By Rev. Mark H. Creech
Executive Director
Christian Action League of North Carolina
According to a recent article in USA Today, there is one thing the nation’s most successful CEOs have in common — they received their share of spankings as children.
Although the article stated that “[m]ost CEOs believed spankings played little or no role in their success,” the CEOs also acknowledged that the practice taught them valuable life lessons. David Haffner, chief executive officer of Leggett & Platt, said the spankings he received as a child made him “disciplined, detailed and organized.” Joe Mogolia, with TD Ameritrade, said he learned from his parents that “tough love is better than soft love.”
Also cited in the article is a recent study by sociologists Eve Tahmincioglu, titled: “From the Sandbox to the Corner Office: Lessons Learned on the Journey to the Top.” Chapter One of the book is called “Less Carrott, More Stick.” And in the book, Tahmincioglu contends spanking taught the 55 executives she interviewed “to respect authority.” “They feared their parents, but loved them as well. Their parents would follow through with a spanking when the children misbehaved. Today there is no follow-through,” she argued. Read more of this editorial.
