Overcoming Adversity and Becoming a Leader: The Larry Pino Story

This groundbreaking research on leadership has received wide endorsements and rave reviews from prominent business, political, and academic leaders who participated in the study or reviewed the research results. You’ll discover the proven success habits and secrets of people who, despite difficult or life-threatening challenges, shaped their own destiny to become successful and effective leaders. The full results of this research will be presented in Dr. Howard Edward Haller’s upcoming book “Leadership: View from the Shoulders of Giants.”

The initial nine successful leaders who overcame adversity who were interviewed included: Dr. Tony Bonanzino, US Senator Orrin Hatch, Monzer Hourani, US Senator Daniel Inouye, Dr. John Malone, Larry Pino, US Army Major General Sid Shachnow, Dr. Blenda Wilson, and Zig Ziglar.

Data from the previous nine research participants was materially expanded with seven other successful leaders who overcame adversity, including: Jack Canfield, William Draper III, Mark Victor Hansen, J. Terrence Lanni, Angelo Mozilo, Dr. Nido Qubein, and Dr. John Sperling

In addition, five internationally known and respected leadership scholars offered their reviews of leadership research findings, including: Dr. Ken Blanchard, Jim Kouzes, Dr. John Kotter, Dr. Paul Stoltz, and Dr. Meg Wheatley .

This is a brief biography of one of the sixteen main participants who generously contributed their time and insights to this important investigation into the phenomenon of how outstanding and successful leaders overcome adversity and obstacles. This is the story of Larry Pino:

Larry Pino “grew up moving every three years” because his “father was in the [U.S.] Air Force.” In 1973 he graduated from the University of Notre Dame; he then received his JD from New York University School of Law in 1976. After becoming a young attorney, he “struggled to develop his law practice for several years”.

One of the first adversities or challenges in his adult life “was the complete failure of my first and only campaign to run for political office”:

“I could probably write the book on how not to run a successful campaign, because I made every mistake under the sun. Over the course of that campaign, if I had just stayed home and never met a soul, I would have gotten more votes than anyone else.” if I had actively campaigned, which I did, for four months.

He went further and said, “In fact, the write-in candidate would have done a better job of getting votes than I did.” He “suffered a terrible loss beyond defeat at the polls.”

Pino then “tried various businesses.” One of the first businesses “I got strong in was when I started a company called ‘Crepes to Go.'” Of that venture, Pino said, “I probably made every mistake under the sun, and it turned out to be an absolute disaster, the only business that I really, just totally screwed up, from start to finish.” Larry then added, “Now out of that came disaster, lawsuits came, failure came, I didn’t file for bankruptcy, but I lost a lot of money, hard feelings, broken friendships, just a lot of stuff.”

Larry “settled down to concentrate on building [his] practice of law”. Once “I had accumulated some money practicing law and had been very successful selling other people’s seminars”, Pino “started another business selling my own seminar, which unfortunately failed and wiped me out financially” to the new format of ‘infomercials’ like [his] main advertising method.” Pino said, “This strategic shift in marketing [or advertising] materially changed this business, creating a profitable company.

Pino, in addition to owning the successful American Cash Flow seminar business, Larry “purchased the assets of several businesses with consolidated annual sales of approximately $8 million and then transformed them into a very successful business development and management company: Dynetech Corporation” . Pino, as President and CEO, has built “Dynetech Corporation into a strong and vibrant business development and management firm that is a process provider.” Larry has successfully overcome various obstacles and “as an entrepreneur he has started or managed more than 45 successful businesses.” In 2004, “Inc.” the magazine named his firm the 71st fastest growing private firm on its Inc. 500 list.” He is married to Janet Horvath-Pino and they have two sons and a young daughter.

Copyright 2006 © Howard Edward Haller, Ph.D.