Our daughter, Anne Beighey Woodbury, worked for Newt Gingrich for over 12 years ... From before, during and after he was Speaker of the House ... During his tenure as The Speaker, Anne was his Executive Assistant. During that period, My wife, Carole and I became good friends with Newt.

It was common for aides to "ghost write" for The Speaker. The Speaker choose to "tear" up the prepared document and wrote the introduction himself.

One of the Drops in this book is “Ask a Busy Person.” It says: “If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person. A busy person always seems to find time to add something else to their list of things to do.” Of course, this busy person is Newt Gingrich. (http://www.newt.org/)

I know he is a fully involved and busy person … but that is just the person who would take time out of his demanding schedule to write such a moving and sincere Forward.

It is with heartfelt gratitude that I thank Newt for the thoughtful Forward to A Drop in the Bucket.

I am including Newt's forward here in it's final form.

FORWARD
By
NEWT GINGRICH

I am honored to write an introduction for Larry Beighey’s book because he literally changed my life in two very important ways.

First, through his daughter, Anne, he gave me an extraordinary associate who made my work much more effective and enjoyable as House Republican Whip, Speaker of the House, and then as a businessman and civic leader after leaving the House. The values, intensity, enthusiasm, and determination Anne brings to life are a great tribute to both her mom and dad. Their values and their commitment to life are reflected in their daughter’s career.

Second, when I entered the private sector in 1999, I visited with Larry to learn his secrets as an entrepreneur. One key lesson he taught me was “never be afraid to ask too much or offer too little.” Free enterprise is a process of getting to a mutually acceptable agreement in which both parties feel they are better off because they were able to accomplish something they could not
get done on their own.

Larry emphasized that in negotiating you were supposed to represent your own interests. If you had offered too little you could always raise the offer when it was rejected. If you had asked for too much you could always lower the price as the conversation continued.

Larry insisted that if you offered too much the other person would of course accept it but you might have paid much more than you needed to. If you asked for too little the other side would of course accept it but then you would have received much less than you might have.

I found this process of pleasantly and firmly representing your own interests inside your own head fascinating. Larry asserted that most people lacked the nerve to calmly represent themselves and tended to almost automatically offer too much or ask for too little. They wanted to be pleasant and to be accepted more than they wanted the best deal.

Larry’s insights will help you learn a lot more about being an effective entrepreneur and a profitable businessman or woman. More importantly, Larry’s stories and the principles they illustrate will help you live a better life and be a better person. Larry understands full well that life is about much more than simply making money.

Larry has lived a life devoted to his family, his community, and to Penn State. One of the happiest events we had when I was Speaker was when Coaches Joe Paterno and Lou Holtz came to speak for me at a Georgia Fundraiser. Larry is a devoted Penn State fan and was excited to be asked to introduce Joe Paterno to the 500 people present. He and Coach Paterno had a great time together. I could see the joy Larry got from his long relationship with his alma mater. It was one more mark of the enthusiastic and complete person he is.

This book will teach you lessons about business but more importantly it will teach you lessons about life.

When you are done you will feel you have made a new friend and his name is Larry.

Newt Gingrich,
Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, 1995-1998
Founder, The Center for Health Transformation