According to Richard “Bo” Dietl, no one ever expected too much from him by way of success. The prevailing mentality in his lower-middle-class neighborhood was to get a civil-service job and ride it out. “Put in your years,” Dietl says. “Retire to Florida, drink beer and get fat, and live off your pension.”

That might have been okay for some, but Dietl wanted more. “For me, that didn’t do it,” he says. “Complacency didn’t work for me.”

Today, Dietl is CEO of his own Manhattan-based security company, Beau Dietl and Associates (he uses “Beau” for business, but most people know him as “Bo”). His corporate customers include Coca-Cola, Pitney Bowes and Sony. His company also provides security services for such celebrity clients as Robert DeNiro, Evander Holyfield and Demi Moore.

Go-Getter

 Dietl did in fact use a civil service job as a launching pad for bigger things. For 16 years, he worked as a police officer and detective in Manhattan. During his career, he made thousands of felony arrests and helped solve some of New York’s most notorious crime cases, including the Palm Sunday Massacre, in which eight children and two adults were shot and killed.

Dietl never planned to be a police officer. After he graduated from high school, he worked construction and remembers walking high steel while building the World Trade Center’s twin towers. “I was up there, freezing my ass off,” Dietl says. “I took the test to become an officer as a goof.”

Putting heart and soul into his job, Dietl displayed a talent for police work. In the line of duty, he was stabbed, shot at, beaten, run over and pushed down a flight of subway stairs. He was mugged hundreds of times and logged more than 30 hospital visits.

His success as a cop could have been foretold by anyone who witnessed Dietl on his first day of training.

“I was on the roof of the academy with all the other trainees,” Dietl remembers. “And I saw a guy coming through the fire escape. Well, there was no smoke and no fire. So I took off and chased the guy for two blocks. The instructor was yelling at me, ‘Hey, Dietl, where do you think you’re going?’”

As it turned out, the man had stolen two diamond rings from an apartment. “That was the beginning of it,” Dietl says. “I felt I could change things.”

In 1985, Dietl retired from the police force and began to work from his home in Queens as a licensed private investigator. Eventually, his business blossomed into Beau Dietl and Associates, which currently has approximately 300 employees and headquarters in Midtown Manhattan. With several divisions that handle everything from Internet security to special investigations, Dietl works with clients worldwide.

Dietl attributes his success in part to his tireless networking efforts. Naturally outgoing and social, he loves a big crowd and has a knack for establishing relationships with people of influence. Even The Donald once told Bo, “My Rolodex isn’t half as big or impressive as yours is.”

“Expressionisms”

 Described as friendly, fearless and energetic, people are charmed by Dietl’s unique personality and fondness for entertaining. When he goes out, he wears cuff links and $5,000 suits. At restaurants, he fights to pick up the check. During conversations, he makes up words. Problems are “imperfectations.” Selective clients are “pickatatious.”

When asked if he’s any good at golf, he makes a noncommittal sound. “Eh,” he says. “It’s hackatation for me. I enjoy it, so I don’t care if I’m good or not.”

 In his book, Business Lunchatations: How An Everyday Guy Became One of America’s Most Powerful CEOs…and How You Can, Too! (Chamberlain Bros., 2005), Dietl outlines some of his techniques for engaging movers and shakers.

 Look the part. Dietl, who irons his own handkerchiefs, encourages people to dress well every day. Fair or not, he says, people equate slovenliness with laziness. “They think that if you cannot even take care of yourself, you will not be able to take care of your job.”

Dietl also advises working out and staying fit. Not only will you impress others with the way you look, you’ll feel more confident and energetic. “If you want to deal from a position of strength in business, you must project an image of strength,” Dietl writes. “That includes the total package that is you: dress, grooming, health, fitness, weight, posture, body language, mannerisms and voice.”

 Never stop networking. After putting in a full day at the office, Dietl starts his second job – power networking. Not a networker? “Get over it,” writes Dietl. “It’s other people who make our success.”

 Dietl may be out wining and dining potential business partners almost every night of the week, but he stresses that effective networking does not go on past midnight. “The only people out at 3 a.m. are degenerates who don’t have jobs and don’t have to be up for work the next day.”

 Show loyalty. “Even the most successful people have ups and downs,” Dietl observes. “No one stays at the top all the time.” That’s why it’s important to remain on good terms with people, even if they’ve hit hard times. “If you snub them at the bottom, they’ll remember it when they’re back at the top.”

 Be a gracious loser. When one of Dietl’s major competitors made a $1.9 billion deal and nearly doubled the size of his company, Dietl picked up the phone. “I congratulated him. I told him that he had raised the bar for all of us in the industry.” The competitor said Dietl was the only one who made such a gracious gesture. “Petty jealousy is an unhealthy emotion and has no place in business,” Dietl writes.

 Be a friend. Dietl loves to help people, but he’s careful never to expect anything in return. “When you help others, they naturally want to return the favor,” Dietl explains. “But it’s an unspoken obligation. If you state that you are looking for something in return as you grant a favor, it destroys its effectiveness.” People are attracted to those who have their best interests at heart. When Dietl grants favors or gives advice with no strings attached, people know they can trust him.

 Learn to listen. Although Dietl loves to talk, he’s also an effective listener. Many people tune out as soon as they think they know the gist of what the speaker is saying. “Assumptions can be dangerous,” Dietl warns. “Maybe the speaker isn’t following the same train of thought that you are or isn’t planning to make the point you think he is.” When someone is talking, resist your impulse to jump to conclusions.

 Project a winning image. “Don’t ever tell anyone you’re not doing well,” Dietl advises. “Everyone likes a winner.” If you’re feeling down, find something to do. Action is the antidote to depression. “Always be out there,” Dietl says. “Be like my business partner, Steven Witkoff. He’s out there ‘mojoizing’ every day, flying all over the place.”

 Be yourself. With his made-up vocabulary and colorful stories, Dietl projects a lot of charisma. Long before he was a success, however, he learned how to turn his drawbacks into assets. When he was in high school, for example, he realized he had a terrible memory for names. So when anyone called out his name in the halls, he always answered the same way: “Hey, Bo!” Pretty soon, everyone caught on. As a joke, they called him “Bo” in return. Eventually the name stuck, and he’s been “Bo” ever since.

 Stay in touch. Every successful person knows how to delegate, but there’s no substitute for face time with valued customers. “You have to have that personal contact,” says Dietl, who admits he’s lost good clients by letting too much time lapse between visits. “Clients want to see you. Everyone wants to be with Bo.”

Dietl is undoubtedly an original, but he says anyone can duplicate his success. “I think anybody can do anything he wants,” he says. “The problem with most people is that they go home at night and watch the boob tube and dream. You’ve got to grab what you want.”

 For more information about Beau Dietl and Associates, visit www.beaudietl.com. Business Lunchatations: How an Everyday Guy Became One of America’s Most Powerful CEOs…and How You Can, Too! is available at www.amazon.com.