mark 20-years since I met Walter Hailey; he walked the talk, had been there, and was purely fulfilled by the role of mentor.
So my first real mentor, outside of Mom and Dad, would have been 89 years old today. And it doesn’t seem possible we all gathered to say goodbye to Walter at a memorial near the River Walk almost 13 years ago.
Walter Hailey was a successful multi-millionaire businessman, born and raised in Mesquite, Texas; he had three companies go public and later became a hero. On researching Walter some and discovering he was the youngest Eagle Scout in Dallas County, I was a little surprised. Walter always shared his early years as the last kid picked in schoolyard games; even being tagged “Itsy Bitsy” for both his physical stature and powerless standing in the grade school community and beyond. But Walter transformed the man he was by reading Napoleon Hill’s “Think and Grow Rich,” declaring himself a “10,” and learning to relate to folks in a way that worked best for them; he eventually bought the insurance company that had ranked him as last man on the corporate totem pole. Hailey’s partners in the transaction were the then-owners of professional football’s Dallas Cowboys and Houston Oilers.
Hailey was an innovative marketer; after creatively guiding three different businesses to go public, he began training entrepreneurs, professionals, and businessmen across North America-that’s when he became a hero. Walter noted dentistry was a profession requiring a huge investment of time and money in clinical training and later business growth. The obstacle to happiness and success was the total lack of training regarding business, communication, and systems. Walter also noted there weren’t too many dentists walking around with “10”s on their foreheads.
Next month will mark 20-years since I first met Walter Hailey. My whole office (All three of us) traveled to Canmoore, Alberta, Canada for that first training. I hadn’t been in a plane since I was 12-years old; had never left LA County for continuing education. If it weren’t for Walter, I would’ve left dentistry within a year, wouldn’t have published a single word, or come anywhere near the “10” I once was before beginning dental school. We now do about 200-hours of continuing education per year and travel all over the country learning. I’ve been writing weekly columns for various local rags for going on…20-years.
Walter walked the talk, had been there, and was purely fulfilled by the role of mentor. You knew he cared; you knew he wouldn’t pull any punches, and you knew he somehow understood. Hailey was, for some of us, the grandpa we never had the chance to know.
One afternoon, Walter called me just to see how I was doing. I replied, “I’m doing great Walter; how’re you doin’?” “Jack, I’m drivin’ down the road but I’m feelin’ so good I can’t even feel the tires touchin’ it!” When I think about what “happy” looks like, I always remember that call.
And when things aren’t necessarily all that “happy”, I have an “I appreciate” note written to me by Walter in 1998 at a “Speech Retreat” he hosted in the Texas hill country. The note reads, “Jack, he is a class guy. I like him. Others do too. Haregi! He cares- great smile. I’m glad he’s part of our team. Power to you! Hailey”
“Haregi” as I learned from Walter, is the Japanese expression of “my gut loves your gut.” Some years have passed by but regarding Walter, truer words I’ve never written.
