Harvey Mackay

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Harvey Mackay (born 1932 in Saint Paul, Minnesota) is a businessman and columnist. Mackay is perhaps best known as the author of five business bestsellers, including Swim With the Sharks (Without Being Eaten Alive), Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt, and Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty. He is a nationally syndicated columnist, and one of America's most popular business speakers. He is also founder, Chairman and CEO of Mackay Envelope Corporation, whose story he tells in anecdotes sprinkled throughout his books ^[1].

Contents 1 Overview 2 Background 3 Education 4 Career Highlights 5 Scandal with University of Minnesota Basketball Program 6 Accomplishments 7 Books 8 References

[edit] Overview

Fortune magazine called Harvey Mackay "Mr. Make Things Happen." As a successful author, businessman, speaker, and nationally syndicated columnist, Harvey Mackay's energy and enthusiasm are infectious. Two of his books, Swim With The Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive and Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt, were ranked #1 on the New York Times Bestsellers List. Both books are also among the top 15 inspirational business books of all time, according to the New York Times.

After the success of Swim With The Sharks, Harvey followed up with Beware The Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt, Sharkproof, Dig Your Well Before You're Thirsty, Pushing The Envelope, The Rolodex Network Builder, and We Got Fired. . . And It's the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us.^[2]

[edit] Background

Harvey Mackay was born in 1932 in Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Jack and Myrtle Mackay. They lived in an apartment, and it was their dream to some day own a home of their own. His dad had gone to high school but always helped bring in money to the family from the age of eight. In high school, Jack Mackay got a job working for a newspaper, and after he graduated he continued there working for the Associated Press – eventually rising to become an AP correspondent for 35 years.

His mother was born in the small town of Virginia, Minnesota, on the Iron Range. Her parents – like her future husband’s parents – were all immigrants to this country. She became a school- teacher and after her marriage continued to substitute teach. She died when Harvey was in college.

[edit] Education

Mackay had a public education from grade school to high school and college. Mackay graduated Central High School in Saint Paul in 1950. He graduated from the University of Minnesota in 1954 as a history major and worked during his four years of college as a salesman at a downtown Saint Paul men’s clothing store. Mackay continued his education in the executive program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

[edit] Career Highlights

Harvey’s first job out of college was working in the shipping department of an envelope company and two years later rose to become a salesman. Three years after that he left to start his own envelope manufacturing company, Mackay Envelope Company, which he built into a $100 million company today with 600 employees.

In 2002, Harvey was inducted into the Minnesota Business Hall of Fame. In 1979-81, he was elected by his peers to lead the Envelope Manufacturers Association.

[edit] Scandal with University of Minnesota Basketball Program

Mackay was admonished by the University of Minnesota in the 1970s for his part in several of violations related to the university's men's basketball team. According to Minneapolis sports columnist Sid Hartman, Mackay admitted to National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) investigators that he was guilty of 13 recruiting violations and that he had written a letter to university president C. Peter Magrath to voluntarily disassociate himself from the Minnesota Athletic Department.^[3]

Magrath also accepted the recommendation of the university's faculty-student Committee on Intercollegiate Athletics to sever relations with Mackay and tell him in writing to stop representing the university.^[4]

[edit] Accomplishments

Harvey is the author of four New York Times bestsellers. His books have sold more than 10 million copies worldwide and have been translated into 35 languages and distributed in 80 countries. He is a nationally syndicated columnist for United Feature Syndicate, whose weekly business article appears in 52 newspapers around the country. His books and columns are used in more than 200 universities and can be found in virtually every library in the United States. Harvey has counseled and mentored more than 500 students and young adults. He’s served on over 20 nonprofit boards that are committed to help others and communities. He is a past president of many of these organizations.

Harvey is giving business speeches and has addressed students at Harvard, Stanford, Wharton School of Business, Notre Dame and Michigan. He is a member of the National Speakers Association Hall of Fame, and Toastmasters International named him one of the top five business speakers in the world.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Books

• Harvey Mackay : Beware the Naked Man Who Offers You His Shirt: Do What You Love, Love What You Do and Deliver More Than You Promise , Piatkus Books (October 1990), ISBN 0749910151
• Harvey Mackay : Swim With the Sharks: Without Being Eaten Alive : Outsell, Outmanage, Outmotivate, and Outnegotiate Your Competition, Ivy Books (February 1995), ISBN 0804104263
• Harvey Mackay : Pushing the Envelope: How to Be Better, Faster, Smarter and Get the Results You Want in Business and in Life, Vermilion (April 2000), ISBN 0091826594
• Harvey Mackay : Sharkproof: Get the Job You Want, Keep the Job You Love... in Today's Frenzied Job Market, HarperBusiness; Reprint (January 1994), ISBN 0887306632
• Harvey Mackay : We Got Fired!: And It's the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Us, Ballantine Books (September 28, 2004), ISBN 0345471865

[edit] References