1993
A Premium on Service
February 1993


“A Premium on Service,” Ensign, Feb. 1993, 69

A Premium on Service

Robert Driver of the Del Mar Ward, Carlsbad California Stake, ought to know something about business success. He is the founder and chairman of one of America’s largest insurance brokerages.

What is success? “It’s certainly not making money,” says Brother Driver. “Money is part of it because of the economy we live in, but I think success is trying to round out your life so that you’re a family person. And when you see other people’s problems, you enjoy being of help to them if you can.”

Helping if you can seems to be a phrase that has guided Brother Driver’s public and private life. In 1954, he received a Distinguished Service plaque from the city of San Diego for his efforts in welfare reform. He served for fifteen years on the board of directors of Project Concern, an international medical organization that helps people in developing nations learn to recognize and prevent health problems. Project Concern honored him as its Director of the Decade, 1970–80.

In 1989, Brother Driver became the first Latter-day Saint to receive a Humanity Award from the San Diego chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.

Brother Driver also raised funds for and helped produce the Church film People of Destiny, a film made to tell descendants of Lehi about the history of the Book of Mormon. The idea began when an Indian friend told Brother Driver that Native American young people desperately need the sense of noble heritage that they can get by learning about the people of the Book of Mormon.

If Brother Driver’s definition of success is doing what you can to help other people, what might be his definition of happiness? “True happiness begins when you get a testimony of Jesus Christ and what he was all about—what he taught and how he lived—and when you live the standards he established. And they’re high. But if you live within them, you’ve got a joyful life, a happy life. No question about that.”—Robert McGraw, San Diego, California

To Robert Driver, success really means being able to do things for others. (Photo by Robert McGraw.)