A Class with Drucker - Headway | Work on yourself

240 ■ A CLASS WITH DRUCKER
was in this latter category. He left home in Vienna for Hamburg, Germany.
In Hamburg, he would not only get the practical experience of working,
but also begin preparation for what was to follow.
This was also Peter’s first big risk. He was risking a year of his life. If
you consider this of minor importance, you have probably forgotten just
how long a year is to a seventeen-year-old. Preparation and risk seem to go
hand in hand. The more prepared and self-confident one is, the greater the
propensity for risk. I think that <strong>Drucker</strong> had already begun his intentional
preparation even while a teenager.
Be True to Your Commitments
<strong>Drucker</strong> stayed and finished his one-year apprenticeship in Hamburg, but
then did not continue <strong>with</strong> the firm, or any other trading company. This
decision would seem to confirm that this may have been some planned
preparation on his part. He actually did follow his father’s wishes to a certain
extent, as he enrolled at the University of Hamburg Law School after
his arrival to take up his merchant apprenticeship. He did both simultaneously.
It is possible this enrollment was a parental compromise.
Peter either saw his apprenticeship as a necessary stepping-stone in his
development, or it was a serious career move which did not go the way he
thought it would. Either way, he remained a year and completed what he
had started. He has stated that his apprenticeship was not demanding and
left him lots of free time. So, he was able to study law on his own and <strong>with</strong>out
attending class, according to one account. However, he has also said that
he began to read voraciously, not only non-fiction, mostly in the historical
genre, but also novels. 2 His decision regarding the study of law at this time
was also probably planned preparation for what was to follow next.
That he stayed in the apprenticeship and did not leave was also an indication
of the strength of his commitment to any goal that he established.
As we will soon see, once he decided that he wanted a full-time university
position, this commitment did not waiver, though it was to require many
sacrifices and took ten years to achieve.
More Preparation on <strong>Drucker</strong>’s Part
Immediately after completing his one-year apprenticeship as a clerk, he
enrolled at the University of Frankfurt, where he completed a doctorate in
public and international law. At the same time, he began writing freelance