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Ron White's Newsletter
July 7, 2010
Issue 124

Welcome!

While reading a history book recently, I came across Thomas Edison's “Things to do” list for January 3, 1888. Here is a brief summary:

Things doing and to get done:
- Cotton picker
- New standard phonograph
- Hand-turning phonograph
- New slow-speed cheap dynamo
- New expansion pyromagnetic dynamo
- Deaf apparatus
- Electrical piano
- Long-distance standard telephone transmitter which employs device of recording phonograph
- Duplicating phono cylinder

These are just excerpts from five pages worth of “Things to do” in 1888. WOW! It makes my “Things to do” list look a little elementary!

Thomas Edison had over 3,500 notebooks with ideas and drawings! Here is a good lesson. When I was researching the life of Leonardo da Vinci a few years ago, I discovered that he also had stacks and stacks of journals with his thoughts in them. So did Albert Einstein!

Is this a coincidence? Is it a coincidence that Albert Einstein, Thomas Edison and Leonardo da Vinci, some of the greatest minds of all time, all journaled their thoughts? NO!! There is something about journaling that activates your brain and gets your subconscious thinking. It works! Jim Rohn taught this principle as well. If you don't believe me, believe Edison, Einstein, da Vinci and Rohn!

I currently have 15 Jim Rohn Leadership Journals on my desk with my thoughts and ideas from the last four years. If you want to feel like a great thinker, get a journal and start putting the greatest computer ever created (your brain) to work brainstorming, planning and creating!

Ron White

P.S.: If you enjoy this week’s edition and find it to be valuable, then if you would do me the favor of forwarding it to your friends, family and associates, it would be very much appreciated. If they would like to subscribe, have them visit my website here for easy and convenient sign-up!

In This Issue......

1. Three Cigars by Ron White
2. Quotes of the Week
3. Top Skills of Extraordinary Leaders by John C. Maxwell
4. All Things Being Equal, Leadership Makes the Difference!
5. More Information

1. Three Cigars by Ron White

It was September 1862 and the fate of a nation was about to turn on three cigars serendipitously stumbled upon by a Union soldier, Sergeant Bloss. The stage was the Civil War, and the scene was that of a recently vacated rebel campfire. Bloss spotted an envelope with three cigars in it and was proud of his treasure. As there was as scamper to find a match to light the cigars, a piece of paper wrapped with the bounty was noticed. It was a find that would alter the course of the war.

The paper contained General Robert E. Lee’s battle plans and they had just fallen into his enemy’s fortunate hands. Lee’s soldiers were just coming off a victory at the second Battle of Bull Run and they needed to do two things. First, they had to keep the Union off balance. Second, they had to resupply their own forces. The scenario called for a daring move—just the kind of courage that made General Robert E. Lee famous more than a century after his death. His plan was to temporarily split his forces in an effort to pick up stragglers around the country as reinforcements and then reconvene for a bold move on the heart of the enemy at Philadelphia, Baltimore and Washington.

When the note was carried to General George McClellan, Commander in Chief of the Union Army, it was obvious what he was holding. If the note had not been found, Lee would have had a clear run to resupply and the war would have been over in weeks, if not days. Yet, because of this find, General McClellan also had an opportunity to end the war within days. With the knowledge that Lee had split his forces, McClellan could ambush each wing, divide the enemy and destroy them at his leisure. The war would still be over in days, yet now it would be a Union victory.

So what did McClellan do? As remarkable as it seems, he hesitated and did nothing. He performed no reconnaissance and issued no orders, and not a single one of his commanders dared tell him to do so. The forces did meet in a battle that headed off Lee’s resupply mission, and that battle was known as Antietam. The battle was a draw and the war continued for another four bloody years.

One hundred and forty years after this battle, we can look back and scoff at General McClellan’s inaction. How could someone hold the roadmap to success in his hands and fail to act? How could someone in a leadership position lack the courage to be bold? Knowing success was inevitable, how could nothing be done?

While it is true that General McClellan was ultimately replaced by a leader who was decisive and courageous (General Grant), we can learn a lot from McClellan.

You see, you also have three cigars in your hands with your enemy’s battle plans. The enemy is not foreign forces, instead the enemy is you. These battle plans tell you that you will win the war of success if you:

• Educate yourself
• Act decisively
• Abandon the something for nothing mentality and work hard
• Refuse the victim mindset and take responsibility for your life and success

You also hold the battle plans in your hands that will ensure your success. Yet, many, just as General George McClellan, will look at these orders and do nothing. Too many will not act. Too many will lack the courage and decisiveness to take responsibility for their success and instead lead lives of quiet desperation.

Read these battle orders LOUD and CLEAR—your success is GUARANTEED if you will only be determined to educate yourself, work hard, take responsibility and act!

The battle for success in life is in your hands. You have found it rolled with these metaphorical cigars. Success is not the elusive mystery that so many believe. It is the product of decisive actions, a lot of hard work and accepting responsibility for your life.

There you have it. You have the battle plans in front of you to ensure success. Now, what will you do? Will you hesitate and do nothing as General McClellan did? Or will you seize this opportunity to defeat the enemy and guarantee success for yourself?

The enemy is moving. There is no time to waste. You have the battle plans. March forth!

Success lessons can be learned by extracting the lessons of great men and applying them to our own lives. Check out Ron White’s DVD/CD programs on success-related topics, including Success Lessons from Medal of Honor Recipients, Success Lessons from U.S. Presidents and more. Find an awesome combination offer for all seven at an incredible price! Click here for details.

2. Quotes of The Week

Preparation

“You cannot speak that which you do not know. You cannot share that which you do not feel. You cannot translate that which you do not have. And you cannot give that which you do not possess. To give it and to share it, and for it to be effective, you first need to have it. Good communication starts with good preparation.” —Jim Rohn

“One of life’s most painful moments comes when we must admit that we didn’t do our homework, that we are not prepared.” —Merlin Olsen

“It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.” —Whitney Young Jr.

“The secret of success in life is for a man to be ready for his opportunity when it comes.” —Benjamin Disraeli

“The ideal attitude is to be physically loose and mentally tight.” —Arthur Ashe

“Man must be prepared for every event of life, for there is nothing that is durable.” —Menander of Athens

“The most successful people in every area invariably spend far more time in preparation than the least successful.” —Brian Tracy

“By chance, you will say, but chance only favors the mind which is prepared.”
—Louis Pasteur

“What distinguishes winners is the will to prepare to win.” —Tony Jeary

“From product knowledge springs the expertise to work with clients in the effective and professional manner that earns high income. Invest ten minutes daily reviewing your product information or using your product so you know it inside and out.” —Tom Hopkins

3. Top Skills of Extraordinary Leaders by Chris Widener

Those who become Extraordinary Leaders are those who master the skills of leadership. Followers will follow leaders based on two primary aspects: the leader’s character and his or her skills. Here are the top skills an Extraordinary Leader must master. Get on top of these and you will find your influence growing extraordinarily!

Good Communicator
Extraordinary Leaders are those who can take the vision they have and communicate it in ways that their followers can easily understand, internalize, and own. Then, and only then, can they carry it out! So focus on speaking and writing more clearly, and with the passion you have for the vision you have. Use different ways of communicating, including different ways verbally and nonverbally. Above all, communicate often!

“Sees” the End Result Long Before Others
I think the greatest compliment on my leadership skills I ever received came from a gentleman who told me that “you see things about six months before the rest of us.” Without tooting my own horn (OK, a little bit, maybe), that is a skill of a leader. They are always looking out ahead of themselves and their situations. Followers are worried about what happens today, while leaders are thinking about and strategizing about what they see for tomorrow. Be constantly looking ahead. Practice making projections. Get good at “seeing” the future. When you can do this better than others, they will look to you for leadership!

Ability to Define Goals for Self and Others
Do you know what your goals are? Can you define them? Can you articulate them clearly? Can you do this for those who follow? Can you define and set their goals? An Extraordinary Leader works at clarity and definition of goals so that they can be internalized and acted upon by others. Work hard at this skill and others will follow!

Ability to Set Strategy and Course of Action
What will you do to reach the goal? Many people can say where we should go, but it is the Extraordinary Leader who can lay out a plan for everyone to get there! Work at laying out a plan for you and your followers. Remember that there are people with different skill and passion levels, and take this into account! Get good at this and when people want to get to their goals in a hurry, they will call on you to lead!

Ability to Teach Others
One of the greatest leadership development companies in the world has been General Electric. This is because their CEO, Jack Welch, has always emphasized the need for current leaders to teach others. He himself spends what others would consider an extraordinary amount of time in the classroom teaching. But remember, he is an Extraordinary Leader and he is developing Extraordinary Leaders to follow behind him. Work hard at your teaching techniques, and be sure to use as many situations as possible for the opportunity to teach those who would follow.

Ability to Inspire Others
You may have a great goal, but if you want to be an Extraordinary Leader, then you will have to put a little oomph under your followers! This is the ability to inspire! Work at helping them to see the big picture, the great end results, and how good it is going to be for them and others. Above all, make it exciting. If it is a good goal, it should be exciting. If it isn’t exciting, then dump it and get a goal that others can get excited about!

Knack for Delegating
An Extraordinary Leader is rarely a person who is doing everything himself or herself. Extraordinary Leaders get the job done through others. They figure out the way, communicate the way, and inspire the followers to go that way, and then they get OUT OF THE WAY! Delegate to your people. Empower them! Set them free to soar! This is what an Extraordinary Leader does. Leaders who do it any other way are just extraordinarily tired at the end of the day, with very little to show for it!

4. Learn What the Most Effective People Do Differently!

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5. More Information

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