Epiphany For Culture

Good is the Enemy
Good is the Enemy

Driving to Church last Sunday, it hit me. An epiphany. Not a Christian epiphany, a corporate epiphany.

Do you ever wonder why some succeed and some don’t? Or wonder why some achieve excellence and others remain behind, being good or very good?

The secret?  It’s so simple that most of us, myself included, bypass it or drastically discount it.

If you’ve ever read Good to Great or heard from others who’ve described what the bestselling business book is about, you know that good is the enemy of great.

And because of this, there’s one simple technique that we can all learn from history. And I’ll share it with you first thing tomorrow.  Want to guess what it is?

Seth Godin’s Top Book Picks

Seth Godin announced his November Top Book picks. Click here.

Most people, like I was three months ago, are clueless who Seth Godin is.

If you are serious about your career, and committed to becoming better at your leadership performance, and especially your leadership thinking, you better should become familiar with Seth Godin.

I first read Purple Cow (about being remarkable) and now Tribes (about, well, stay tuned).

Seth Godin is also on You Tube and you can start to see how refreshingly different, and amazingly brilliant, his thinking is.

But wait. I almost forgot. Most humans (like 90%) are not proactively seeking change.  Leaders say they embrace change, but how often do you see leaders transforming themselves and others?

jungle jeff MBA

jungle jeff MBA.  Who woulda thought, after all these years, I’d be returning to school to get an MBA?

Why do people return to school after decades of real-world leadership experience?  Many reasons to be sure.

The main reason is the pursuit of a better way of life.  Can you imagine, “Nope, heading back to school because I have all this extra time and money.  Plus, I’m bored stiff just sitting around”?.

Dude, seriously, we need to talk.  It don’t happen like this.  In fact, my story is almost a fairy tale of a completely different sort.

My professor is crazy.  He’s cool, but tough.  On the first day, he told me everyone who attends his class has three years to do something that no other MBA requires….

Money, Money, Money….Money

Money, Money, Money….Money“.  The O’Jays, 1974, For The Love of Money.

I want to make a ton of money.  Seriously.  Enough to buy whatever I want.

First on my list:

  1. A Cure for Crohn’s disease

To take action, – to “put my money where my mouth is” – I’ve returned to school to earn my MBA.

Maybe that’ll be second on the list – pay off school loans.

How Important Is Money To You?

Money.  Can’t live with it, can’t live without it.  Money has always been my biggest stressor.

Eventually, I learned a very simple and very profound rule.  It is the first rule that should be learned.

  • Spend less than you earn

What made this most basic of rules so elusive for me, is that I did not subscribe to common sense.  A million reasons for that, which I’ll not even attempt to address.

The second rule I learned is have a business.  After reading “Rich Dad Poor Dad” last Christmas, my whole mindset about money was changed forever….