“The Power of Leadership”

Remembering some powerful insights of the great Earl Nightingale… 

What was a piece of advice that Earl gave?  Find out what the majority of people are doing and do exactly the opposite.

He was in favor of everyone leading. It was not that everyone should necessarily be leading great groups of people, but they should be leaders in their own lives. We all have our own opportunities to lead our life, our family, a business, or whatever else it happens to be, we are the leader of something. Earl felt that too many people relied on other people to tell them what to do, how to think, and how to dress. Earl was totally opposed to mediocrity.

Over the years since he passed away, have we become more apt to be leaders in our lives or less apt? I think less. Why? Most people spend a good part of their day listening to other people tell them about what’s happening in the world or in the economy. People don’t even go outside to inspect the weather for themselves!  People depend on others to tell them what to think and how to vote. We watch things on television, and then someone tells us what we’ve just seen. Other people are telling us how we are supposed to behave in our lives; if you don’t fit in, then there is something wrong with you. We’re supposed to be here to enjoy our journey, and that was the thing that Earl used to refer to life as: our holiday on earth. When people would say, “What is the meaning of life?” His response would be, “That’s up to you. You have breath, you have life, and what you do with it is your business.”

Speaking of business, Earl’s lesson is very relevant in our business… take a look at your Marketing, Pricing, Sales Techniques, Service, Employee Supervision, and Money Management practices.  If they conform nicely to industry norms, if they are “peer approved”, if they seem perfectly normal to everybody, that’s a clue.  Normalcy is not a good mate with success!  You rarely find normal and successful living together, anymore than you will find excuse-making cohabitating with success.

“To avoid criticism: say nothing, do nothing, be nothing.” – Elbert Hubbard

Health and happiness to you,

Shawn

Russ M. Miller, LLIF – Chairman & CEO
Performance Institute (Human Capital Development)
Global CEO Academy (Management Training)
Sunny Hong Zhang – Managing Partner (China) 
Shawn M. Miller – Managing Partner (USA)

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