The rich often "groom" their children or the children of others. By doing so, their children gain an overall knowledge of the opera- tions of the business and how the various departments in- terrelate. For the World War II generation, it was considered your field, make sure the company you work for is union- ized. Labor unions are designed to protect specialists. My educated dad, after falling from grace with tfie gov- ernor, became the head of the teachers union in Hawaii. He told me that it was the hardest job he ever held. My rich dad, on the other hand, spent his life doing his best to keep his companies from becoming unionized. He was successful. Although the unions came close, rich dad was always able to fight them off. Personally, I take no sides because I can see the need for and the benefits of both sides. If you do as school rec- ommends, become highly specialized, then jeekunion protection. For example, had I continued on with my fly- ing career, I would have sought a company that had a strong pilots union. Why? Because my life would be dedi- cated to learn a skill that was valuable in only one indus- try. If I were pushed out of that industry, my life's skills would not be as valuable to another industry. A displaced senior pilot-with 100,000 hours of heavy airline transport time, earning $150,000 a year-would have a hard time finding an equivalent high-paying job in schoolteaching. The skills do not necessarily transfer from industry to in- dustry, because the skills the pilots are paid for in the air- line industry are not as important in, say, the school system. The same is true even for doctors today. With all the changes in medicine, many medical specialists are needing to conform to medical organizations such as HMOs. Schoolteachers definitely need to be union members. Today in America, the teachers union is the largest and the richest labor union of all. The NEA, National Education As- sociation, has tremendous political clout. Teachers need Work to Learn-Don't Work for Money 183 "bad" to skip from company to company. Today, it is con- sidered smart. Since people will skip from company to company, rather than seek greater specialization, why not seek to "Igarn" more than "earn"? In the short term, it may earn you less. In the long term, it will pay off in large div- idends. The main management skills needed for success are: 1. The managementjof cash flow. 2. The management of systems (including yourself and time with family). 3. The management of people. The most important specialized skills are sales and un- derstanding marketing. It is the abflity toleTl-therefore, to communicate to another human being, be it a customer, employee, boss, spouse or child-that is the base skill of personal success. It is communication skills such as writ- ing, speaking and negotiating that are crucial to a life of success. It is a skill that I work on constantly, attending courses or buying educational tapes to expand my knowl- edge.