Tom Thompson
Tom Thompson
2008
As a young man in my early 20’s I began two businesses here in Putnam County. By using good business principles, these businesses have thrived. Over the years I have been given the privilege and opportunity to serve others by overseeing the management of several different community and industry endeavors. The highlights of these are available by clicking on “Biography” on my website: www.electTomThompson.com. These were also published in the Eatonton Messenger on June 12, 2008.
There is tremendous responsibility in being asked to serve and I take that responsibility very seriously. I use the same business principles for community and industry endeavors as I use in my own businesses. Success in any undertaking requires a group effort of communication, compromise, and inclusion: bringing everyone’s ideas into the discussion so that we can achieve more as a group than any of us can as individuals.
Through my experiences, I have found that there are several important principles you need to follow when you are asked by your peers to assume a position of leadership:
My Philosophy
Paid for by Committee to Elect Tom Thompson
Include all in the discussion and development of the plan
Communicate
Cooperate
Give credit to others for their contributions: it is not “I did”, but “we did”
(The final plan will likely be better than any individual idea)
Be more careful in spending another’s money than you are with your own.
I also realized that, above all, when you are elected or selected by your fellow man to a position of leadership:
Your ethics must be unquestioned
You cannot even give the appearance of conflict of interest
You must never use your position for personal or financial gain for yourself, your family, or your friends.