In the early 1900’s, Napoleon Hill studied 500 of the most successful and wealthy people of that era, including Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers, William Wrigley Jr., Charles M. Schwab, Theodore Roosevelt, John D. Rockefeller, J.P. Morgan, Thomas Edison and many more. He was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie to interview and associate with them in order to extrapolate the characteristics, traits and actions of successful people. After 20 years, Napoleon Hill was successful in doing so, publishing a number of books, magazines and articles. He earned several million dollars acting on the information gathered. Napoleon Hill’s legacy lives on through his Foundation (www.naphill.org), who regularly publish his philosophies in daily emails, books and other mediums.
Today, leaders are constantly subjected to leadership trends and fads which can add pressure, stress and anxiety from the expectation to adjust in order to fit the styles of the time. Studying and applying long-standing principles to your leadership style gives you clarity and a model of high success to emulate. Principle based leadership will also fortify you from the inside out, increase your self-confidence and significantly improve your leadership ability and likeability. Consider adopting a few of these principles and watch how your life will improve for the best.
Before trying to master others, be sure you are the master of yourself.
As a leader, are you willing to complete the tasks that you assign to others? Do you want people to respect you for your leadership position, regardless of your personal actions and character as their leader? There is nothing worse than having an immature or untrained leader in a position of authority. This person can wreak havoc on an organization, create a toxic work environment by creating an atmosphere of anxiety and stress, and cause personnel to look for other opportunities. It’s well known that people don’t leave bad jobs, they leave bad leaders.
If you’re a leader and having challenges with others following your lead, are you willing to look in the mirror to see if the issue is you? If you are daring, talk to a well-respected person who has been at the company the longest. They’ve seen different leadership styles and know what motivates the workforce in that company culture. Ask them how they view you as a leader and the suggestions they have to improve your effectiveness with the workforce. Work on yourself, expand your leadership knowledge, change your approach in the way that you lead people and you’ll find that people will change their minds about you and follow you anywhere when you BECOME a leader worth following.
Who told you it couldn’t be done, and what great achievements has he performed that qualified him to set up limitations for you?
When seeking to get to the next level or achieving a new goal, you should be careful about who you are getting your advice from. Are you allowing family and friends to plant seeds of fear and failure in you? Do you have negative co-workers that give you all the reasons you can’t achieve your goal? When you buy someone’s opinion, you buy their lifestyle. If you were looking to buy a Mercedes S550, would you seek advice from someone who drives a Dodge Neon? The same applies to your goals. Seek advice and counsel from someone who has achieved the results that you desire.
Your mind is the only thing you can control exclusively. Don’t give it away too freely to useless arguments.
There are people in organizations who make it their personal mission to fight every battle, regardless of whether or not the outcome affects them directly. Giving energy to useless arguments and to situations or circumstances that are not in your control is unwise. It also creates preventable stress and anxiety that you are subjecting yourself to. If your input to an undesired situation has the ability to change the outcome, then that’s a battle worth taking up and backing with factual data. However, the information should be presented in a professional manner in order to be received properly. If talking about it or complaining won’t change the outcome, then consider putting that energy and time somewhere that will yield results that will keep you ascending in the organization.
Before opportunity crowns you with success, it usually tests your mettle through adversity.
Thomas Edison failed at inventing the lightbulb 10,000 times. Walt Disney filed for bankruptcy several times and was told he lacked imagination. A television station asked Oprah to change her name, stating that she would be received better. It’s rare that someone has ever achieved massive success without failing greatly and mightily on numerous occasions before finally breaking through to success. Knowing this, there are two choices to make, play it safe and never attempt anything outside of your comfort zone, or go after your goals with everything you have, expecting to get knocked down…several times. Continue and go all the way through the goal until it is achieved. Napoleon Hill said, “A man is never whipped until he quits in his own mind.”
The individual who has time only for gossip and slander is too busy for success.
Successful people are always looking for the next mountain to conquer and rarely have time to nitpick and talk about others. They are too busy looking ahead and not looking behind or around them in an effort to find fault and talk about others. Successful people also realize that giving negative energy to any situation creates negative energy and circumstances in their lives, so they mainly focus on the positive. If you desire to get to the next level, and can’t figure out why you are meeting resistance and/or have obstacles, evaluate you how you treat other people and whether or not you are judging and talking about them.
If you have no major purpose, you are drifting toward certain failures.
Your job may not be your major purpose. It’s a means to pay your bills, but it is not why you are here in this lifetime. Many people get caught up in the cycle of the 9-5 and lose sight of becoming who they dreamed of. According to a recent Gallup survey, 87% of people worldwide dislike their jobs. If you fall in this category, although you may be deemed “successful” when it comes to position, money, and material possessions, you have not achieved the true success that comes with working on your purpose. Working on purpose, you are doing what fills you with passion and wakes you up every morning ready to conquer the world.
It’s never too late to work on your major purpose. Vera Wang started designing at 40 and Colonel Sanders franchised KFC at 62. You don’t have to leave your job to do what gives you meaning. Consider spending less time watching television and more time investing in what brings you joy. What would give your life meaning? Can you volunteer your time to a cause you feel strongly about? Life your life full and without regrets.
It takes more than a loud voice to gain respect for authority.
There are some leaders who yell at their personnel in an effort to move them. It’s not only disrespectful to the personnel, and eventually erodes their motivation and self-esteem, it’s also tiring for the leader. If you find that the only way to get people to do what you want them to do is by yelling at them, consider discovering what else motivates them. Is it public praise by acknowledging their good work versus always pointing out the bad? Are you giving them room to grow and learn from their mistakes versus minimizing them and treating them as derelicts; and then getting frustrated because they continue to be derelicts? You can never go wrong by shifting the way that you talk to people and actually treating them like the personnel you would like for them to become. Treat people like they are two positions above their current position and provide mentorship opportunities for them to grow. You may be surprised that the majority of them will grow into the role you set for them and their behaviors will change too.
It is always better to imitate a successful man than to envy him.
There are a number of people who dislike highly successful and wealthy people. This is unfortunate because you have drawn a line in the sand and classified it as “us” and “them”. Read Forbes 400 and you will find that a large number of self-made billionaires overcome a number of insurmountable obstacles and are now enjoying the fruits of their labor. Success principles are universal and apply in any vocation. Study the principles and you’ll find that most successful people have applied similar principles to achieve their dreams. Apply the principles to your life and watch it unfold in new and exciting ways.
Wise persons are those who think twice before speaking once.
This is not only a cliché, it’s a skill that needs to be exercised on a regular basis. A number of people lose positions and credibility when speaking out of turn. Also, some people think that by over-talking people and solely talking about themselves and their accomplishments is impressive to others. It actually has the opposite effect. In “How to Win Friends and Influence People,” Dale Carnegie shares great insight about how you can have someone eating out of your hands simply by listening to them and caring about what they care about. Not in a manipulative manner, but by truly listening and having a conversation surrounding them. Opportunities are created by your ability to communicate with others. If you are looking to get to the next level, or desire a better job, get Mr. Carnegie’s audiobook and listen during your commute.
Don’t covet the other fellow’s job if you are not prepared to accept the responsibility that goes with it.
Do you look at your boss and think you would be better at their job? Do you resent your coworkers because they make more money than you, but do less work? Instead of harboring negative feelings towards others, find out how they got the position and what credentials they hold, and start at once in obtaining them. Are you willing to do the work to get to their positions, or have you become content with just complaining about something that you can change? If you upped your qualifications and certifications, you will open up possibilities for you, even if it’s with a different company. The key is growing into the person who would fit into the position and then switching jobs if necessary. Both require ACTION.
What’s your favorite Napoleon Hill quote? What long-standing principles have you adopted? Which leaders have you emulated that you credit your success to? These are a few questions I would like you to ask yourself.
Please leave your comments below…
Thank You!
