On September 26, 1855, 16-year-old John D. Rockefeller got a job as a bookkeeping clerk. By 1916, the young man with humble beginnings had become America’s most successful businessman and the world’s first billionaire. In Outliers, author Malcolm Gladwell estimates today Rockefeller would’ve been worth around $318.3 billion. In 2021, Rockefeller would’ve almost been worth Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos put together.
So, how did the pious son of a snake oil salesman make this “rags to riches” story a reality?
Rockefeller held five very distinct leadership traits that led to his success. Yet, they’re all attributes any entrepreneur can apply to their own businesses for increased growth and profitability.
Find out more information below on John D. Rockefeller, what leadership qualities he exhibited, and how to implement them into your own company.
Who Was John D. Rockefeller?
John D. Rockefeller was an oil tycoon who got his start in Cleveland, Ohio. At the dawn of the Civil War, Rockefeller started his first company, Clark & Rockefeller. Rockefeller and his business partner, Maurice Clark, acted as produce dealers. Their biggest client was the Union Army. The business performed so well, Rockefeller decided he could not participate in the war. He instead decided to hire other soldiers to fight on his behalf. As the war came to an end, Rockefeller transitioned to the oil refining business.
Unlike his competitors, Rockefeller found ways to use oil byproducts instead of disposing of them as waste. For example, in addition to producing kerosene, his company made gasoline, tar, petroleum jelly, lubricating oil, and more.
Several years later, he went into business with his brother William Rockefeller Jr., industrialist Henry Flager, and a chemist named Samuel Andrews. Their partnership, Rockefeller, Andrews & Flagler, became wildly successful thanks to Rockefeller’s strong business acumen and money management principles.
Rockefeller and Standard Oil
In 1870, Rockefeller dissolved the partnership and incorporated Standard Oil. From the jump, Standard Oil worked to stamp out competitors by buying up their refineries. Despite the constant barrage of bad press, Rockefeller went on to monopolize America’s oil industry. Public outcry reached a new height in 1904 after the release of The History of the Standard Oil Company. The exposé was written by journalist Ida Tarbell whose father, oil producer Frank Tarbell, had fallen victim to Rockefeller’s monopoly.
Two years later, the U.S. Attorney General sued Standard Oil of New Jersey and all entities under the company’s trust for violating the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890. Standard Oil lost the case but appealed to the Supreme Court. In 1911, the company received a “death blow” when the justices forced its dissolution. As a result, Standard Oil broke up into 34 different companies. This move gave birth to what would later become oil giants like Exxon, Mobil, Conoco, and Amoco. Because Rockefeller still held stock in all of the new companies, he became even wealthier.
John D. Rockefeller’s Top 5 Qualities for Leadership Success
Some believe Rockefeller was a criminal, while others view him as a philanthropic saint. Instead of labeling him as either, it’s more beneficial for entrepreneurs to learn why he was so successful. Below are the top five leadership qualities John D. Rockefeller deployed that all business owners can learn from.
1. Be Persistent and Have a Strategy for Achieving Goals
One of the best leadership traits of John D. Rockefeller was his resilience. When he set a goal, he did what it took to accomplish it. As a teenager, his number one goal in life was to get a job at a respectable business. After attending a 10-week college program, he mapped out a plan for the businesses he would approach. “I did not go after any small establishments. I did not guess what it would be, but I was after something big,” Ron Chernow, author of Titan, says Rockefeller once explained.
But the odds were stacked against him. Cleveland was a boomtown. The population was escalating with out-of-town transplants looking for work. No rightful business owner wanted to give a child a job when they could hire an experienced worker. Yet, failure wasn’t an option. Rockefeller wanted to be emancipated from his bigamist father, “Devil Bill.” Because of this, there was no other choice: he would get a job.
Finally, after walking into the office of produce commissaries Hewitt and Tuttle, he received a job. Rockefeller stated this day defined his entire life.
To set and achieve goals like Rockefeller:
Be specific about what you want to accomplish.
For example, Rockefeller wanted a job that allowed him to start building experience in the business world.
Challenge yourself by setting goals that aren’t easily obtained.
Even though he faced constant rejection, he still believed in himself. He knew that with perseverance, he would get a job.
Develop a strategy for achievement.
As a youngster, Rockefeller knew he’d need a calculated plan to get the job he wanted. During his job hunt, he stayed in a boarding house nearby. Six days a week, he would dress sharply, leave the house, and begin walking into the offices of businesses he wanted to work for. Although only 16, he exuded professionalism and confidence. Instead of meekly asking for work, he always asked to speak with the highest man in the office. Business after business turned him away, but his plan and persistence paid off.
Put in the work and time required to make your goal a reality.
For six weeks, Rockefeller worked tirelessly at getting a job.
Eliminate self-sabotaging behaviors.
For instance, imagine what would’ve become of J.D. Rockefeller if he had let limiting beliefs and self-doubt crush him in his fifth week of struggling to find work?
Celebrate your accomplishments when you obtain your goals.
The day Rockefeller received a job was so important to him, he celebrated September 26th as “Job Day” until the day he died.
Learn more about goal-setting.
2. Have a “Why” That Drives Passion
There was a reason John D. Rockefeller was relentless when it came to increasing his wealth. As a devoutly religious man, he believed God gave him the gift of making money so he could help those who were less fortunate. In an interview with William Hoster, captured in the God’s Gold, Rockefeller stated, “Having been endowed with the gift I possess, I believe it is my duty to make money and still more money and to use the money I make for the good of my fellow man according to the dictates of my conscience.”
The business magnate truly believed God’s purpose for him was to make money so he could use it to improve society. As he wrote in Random Reminiscences of Men and Events, “I know of nothing more despicable and pathetic than a man who devotes all the hours of the waking day to the making of money for money’s sake.” During his lifetime, The New York Times reports he gave away $530,853,632 from 1855 to 1934.
The majority of these multi-million dollar gifts went to his foundations: the Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research, the Rockefeller Foundation, the Laura Spelman Rockefeller Memorial, and the General Education Board. He also provided the dollars to finance The University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. The scientific research he funded provided vaccines for meningitis and yellow fever. He also created the RSC, an organization that eliminated hookworm, a disease that plagued 40 percent of those living in the South. On top of this, Rockefeller’s money went toward improving public health, training medical professionals, increasing educational opportunities, and supporting churches.
To find your purpose and passion to fuel business growth:
Determine what cause you’re willing to make sacrifices for.
The Latin root word of passion is “pati,” meaning “to suffer or endure.” Although Rockefeller was loathed and constantly slandered in the newspapers, he was undeterred because he believed in and was fully aligned with his purpose.
Get clear on why you want a world-changing business.
Being clear about what you want to accomplish is paramount. Working through vision and mission statements can bring a greater understanding of the purpose and goals of your business. For instance, The Rockefeller Foundation’s 1913 mission statement—“to promote the well-being of humanity throughout the world”—has remained unchanged to this day. The philanthropist’s personal mission fell in line with this statement and fueled his success.
Work through Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle.
While Rockefeller and current leadership expert Simon Sinek are from different eras, they’d agree that purpose drives growth and prosperity. Sinek’s best-seller, Start with Why, is an excellent source for learning how to lead a company with a purpose that fosters a sense of connection and belonging.
Check out this article to walk through the concepts taught in Start with Why.
3. Look for Places to Save Money
Standard Oil became a trillion-dollar business because Rockefeller integrated strategies that cut waste and saved the business and customers money. One of the ways he accomplished this was by vertically integrating the company. Costs were kept down by eliminating third-parties. For example, instead of buying wooden barrels for storing or transporting oil, Rockefeller supplied his own timber and manufactured his own barrels. By taking ownership of the supply chain, the business cut the price of oil. For instance, in 1860, the cost of a barrel of oil was $9.59. By 1890, the cost went down to $0.77. Because Standard Oil was saving money, they were in a position to ramp up production, allowing the eventual control of the market.
To find ways to cut costs in your own business:
Look for answers in the numbers.
Rockefeller started his career as a bookkeeper and was particularly gifted in this area of business. Even as he grew Standard Oil and hired accountants, he stayed involved in the place where he was most skilled. “For Rockefeller, ledgers were sacred books that guided decisions and saved one from fallible emotion. They gauged performance, exposed fraud, and ferreted out hidden inefficiencies,” writes Ron Chernow in Titan.
While you don’t need to be an accountant to run a company, it is important to have an excellent one on your team. On top of this, meeting regularly with them to discuss financial changes, make business decisions, and find places to save is incredibly important.
Eliminating waste and inefficiencies helped to make Rockefeller the world’s wealthiest man. When meeting with your accountant, make sure to go over expenses to find where the company may be losing money. For example, look at invoices for contract work, maintenance fees, shipping expenses, and other regular costs. Next, develop a plan for cutting down on these expenses. This might look like hiring a full-time web developer with reasonable fees for fixing things at a moment’s notice. It could also mean eliminating expenses that don’t positively affect the company’s bottom line.
4. Master Your Feelings and Emotions
When he was younger, Rockefeller was said to have had a temper. Yet, as he got older, he practiced self-mastery to gain complete control over his emotions. His calm composure and quiet demeanor were two leadership qualities that propelled him to the top. Chernow writes, “As one director recalled, ‘I have seen board meetings when excited men shouted profanity and made menacing gestures, but Mr. Rockefeller, maintaining the utmost courtesy, controlled the room.’” Above all, he valued harmony, which often led to him crafting compromises.
Consensus, rather than ego, ruled Standard Oil.
To master your emotions like Rockefeller:
Be generous in forgiveness.
Bits & Pieces reported that one day a team member at Standard Oil made a grave mistake that cost the company a great deal of money. That day, nearly everyone made excuses for canceling their meetings with the president. The one employee that kept his meeting said Rockefeller taught him an immense lesson on forgiveness. Rockefeller had a piece of paper in front of him. “Across the top of the page was written, ‘Points in favor of Mr. _______.’ There followed a long list of the man’s virtues, including a brief description of how he had helped the company make the right decision on three separate occasions that had earned many times the cost of his recent error.” It’s an exercise in emotional control that is still relevant to any CEO, leader, or manager in charge of team members. Mistakes will be made—how you handle them matters.
Hold your cards close.
Rockefeller used silence and controlled emotion to his advantage in business. He rarely gave interviews and stayed away from the newspapers, knowing his words could be twisted against him. Instead, he leaned into acting mysterious, which he noticed increased his influence.
Being quiet was also a skill when discussing business deals. The less Rockefeller talked, the more people worried. This made him an excellent negotiator. Instead of oversharing or talking for the sake of talking, practice taking the position of the listener.
5. Stay Humble Despite Your Success
Although at one point he was the world’s richest man, Rockefeller led with humility. At work, people called him “The Sponge” because he would walk around the premises with a notepad, asking his employees questions and writing down their answers. Always looking for ways to improve the business, he valued his workers’ perspectives and listened to their opinions, no matter what position they held.
Because he wasn’t ego-driven, his executives respected him even more, which increased his influence among them. Instead of sitting at the head of the boardroom table during meetings, he gave this position to the person he most frequently disagreed with, Charles Pratt. Rockefeller sat close to the middle of the table, so he wouldn’t be distinguished as the person in charge. He preferred to balance the room rather than control it.
Here’s a few ways to grow humility alongside success:
Rockefeller prayed at least twice every single day. Expressing gratitude or journaling each morning and night are great ways to focus upon the blessings in life that can be easily taken for granted.
Get involved in your community.
Participating in philanthropic work is a great way to stay humble and connect with those in your community. This was one of Rockefeller’s main purposes in life. Aside from the hundreds of millions of dollars he contributed, he also gave away 35,000 dollars worth of dimes—giving one dime to each person he met. Most of the recipients of these dimes were kids. Before letting them go on their way, he’d share a quick lesson on saving their money. Gift-giving is a strong strategy for connecting with those in your community and staying humble.
Take a moment to retrospectively think about your success.
The world’s richest man would often lie in bed at night thinking about how different life could’ve been. He would ask questions like, “What if it were all gone?” or “What if I would’ve never received a job?” Imagining different outcomes kept him humble because he realized the fragility of success. While Rockefeller might’ve taken this exercise to the extreme, it’s not a bad idea to spend an hour or so every month to reflect on growth. For example, read back on journal entries or goals you had a year ago, take time to express gratitude to those who’ve helped you along your journey, and find the areas you need to challenge yourself more.
What Other Leadership Qualities do Leaders Need?
Throughout John D. Rockefeller’s life, he sharpened his natural people skills into leadership qualities that guided his company toward monumental growth. Working in alignment with his natural gifts, he developed into one of the 20th-century’s most famous and successful businessmen. The effects of his legacy, especially from his philanthropic endeavors, have long surpassed his death in 1937. For example, since its establishment in 1901, The Rockefeller Institute for Medical Research has produced 26 Nobel Prize Winners with spectacular contributions to physiology, medicine, and chemistry. Love him or hate him, Rockefeller’s life is an example of what leaders can accomplish when they work in partnership with their greatest strengths.
Ready to find out your top abilities and how to tap into them? Interested in increasing the number of leadership skills in your toolbox?
Read this article next for more information: Leadership Qualities: 25 Traits of Effective Leaders.