What next?

David Jones, chairman of UK retail giant NEXT, deputy chairman of Wm Morrison supermarkets, author of Next to Me, who for 20 years concealed the fact that he had Parkinson's disease.

Luck plays a part in everyone's life but I created my own luck and destiny by working hard. When my father was made redundant ... we didn't have any money. I had no option but to work.

At 13 I was the only public school boy in Great Britain who threw a newspaper around.

When I started work, I never had any (grand) ambitions. I worked hard because I liked working. The fact that I was hard-working brought me to the attention of people who were in charge of the business.

When I was 17, I joined Kays of Worcester, (a mail order retail company), as a temporary staff member. Before my 26th birthday I was finance director. Four years later, I took over the company.

Things just happened to me ...
... I never had a (burning) ambition that this (being a top executive) was what I wanted to achieve in life. By working hard, I created situations that took me to the top. I was on the constant lookout for opportunities.

In 1962, David Wolfson - he was seven years older than me and we were on the same wavelength - had ambitious plans to modernise the company (Kays). He looked upon me as someone who could help him do it.

By then I was number two in the accounts department. Some years later, the accounts head retired. I confidently walked into David's office and told him that I could do the job of the finance director.

He puffed on his cigar and said, "Close the door on your way out." I felt I had messed up my life. The next morning, David appeared in our office and told me, "You have six months to prove it." This was my first big break; I never looked back after that.

(In 1980, at 37) I was the youngest director ...
... of Great Universal Stores (GUS) in its mail order division.

I have always believed strongly in right and wrong. (While I was at) GUS, a wage award revision came through. The management of the company increased the qualifying salary (for the pension scheme) from £3,500 (Dh22,813) to £5,000 (Dh32,590) per annum.

With this decision, many employees weren't eligible for their rightful pensions. I found this immoral and fought it. The management reversed its decision.

For almost 20 years, the world was unaware that I suffered from Parkinson's disease.

On July 25, 1982, I was diagnosed to be suffering from Parkinson's disease (an ailment typified by lack of coordination, stiffness, difficulty moving and tremors due to a loss of nerve cells in the brain).

Being a total workaholic, this came in as a terrible shock. I had just (started as CEO of the mail-order retailer) Grattan and was getting it on the road.

I stood by my philosophy that no problem in life is unsolvable. You just need to sit it down, work it through and the solution will automatically flow.

And I found my answer: I decided I wouldn't tell anybody. The pretence of hiding this ailment required total commitment. I created two (identities). One, who was the CEO of Grattan (and later of NEXT, after the companies merged in 1986) and the other who had the disease.

For almost three years, my wife, Anne, was also kept in the dark. The world was unaware of it for almost 20 years, apart from half a dozen close friends. I don't think I would have been allowed to keep my job if the news had broken out.

Living behind a 'mask'
Fortunately, the disease was very slow to have harmful side effects.

Until 1996, I controlled it using drugs and medication. But in 1997 and 1998, it was getting very difficult to hide.

My secretary had to cancel a lot of important appointments because I wasn't feeling fit. Camouflaging it became an art. If I had a presentation to make at 2pm, I would take my drugs to make sure I was up and running at the required time.

At the end of the day, the strain of keeping the ailment a secret became very difficult. I decided that when I announced my retirement as chief executive (which I did in 2001), this would coincide with two things.

First, admitting that I had Parkinson's disease. Second, and more importantly, (that I) would organise a series of charities for this cause.

My (daughter, Alison, and sons Richard and Stuart) knew after 10 years. The ailment affects you in many ways. Very often, your face is a mask to the world. When I see old photographs of myself I don't seem to recognise or recollect some of the moments.

Parkinson's doesn't kill you like heart disease ...
... or cancer. It ruins the quality of your life. People who have it know they (will) have it for every second (and) every day of their life. There is no relief. (To deal with it, I delved into) my work and never took my mind off it.

I don't believe it has affected my work. I was criticised by one newspaper for not disclosing (my sickness), since I was working with shareholders of a prosperous company.

I justified this by saying that a person who had invested £1,000 (Dh6,518) in NEXT shares when I took over (in 1988) had made more than £250,000 (Dh1,629,500) by the time I retired (as CEO in 2001). Imagine if I didn't have Parkinson's disease!

Nobody can run a good business ...
... without good people. The only way you get good people is by being a good leader.

For me, the most important thing in life is how you treat and choose people. It doesn't matter if the person is the toilet cleaner or a company director, if you treat them with respect, they will always respond to you positively.

I believe in being fair to people.

I introduced distribution of share options to most of my staff (at NEXT). In other organisations, most managers make all the money. I may not have made a huge amount of money, but I chose to share the fruits of the company's success with hundreds of other employees.

That was the spirit of NEXT, which made my team manage to keep going. (When I stepped down as CEO,) I took great care to select and train my successor (Simon Wolfson) and trained every department in the business to know how things function.