GETTING AHEAD
Having started his post-college career at Mutual Life of America 35 years ago, Moran has been CEO and president of the insurance company – which currently has assets of more than US$13bn – since 1994, and was appointed chairman of the board in 2005. He is also chairman of Concern Worldwide (US) and sits on the boards of many other organisations – both profit and non-profit – including the North American Advisory Board of UCD Michael Smurfit Graduate Business School. His humanitarian work has seen him win numerous awards and honours and he was involved in the peace process in Northern Ireland, with both Tony Blair and Gerry Adams describing his con- tribution as “exceptional”.
‘A leader is someone who shares their own vision and invites people to
participate in it to help to shape it and then go forward together. A leader is someone who doesn’t bark out orders, that’s a boss’
32 UCD BUSINESS CONNECTIONS
Lessons in life Not that Moran, who is of Irish and Italian descent, discloses this information himself. Instead, he talks of his first major lesson in life and business, when he was 14 and working part-time as a janitor in his high school. “I used to take turns with another fellow to mow the football field. I thought he was ancient, but he was probably about 40 years old. I was young and energetic and figured there was no way this old man could beat me in terms of how long it took. And every time he did it, he took half the time I did. “I realised very quickly that this fellow Dominic, an Italian immi- grant, had respect for the job he had and it had become an art form. When I realised that I stopped to study exactly what he was doing. I never quite beat him, but I did catch up with him. From that point on I’ve realised that no matter what job we have, if we treat it with respect we will be respected. Early on in my career that was impor- tant because I didn’t have a big job, but I felt it was important.” Moran’s next role, bussing tables at a fast food restaurant, before working his way up to become the French fries man, brought him into contact with Benny the hotdog man. “Benny used to sing out ‘a pound of bread, a pound of meat, with all the mustard you can eat, give your tongue a sleigh ride’. I learned from Benny that it’s not only that you respect the job and find the rhythm of the job, but that you should also have fun with your job. Benny found a way to make his job fun every day and he made it fun for the rest of us who worked with him.” While putting himself through college, Moran drove a taxi in New
York, which also had a big impact on his long-term view. “I keep a model yellow cab on my desk just to remind me of those days. It’s tough work, but any time anyone starts questioning the existence of the American dream I tell them to speak to the person driving their taxi cab. The American dream is alive and well in the heart of each person driving a cab in New York City. Every person who’s doing it is there to find a better life for themselves or their family.” Another big lesson had happened when he was around 18 years old. “I was sitting at the end of the bar late one night, and there was a fellow there who had amassed a big pile of change on the bar in front of him. He decided to have fun and started throwing the change into the crowd. Everybody started stooping to pick up his money, grabbing it in a kind of frenzy.” That night Moran decided he’d rather work and earn his own money than stoop to pick up someone else’s. “I think what we’ve seen
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