It has been said that excellence is a habit. And excellence is something that successful businessman Nido Qubein has habitually strived for his whole life.
“I’ve discovered that you have to have a growth mindset and believe that the tomorrows are better than the yesterdays of your life,” said Mr. Qubein. An immigrant of Lebanese and Jordanian descent, he knows a thing or two about striving for greatness against adversity. His father passed away when he was 6 years old. He is the youngest of five siblings; his mother made certain that education and faith would be the cornerstones of their upbringing. Many of the lessons he imparts to others he learned from his beloved mother.
He has been quoted as saying, “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you go; they merely determine where you start. Your choices make all the difference.”
One such choice, for him, was arriving in Mount Olive, North Carolina, some 7,000 miles away from Lebanon. His mother made a decision that would alter his life and set him on a path of perseverance. She purchased a one-way ticket for him to come to America to find success in 1966. He had very little money when he arrived—literally $50. But he had big dreams. And faith in God and a country that would help him realize his big dreams of success. Somehow. Some way. “I was not all that informed about America. But I didn’t care where I went; I was happy to come here from the Middle East. It was God’s plan for my life.”
Upon his arrival, he began taking classes at Mount Olive College and found success in his studies. Later, he transferred to High Point College a few towns away. After graduating with a business degree, Mr. Qubein prospered as a serial entrepreneur. He built a direct-mail subscription service that at its height, had 68,000 subscribers in 32 countries. In the ’70s, he started doing public speaking engagements to business audiences—topping 200 events in a year. In the following decade, he launched a consulting business for employment development. He received book contracts that away, writing 15 books on leadership and communication. Today, he sits on the board of several large corporations, including BB&T (banking), La-Z-Boy (furniture), and Dots (women’s fashion). He received the Horatio Alger Award for Distinguished Americans in 2006, awarded to Americans from humble backgrounds who made outstanding accomplishments.
Now, at 74, Mr. Qubein eagerly shares pearls of wisdom from his life experiences with students at High Point University (HPU), where he has served as president since 2005. His alma mater has undergone an intense campus renovation and reinvigoration of its academic offerings to become one of the nation’s top universities known for teaching practical life skills, such as leadership skills, emotional intelligence, and relationship-building skills that will make them attractive hires in the workforce. In less than two decades, his visionary tenure has been marked with impressive achievements.
Before Qubein took over in 2005, the school was struggling, with a consistent loss of incoming freshmen every year. Today, enrollment has grown 259 percent t0 6,000 students, with nearly the same percent increase in number of full-time faculty. Meanwhile, the school’s operating budget has gone up 788 percent, to $337.5 million.Nurturing Good Citizens
Mr. Qubein’s infectious personality and engaged demeanor is sincere. He loves America and is grateful for the success he has found emigrating here. Moreover, he wishes to plant seeds of greatness wherever he goes. That’s why he believes profoundly in creating a culture of excellence on the HPU campus.
His approach to educating students in what he calls a “premier life skills university” is simple. Students receive a holistic approach to education which includes experiences based on invaluable internships, lectures that model etiquette standards, and volunteer programs that benefit the greater High Point community. In one year, the student body logged 500,000 hours of volunteer service. He said these values are ingrained in the community, in order for students to learn how to be responsible and productive citizens—and to love their country.
In fact, when the arena was built at HPU, Mr. Qubein made sure that a huge, 25-foot American flag would hang with these words inscribed underneath: “God, Family, Country.” The letters were made from the demolished steel from ground zero at 9/11. “We don’t just talk about America, we live it. We only allow two flags to fly here: U.S.A. and High Point. When we sing the national anthem, we stand, remove our caps, and place our hands over our hearts. We don’t do this to be dogmatic or rigid, we do this to say, ’You live in America. What else do you want? You have to be grateful you live here!’”
Legacy
Success, he added, is not defined by a big house or cars; rather, it is about the accomplishment of your own goals. “People love what we are, what we do. I teach these principles of building a culture that said you have to first inform people, involve them, inspire them, and inspect what they do. This is how you take them from minimal to optimal.”
It is not enough to be successful. In fact, Mr. Qubein is positive that it is important to be of significance through influence and impact. Feed the soul and the heart—not just the mind. Knowledge is rampant, he added, but it doesn’t equal understanding.
“Life is best lived invested in one-third earning, one-third invested in learning; and one-third in serving. That is how you go from success to significance. If you want less worries, make sure to be surrounded by mentors, models, and heroes in your life. These are the people who can feed your heart or light a candle on your path.”
“I tried to be a good person throughout my life,” Dr. Qubein said. “I want to plant seeds of greatness in the minds, hearts, and souls of our students. You have to work hard enough and smart enough, and contribute to the system, not just take from it.”
He admits that if there is one thing he could change, it would be having his dad around to talk to him, “man to man.” “Circumstances in which you find yourself do not define where you end up, but where you start. And out of adversity, life can be joyful. We can rejoice,” he added, “because hope is eternal.”Dr. Qubein knows that there is a hunger for good values. He hopes his service to High Point as president will have a lasting impact, especially with students, faculty, and staff.
“Enter the hallways to learn,” he said, “and exit the hallways to serve.”
