How To Double Your Wealth Building Power

““I can’t say I was ever lost, but I was bewildered once for three days.”” – Daniel Boone

There is nothing more critical to your success than the choices you make about the people you work with.

Ask any honest businessman what accounts for his success and you will hear names dropping. No matter what career you choose – even something as solitary as being a writer – it requires the assistance and guidance of superlative people.

Michael Jordan is considered by many to be the greatest basketball player who ever lived. But would he have that reputation without Scottie Pippen? Or Phil Jackson? Or even Dennis Rodman?

T.S. Eliott is probably the most celebrated modern poet. His best poem, The Wasteland, would have been a shell of what it turned into without the editing of Ezra Pound.

In the world of wealth, the importance of excellent help is sometimes beclouded. Everyone knows about Warren Buffet, but few have heard of Benjamin Graham. Bill Gates is synonymous with Microsoft, yet Paul Allen was – by most inside accounts – equally responsible for its success.

Every successful businessman I know relies on one or several supporting performers. Those who rely only on themselves may have brilliant moments, but they seldom succeed in the long run.

It will be no different for you. The better your support group the further and faster you will go.

Finding your own Phil Jackson

So how do you get great people to work for you? How do you find a superstar protégé? How do you snag that rare person who can help you grow and improve your company? How do you find someone capable of doing what you do . . . when you don’t want to do it any more?

These are questions you should start thinking about today.

I should point out that your “support group” extends beyond key employees. It can also include certain vendors and advisors…certainly any partners…bankers, lawyers and so on.

Step One: Demand the Best

This is an important subject we will talk a great deal about in the future. For today, lets start with the obvious.

In order to get great people to work for you it is necessary to reject anyone who is less than great.

Getting an excellent supporter means everything will be easier. She will learn your secrets faster than you can explain them. She will take on any challenge. She will figure out solutions before she tells you problems. And most importantly, she will share your enthusiasm (maybe exceed it) and vision.

Right now I am lucky enough to be working with three superstars. Each is single-handedly running a business whose revenues, combined, exceed $30 million.. That’s a lot of business to feel good about.

In addition to the three superstars my partners and I rely on, we are in the process of grooming about six more. When (and if) they are fully fledged, I could (theoretically) kick back and cut coupons.

Step Two: Search and Cull. Search and Cull.

Getting a great person behind you is a simple three-step process.

1. Find someone as good or better than you.

2. Cut him in on your future.

3. Teach him everything you know.

Superstars, like good spouses, are few and far between. The good ones are previously engaged. Those who are available are usually defective. (If you don’t know when you hire them, you’ll find out soon enough.)

When you meet someone who seems great, don’t let him pass you by.

The Time to Start is Now

It doesn’t matter where you are on that ladder of success. You should be looking for (and educating) proteges right now.

You should have superstars helping you out in every facet of your career: strategic planning, marketing, product development and so on. When your future is at stake, there is no room for mediocrity.

Start by identifying the key functions you need to meet your goals. And then identify who you are now using (or thinking of using) for that role. Ask yourself honestly, “Is he/she really great?”

If not, resolve to replace him/her.

You can get the process moving today by making up a cut list. It should contain no more than a dozen names,– the most important names in your career. After the list is done, indicate next to each name whether you consider him/her to be adequate, quite good or excellent.

Do this carefully and truthfully. And then think about how much better things could be if you replaced all the “okay” people with great ones.$

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]

The Number One Character Trait for Effective Leadership

I believe there is only one inherent character trait that is essential for effective leadership: ambition. You may not think of yourself as ambitious, but relax. Even the saintly Gandhi had ambition. When asked why he had abandoned a successful law career (and a well-cushioned lifestyle) to pursue a risky, self-sacrificing career of political leadership, Mahatma replied with a single word: “Ambition!” Granted, it is not necessarily an attractive personal trait to desire power, distinction, and public approval. Gandhi chose exactly the right word to describe the force that compelled him to risk all — even his life — in the pursuit of a worthy goal.

By his early 40s, he had come to feel terror at the prospect of living to old age in conventional comfort. He trembled when he imagined himself on his deathbed uttering the most tragic of all last words: “I could have done much more with my life.” Then, for 40 years, he focused his energies on the single goal of Indian independence. Although few leaders are as admirable in their behavior, as noble in their goals, or as successful in their craft as was Gandhi, all leaders are driven by ambition.

All effective leaders desire to help their own family, company, organization, or nation to achieve its highest potential. They willingly put themselves on the line to achieve that end. Ambitious leaders are not satisfied with current performance. Their ambition distinguishes them from timid leaders. They not only want true greatness for their organizations, they are committed to do all that is necessary to realize the potential. That is appropriate ambition. They realize that most organizations are seriously underperforming. Few come anywhere near to achieving their potential.

Worse, most individuals in positions of authority are either satisfied with the status quo or fearful of assuming the risk to transform their organizations to achieve greatness. In sharp distinction are those few individuals who have high ambition for themselves and their organizations. Those who act on that ambition are leaders. When Lou Platt became CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 1992, he was only the third person in the company’s history to hold that title. He was an experienced executive, he had worked at HP for 26 years, and, because he was the designated successor to CEO John Young, he had time to prepare for the challenges of leadership.

But in spite of all that experience and preparation, he faced the same question every new leader must answer: “Where do I start?” Here’s what he did:

1. He established a leadership team. In selecting the team, he sent a signal about his priorities, goals, and agendas. He looked for people who were compatible team players, but also people who represented a diversity of perspectives.

2. He listened and set an agenda. He spent many hours “walking around” in the HP tradition, listening to the needs, concerns, and aspirations of employees, managers, and customers. His long-term concerns were the challenges of revitalization and continual growth: “Nobody stays on top forever. Since HP has moved from challenger to a leader, what worries me most is complacency.”

3. He built the case for change. Platt spent only 25% of his time on operations. He devoted the other 75% to communicating the need for breakthrough performance. He did this by going on the road and talking directly with HP people. He challenged them to perform at higher levels, even as he restored pride in HP’s principles and values. He pushed responsibility for change down to operational levels, and held the appropriate people accountable for realizing the needed changes.

4. He concentrated on what only he could do as CEO. Platt spent more time dealing with HP’s key constituencies. He reached out to customers, opened effective channels of communication with the HP board, and, of course, spent more time listening to employees and communicating the importance of ambition and change.

[Do you know how Facebook and Google became the most powerful companies in the world?

It’s NOT helping you share pics of last night’s dinner...
It’s NOT searching for drunken cat videos…

And it’s DEFINITELY NOT about free Gmail accounts.
 

The simple truth is Facebook and Google SELL TRAFFIC.

They SELL TRAFFIC to business owners, and that advertising revenue alone has turned them into billion dollar companies.
 

Traffic is the most valuable commodity on the Internet, and that will never change.
 

This is why using the Traffic Authority business system is the ultimate way to make extra income in your business…

Click here to watch the video and start your own premium traffic business today!]