Get the best people and train them well.

Hear, O seekers of wisdom, the words of Scott McNealy, a builder of enterprises and a leader of men: “Get the best people and train them well.” This saying, though simple upon the tongue, is deep in meaning and vast in application. For no great kingdom, no thriving company, no enduring movement has ever been sustained by one man’s strength alone. The foundation of lasting success lies in the people who are gathered, and in how they are shaped, sharpened, and inspired for the work set before them.

To get the best people is the first wisdom. The wise leader does not seek the many, but the worthy. Better a small band of skilled and loyal companions than a vast host of the unfit. The best people are not merely those of talent, but of character—those whose integrity, passion, and discipline can weather the storms of hardship. It is the folly of the short-sighted to surround themselves with flatterers, or with those who please but do not perform. The discerning leader seeks those whose hearts are strong, whose minds are sharp, and whose will is steadfast. For in them lies the seed of greatness.

Yet to train them well is the greater wisdom still. For raw talent without cultivation is like ore left unrefined in the mountain. It glimmers faintly, but its true worth is hidden. Training draws out that hidden value, shaping ability into mastery, discipline into excellence. A leader’s duty is not finished in choosing the best, but in refining them until their potential burns bright. Training is the crucible in which the iron of men and women is tested, strengthened, and transformed into unbreakable steel.

History gives us noble examples. Consider the army of Alexander the Great, drawn from the Macedonian phalanx. They were not the largest force the world had seen, but they were among the best trained. Alexander inherited men who had been hardened by his father, King Philip, through years of relentless discipline and preparation. With such soldiers, Alexander conquered lands that seemed unconquerable, for each man was not only skilled in arms but trained to move as one body, trusting his companions as himself. This is the power of McNealy’s words—talent united with training becomes unstoppable.

We see the same truth in the life of Steve Jobs, who, though a visionary himself, sought not to work alone, but to surround himself with the brightest minds. He gathered designers, engineers, and thinkers of immense ability, and pushed them relentlessly toward excellence. His leadership was not only in vision but in refining his team’s work until it embodied beauty and simplicity. The world remembers Apple not because Jobs stood alone, but because he built, trained, and inspired a company of the best people, who together transformed the tools of human life.

The lesson, O listeners, is plain: success is not the fruit of one, but of many. To get the best people is to choose wisely, not for ease, but for strength of character and ability. To train them well is to invest deeply, knowing that greatness is forged over time through discipline, patience, and guidance. A leader who fails to train is like a farmer who sows seed but never tends the field. But a leader who trains well reaps a harvest that endures through seasons and storms alike.

Therefore, let your practice be this: seek companions of integrity, surround yourself with the worthy, and then commit yourself to their growth. If you lead, do not be content with talent—sharpen it into mastery. If you follow, do not resist training—embrace it, for it refines you into what you were meant to be. In work, in family, in community, let these words guide you: “Get the best people and train them well.”

For in the end, the greatness of a leader is measured not in his solitary achievements, but in the legacy of those he has raised, trained, and unleashed into the world. And that, O children, is how empires are built, how companies endure, and how humanity itself ascends to new heights.