The Most Important Business Lesson My Parents Taught - That of a Firm Handshake

Posted by Ron Schock on Saturday, March 28, 2026

Growing up as a child in the 1970’s and '80's, my perception of the day-to-day dealings between family and local businesses certainly was much less complicated than those of today. My dad was a farmer on a large spread in western Montana who toiled from dusk to dawn - seven days a week - whether he needed to... or not. He would often take me along in his truck for the 20-minute ride to the local feed mill where everybody knew his name. Handshakes, wit and wisdom were exchanged with a smile and occasional curse correction. If they didn’t have what he needed, they were quick to refer him to another area business where everybody knew his name and offered a firm handshake and a smile.

Being raised out west, two of the most important lessons I was taught by my father and mother were that of the firm handshake while looking a man straight in the eye, and to never shake another man's hand while you are sitting down. My wife and I passed these lessons on to our sons. Lessons that have been critical throughout my life in doing business and earning trust.

The manner of a man's handshake speaks volumes about the man

When I was nine years old, our church had an amazing pastor who was extremely influential in my life. He was big and strong. A former football lineman and active weightlifter who had spent a short stint on the Denver Broncos practice squad in his youth. He was also the town milkman who had a super strong grip and hands the size of baseball gloves (at least to a nine-year-old). When he moved on to another calling, the church replaced him with a scrawny mid-western pastor who was quite obviously never taught the lesson of the firm handshake in his youth.

Our congregation, women included, described the new pastor's handshake as a 'limp noodle'. They quickly brought him up to speed on the particular intricacies of the said 'handshake' lesson, should he desire to 'stay in the fold'! He went out and purchased hand grips at the local sporting goods store to build his forearm strength to... heed their call. They kept him on for a spell.

The American Dreamer

One of my first jobs – a dream job at the time – was spinning the latest hits on vinyl after high school on our western small-town A.M. radio station. I called it ‘The After Hours Show’, meaning after school hours of course. In retrospect, I doubt that the area businesses, blue-collar community, tourists, or truck drivers picked up on that little name nuance at 4 pm, although I thought it to be clever.

I tell you all of that, to tell you this… for those who have endured my journey down memory lane. One of my fondest memories of that job – perhaps inspired by riding in dad’s truck a decade prior and him singing along to 'Mockingbird' by James Taylor and Carol King on the radio – was when I would listen to the daily genius of the legendary radio broadcaster, icon patriot, and storyteller, Paul Harvey.

With his trademark hypnotic timbre, cadence, extended strategic and dramatic pauses (caesura), heart-warming tales, folksy observations, family values, love of country, optimism, and old-fashioned plain talk; Paul Harvey inspired and molded the minds and lives of millions of Americans, present company included. He always aspired to eloquently champion the American dreamer, innovator, and hard worker… the thinker, the doer.

America was built by men in denim

Two of his most iconic airings which I had the pleasure of spinning on vinyl (when listeners thought it was live) were: So God Made a Farmer, and The Man and The Birds Christmas Story. I recommend you listen. If you have already, please listen again. I do every year. America needs more of all of this now and always.

Many of the formerly young Americans from my generation are running today’s businesses and still firmly believe that people do business with people… not with brick and mortar, not with cyber and seclusion, not with emotionless entities. Deals are done with a firm handshake and a confident look in the eye. Successful business owners accomplish what they accomplish through courage, ingenuity, risk, dedication, commitment, honor, respect, morals, values, integrity…

blood, sweat, and tears.

In the immortal words of Paul Harvey, “Our nation was hammered and hoed and chopped and sawed and clawed out of the wilderness by bare-handed men who asked nothing, for nothing. There is one fertilizer essential to the survival of civilization, and that fertilizer is sweat.”

Whether you hire a company to build your building or build your website, you should settle for nothing less than this same respect, devotion, commitment, integrity, excellence, and firm handshake.

May God bless you all, and may God bless America.

Categories: Life Talk

Tagged: Life Talk