I wish someone would have given me this book nearly 30 years ago when I started my career on the front lines. It would have changed my life then. It can change your life now.
Separate yourself from the crowd quickly by learning how to master the traits High Impact leaders value most. You will learn how to get noticed for the right reasons and how to get promoted for the right reasons. You will learn how to become recognized as a front line leader worth following, and you don’t need formal authority (position) because you will develop something better: moral authority (influence).
Note: The following is an excerpt (Chapter 3) from my newest book, Blue-Collar-Leadership: Leading from the Front Lines. Order now by clicking here. I’ll be posting the first 5 of 30 chapters as a short series.
Click here to start with Chapter 1
Chapter: 3
YOU’RE IN THE PERFECT PLACE
YOU’RE EXACTLY WHERE YOU’RE SUPPOSED TO BE BUT NOT WHERE YOU HAVE TO BE
“An educated person is not the one with the most knowledge, an educated person is the one who is willing to reflect, evaluate, and modify his most cherished beliefs when a new idea comes along.” ~ Christian Simpson
There’s a story about a tourist who paused for a rest in a small town in the mountains. He went over to an old man sitting on a bench in front of the only store in town and inquired, “Friend, can you tell me something this town is noted for?”
“Well,” replied the old man, “I don’t rightly know except it’s the starting point to the world. You can start here and go anywhere you want.”
The same is true for you and me. No matter where we are, we can start and go anywhere we want. Will it always be easy? No. Will it always be possible? Absolutely, if we’re willing to pay the price.
Obviously, very few people start at the top. But, we don’t all have that in common with those lucky few. However, what we do have in common is this: If we want to move forward from wherever we are, we all must start.
“Most people fail in the getting started.” ~ Maureen Falcone
I agree, some do “fail in the getting started,” but I think the bigger issue is failing to keep going once you have started.
If you’re on the front lines like I was when the engineer believed in me and inspired me to get started again, that’s where you start if you want to get to the next level and beyond. You’re in the exact place you need to be. You’re at the starting line. Getting to the starting line in life is easy. All you must do is step up. Then, you must choose to run.
It’s much easier to go from failure to success than it is to go from excuses to success.
This book is going to help you think in a way that will allow you to get started or, if you’re already started, keep going. It will also accelerate your thinking.
You had to get started at some point to be where you are. It didn’t just happen. You didn’t end up there by accident. Like it or not, you ended up there by choice.
If you want to move up in the company or move forward with your life in general but feel stuck wherever you are, I’ve got good news. You haven’t run out of choices. You’re simply not making the right choices.
Why? I have no idea. Only you can answer that question.
When you think of why you’re stuck, don’t make excuses. Excuses are like exits when you’re traveling along the highway to success. Excuses don’t take you where you want to go, they take you someplace you don’t want to go.
An excuse is simply a choice not to do what you know you should do.
I want to give you something to think about whether you’re stuck or not. If you’re not stuck, use it to help someone that is.
Most of the time people quit growing and going when the price gets too high. Many people are not willing to part ways with the toxic people in their lives or sacrifice their time and/or their money to continue moving forward to the next level. Growth usually requires a lot more time than money, so not having the money is just another excuse. And most often, it’s not even about our time. It’s about our choices.
Before you get too deep into this book, I want to help point out a few key choices I hope you will make as you’re reading and thinking your way through it.
I encourage you to look at this book as a tool, not a book. A tool you can you use immediately to identify areas in your life you may need to change. A tool you can use in the future when reflecting on changes you have already made or changes you weren’t ready to make initially but will be ready to make eventually.
Whatever you do, DO NOT GIVE IT AWAY! I made that mistake when I first started reading leadership books. I didn’t realize the value of keeping them and revisiting them, especially my highlighted key points. Today, no one gets any of the hundreds of leadership books I’ve read. I may give away new ones, but not the ones I’ve read and marked up.
You should personalize this copy by marking it up in a meaningful way, underline key points, fold the pages when something on a page really has something meaningful you want to revisit and reflect on. And most importantly, write down some of your own thoughts about what you are reading and what you may need to do differently.
Once you’ve finished it, if you know someone else will benefit from reading it, and you believe in them, show them by buying them a copy as a gift, but don’t give them your copy. Sure, they could read it and give it back. But, to get the most out of it, they will need to personalize their copy, make it their own just like you, and be able to reflect on it later.
Have you ever wondered why people don’t do the things that seem to be common sense? Things like we’ve just covered like get started or keep going. It seems like common sense to me.
“If we refuse to become a leader because we don’t believe we can get to the top, we are limiting ourselves from reaching our potential; and we are limiting the impact we can have on others.” ~ Ria Story
