“A soft, easy life is not worth living, if it impairs the fibre of brain and heart and muscle. We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage… For us is the life of action, of strenuous performance of duty; let us live in the harness, striving mightily; let us rather run the risk of wearing out than rusting out.”
If there is one thing that defines a leader, it is decisiveness. This is that indispensable ability to weigh the facts, select a course of action, then execute it at the right moment. When the heat is on and somebody needs to act, it is the leader who looks at everything, makes a plan, and moves forward without looking back.
Chuck Missler, US Naval Academy grad (class of 1956, pictured above), once said, “Weak men hurt people.” He made this statement in 1982, at a gathering where he spoke on business ethics. Chuck made his living as a professional executive in the Defense and semiconductor industries for over thirty years. He happened to be teaching a group of Christians to be ethical and stable in their business dealings. Chief among these qualities are decisiveness and keeping one’s word. “The sanctity of a commitment” was a value he saw in short supply after leaving the executive suite. At the time of this talk, he was CEO of Western Digital Corporation, a proven leader with ballast.
You will never get anywhere being wishy-washy. Vacillation and inability to come to a decision are fatal to leadership. In contrast, people will follow someone who knows where he is going and knows how to get there. And with dispatch, knowing that time is too precious to waste with “analysis paralysis.”
When the pressure’s on, the leader cannot afford to buckle. Time, money, confidence, respect; all are lost when someone positioned to do the right thing can’t make a decision or takes too much time doing so.
It is far better to make ten decisions and have seven of them prove to be good decisions rather than to wait and wait and only make two good decisions. The reason is that although both decisions turned out to be good, the effect of waffling has compromised your influence. Playing it safe often makes your followers feel unsafe. Why can’t he make up his mind? Are we staying or going?
Your high calling as a leader—whether as a husband, business leader, captain of a sports team, etc.–means being decisive. You cannot afford to be ambivalent in the clutch. It is charming when we watch “Fiddler on the Roof” and see it with Tevye the Dairyman. In real life, vacillating is uninspiring at best and dangerous at worst. It certainly doesn’t win our respect.
Being decisive and stable brings a host of benefits not only to the leader but to those who follow him or her. You earn admiration. You inspire those watching. In the marketplace, if you can weigh the facts and act quickly, you’re worth more money than those who can’t. If you’re a military leader, you will undoubtedly save more lives than you lose.
Here’s the challenge. This next month, make a calculated effort to make quicker decisions. Do this with anything from where to go out to eat to vacation plans to starting a new growth project, like a blog or exercise program. Weigh the evidence, do a cost/benefit analysis and then act.
Warren Buffett, arguably the world’s greatest investor, when considering an investment tends to look at and stay within what he calls his “circle of competencies.” He learned this concept from Thomas Watson, founder of IBM. Watson said, essentially, “I don’t know everything but what I know I know. And I tend to operate within my circle of competency.”
When Buffett first met fellow billionaire Bill Gates in 1991, he declined to invest in computer technology, specifically Intel and Microsoft. He didn’t know computers, simple as that. (He later invested heavily in Bill and Melinda Gates and their philanthropic ventures.)
Bill Gates knows computers. Henry Ford knew cars. Gene Simmons knows rock and roll branding. Warren Buffett knows chewing gum, soft drinks, insurance and textiles, among other things. These successful men stayed and stay within what they know. And they profit doing so.
What are your circle of competencies? What things do you know better than the average bear? Buffett tells potential job seekers to seek a job they would do if money were no option. Corollary to that he likens the résumé building approach to career development the equivalent of saving sex for old age. It misses the point.
Here are some things to think about when evaluating your circle of competencies:
What do you find yourself thinking about and pursuing when off the clock?
What ignites your passion—what subjects and pursuits? Dead giveaway on that one is your body language. Your eyes fire, your pulse increases, you get excited and it’s obvious to those who know you.
What do you read about that is not part of some school or work assignment? Same goes for viewing and listening.
Challenge: Focus on what lights you up and genuinely interests you—whether the pursuit is popular or not. Then start doing deep dives in these areas. You’ll be surprised how far you can go with them.
When you were growing up, did you hear this question (I bet you did)? “Why do you have to wait for me to tell you to clean up your room?” One or both parents would make this nagging request. Yeah, I thought it would bring back memories.
What were our parents trying to do? Were they just bored and looking for something to gripe about, harping on us, making our lives unpleasant? No.
What they were trying to mold in us was this: Initiative. Self-discipline. Drive.
I’ve thought about this a lot over the years and realize that the difference between excellence and mediocrity boils down to whether one is a self-starter or has to be told, constantly, what is the next step in any given enterprise or series of tasks.
Understand this: Your boss, like your parents, can spot initiative. And initiative taken, even if the performance is not up to speed, gets favorable attention from those who are in positions to help us. The opposite is true as well. Our betters can spot laziness and a “just enough to get by” attitude a mile away.
I studied French for six years in high school and college. One phenomenon I’ve heard about a few times comes from people who’ve either visited France or Quebec. The French are notoriously jealous of their native tongue. And they should be for it is a beautiful language. Those who take the initiative to try and communicate in French with native French speakers, even if their own skills are marginal, often have the reward of the French trying to help them, honored that someone took time and effort to try. Such initiative has an ingratiating quality about it.
Here’s the challenge: Find something in your job, your vocation, your home, wherever, that you can do without being asked. And then make a habit of this. “It’s not my job” must not be within a million miles of your credo. You are meant for far more than that. And the habit for doing more than is expected will be rewarded.
Flora Klein is a lovely, Hungarian woman. She is on in years. Born in 1927, she is ninety this year. Jewish, she survived the death camps of the Third Reich. To say she is quite a remarkable lady is an exercise in understatement.
As a fourteen-year-old girl, she watched her mother and grandmother go to their deaths. Her grandmother was given the death sentence and her daughter—Flora’s mother—did not want her mother to face death alone and made the incredible decision to join her in death. A profoundly moving example of sacrifice and selflessness in the face of evil.
Having survived the horrors of the war, she emigrated to Israel. There, she married a carpenter and had a son, Chaim, in 1949. Her husband eventually left the family and left mother and son to fend for themselves.
In 1958, Flora and Chaim journeyed to America to forge a new life, as have done many Jews over the past century or more.
They settled in New York. Chaim grew up and took his mother’s name, Klein, and exchanged his Hebrew name for Eugene, or “Gene” for short. Gene Klein.
Gene—still “Chaim” to his mother—received all his direction, nurture, and inspiration from his mother. It is no exaggeration to say that Gene worships the ground his mother walks on. Not his father; his mom. Mention her and ask him to talk about her and he tears up.
Gene was trained in rabbinic Judaism at a New York yeshiva and eventually worked as a New York City school teacher. He was a young musician and pursued that, his mother cheering him on. Eventually he formed a group with his friend Stanley Eisen. He and Stanley changed their names. Now they are known as Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley. You’ve probably figured out that Israeli-born Chaim Witz is Gene Simmons of the rock group KISS.
Gene eventually went on to superstardom in the entertainment industry. In recent years, he’s gotten into many different business ventures—some as startups rooted in KISS®, the brand. Others are independent enterprises.
A few years ago, when asked on the Canadian talk show The Hour(minute 11:10) where he got his inspiration to be a success in so many fields, he answered without hesitation, “My mother.” He began to choke up as he told the audience he wished she could be a part of all their lives.
His advice: If you want inspiration, look to your mom. She’s his inspiration to this moment.
He spoke of the time he got his first $10,000,000.00 (yes, that much) check—a one lump sum—as a return on his work with KISS. He brought the check to his mother, wanting her to be proud of him. “Mom, look at this.”
She said, in her broken English, “V’wonderful (pronounced VWAHN-dare-fool). V’wonderful…..Now what are you going to do?”
Superstardom. A ten-million-dollar check. “Now what are you going to do?” Are you serious?
“Precisely the point,” says Gene. One doesn’t rest on yesterday’s accomplishments. Tomorrow is a new day. What will you do to better yourself? How can you improve what you do?
This is timeless—and distinctly Jewish—advice and perspective. How about you? Are you going to rest on yesterday’s successes? Or worse, are you going to give up because of yesterday’s failures and disappointments? Or will you value the gift of life and make the most of it that is possible?
Time is the only inelastic commodity that any of us possess. We are each allotted 24 hours to the day. Given the fact that time has an end for all of us, it is priceless and demands we steward it carefully.
Those who make their mark on the universe learn this well, the earlier the better. I’ve listened to some outstanding lessons on time management by Brian Tracy. This material is about a quarter of a century old but is timeless (pardon the pun). You can drink from the same well here.
A leader advances because he knows his time and that of those with whom he interacts is precious. So without further ado, here’s some tips that will increase your effectiveness, production and value in the marketplace:
Arrive early for any appointments. People will take note quickly that you are a pro, a force in business. Being fashionably late may be de rigueur for parties and proms but it will destroy you in the marketplace.
Use early morning hours to get a lot of work done. Tracy points out that it’s possible to get the work of a typical day done in 3 hours of undisturbed effort.
Turn off your smart phone. If it’s important, those trying to get you will leave a message or call back.
Find gracious ways of economizing or taking leave of people who tend to waste their time as well as yours. “Hi. What can I do for you?” You’re not helping them or yourself by letting them simply drop in to chew the fat when you should be working. Again, this is for business. Don’t do this with family or friends.
Keep your workspace organized, free of clutter.
When making appointments to meet with someone, prepare an agenda on paper, smart phone, PDA or iPad. Set a definite timeframe for the meeting and announce it ahead of time. If it’s 30 minutes, end it at 30 minutes and be on your way. It will speak volumes.
Write down the contents of phone discussions or meetings. When meeting with customers, follow up your discussions with an email. This keeps assumptions crystal clear. It will save your time and your neck, believe me.
Remember that really high achievers understand the value of minutes, not just hours.
When discussing a topic, ask direct and specific questions. When answering, get to the point. The only time you should exercise the urge to “Ramble On” is when you’ve got Led Zeppelin’s 2nd album cued up.
Enough for now. If you follow these steps diligently, you will see your production increase, your influence grow and your income go north.
The Upside 
