The Common Denominator of Success

<p> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_iNDZvAXaNo/YZVKxzgiscI/AAAAAAABXjE/chIuiAXe5C8QGSilgLW0_LWdRzPt98nygCLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Alexander%2BBuchan%2B-%2BA%2Bview%2Bof%2Bthe%2BEndeavour%2527s%2Bwatering%2Bplace%2Bin%2Bthe%2BBay%2Bof%2BGood%2BSuccess%252C%2BTierra%2Bdel%2BFurgo%252C%2Bwith%2Bnatives.%2BJanuary%2B1769.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1001" data-original-width="1280" height="500" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-_iNDZvAXaNo/YZVKxzgiscI/AAAAAAABXjE/chIuiAXe5C8QGSilgLW0_LWdRzPt98nygCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h500/Alexander%2BBuchan%2B-%2BA%2Bview%2Bof%2Bthe%2BEndeavour%2527s%2Bwatering%2Bplace%2Bin%2Bthe%2BBay%2Bof%2BGood%2BSuccess%252C%2BTierra%2Bdel%2BFurgo%252C%2Bwith%2Bnatives.%2BJanuary%2B1769.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Endeavour%27s_watering_place_in_the_Bay_of_Good_Success,_Tierra_del_Fuego_-_Drawings_made_in_the_Countries_visited_by_Captain_Cook_in_his_First_Voyage_(1769),_f.11_-_BL_Add_MS_23920.jpg">A view of the Endeavour's watering place in the Bay of Good Success</a></em><span style="text-align: left;">, by Alexander Buchan, 1769 (public domain — Wikimedia Commons)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“It is not by muscle, speed, or physical dexterity that great things are achieved, but by reflection, force of character, and judgment.” </strong>— Marcus Tullius Cicero</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Do you know what success is? It of course depends on your perspective — where you sit, who you are, and what matters to you.</p><p>More importantly, do you know what it takes to be successful? That is, what you need to do to achieve success as you define it?</p><p>There’s a variety of leadership traits that we can identify in successful people. Things like <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership/p/wisdom">wisdom</a>, <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership/p/communication">good communication</a>, <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership/p/humanity">humanity</a>, and all of the other topics we cover on the <em><strong>Timeless Leadership</strong></em> podcast. (<a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/timeless-leadership/archive?sort=new">Episode Archive</a> | Follow on your <a href="https://pod.link/timeless">favorite podcast platform</a>)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://pod.link/timeless" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="2000" data-original-width="2000" height="200" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6DqiIWuC7yQ/YZVLHwHC1cI/AAAAAAABXjM/K1Ha4_mq30sotz44DRW-FvOU6mgJ1uYXQCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h200/Timeless%2BLeadership%2BBold%2Btransparent.png" width="200" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><p>Those virtues are admirable and worthy of pursuit. But they’re lofty and may take years to master, particularly as you’re awaiting that first opportunity to lead people. Without the requisite position, some of them are difficult to practice.</p><p>But the common denominator success — one trait that’s practical and practicable — the secret of every successful person is forming the habit of doing things that failures don’t like to do.</p><p>What did Thomas Edison do? He achieved fame and greatness for his many patents as the electrical age came into focus. But for every invention or refinement he made, he had an exponential number of attempts.</p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“I have not failed. I have just found 9,999 ways that do not work.”</strong> — Thomas Edison</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre><pre class="text"><br /></pre></div><h2><strong>Success Boiled Down in One Speech</strong></h2><p>In 1940, Albert E.N. Gray, an executive at Prudential Insurance gave a speech to the National Association of Life Underwriters. While it was delivered to insurance professionals, it applies equally to anyone seeking success in any aspect of their life.</p><p>Gray’s “<strong>The Common Denominator of Success</strong>” speech has some points worth repeating here. I have updated some of the language to be more inclusive.</p><blockquote><p>Of course, like most of us, I had been brought up on the popular belief that the secret of success is hard work, but I had seen so many people work hard without succeeding and so many people succeed without working hard that I had become convinced that hard work was not the real secret even though in most cases it might be one of the requirements.</p><p>And so I set out on a voyage of discovery which carried me through biographies and  autobiographies and all sorts of dissertations on success and the lives of successful people until I finally reached a point at which I realized that the secret I was trying to discover lay not only in what they did, but also in what made them do it.</p><p>I realized further that the secret for which I was searching must not only apply to every definition of success, but since it must apply to everyone to whom it was offered, it must  also apply to everyone who had ever been successful. In short, I was looking for the common denominator of success.</p><p>And because that is exactly what I was looking for, that is exactly what I found.</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>It’s worth pausing here to reflect on the <strong><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/intentionality">intentionality</a></strong> behind Gray’s pursuit. It’s akin to what we saw Sherlock Holmes say when he found something no one else had:</p><blockquote><p><b><i><span style="font-size: medium;">“It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was looking for it.”</span></i></b></p></blockquote><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42525836,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Leadership Can Be Like the Dog In the Night-Time","truncated_body_text":"“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.” — Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891 Timeless & Timely has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to Premium subscribers. This one is available here:","date":"2021-10-13T12:33:35.678Z","like_count":5,"comment_count":0,"bylines":[{"id":429,"name":"Scott Monty","photo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9ea180a7-4ad6-4937-b37a-52810591c920_2717x2531.jpeg","bio":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Jump ahead of the leadership curve by learning from the best from throughout history.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#2879af","created_at":"2020-02-02T20:45:53.185Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"Scott Monty","copyright":"Scott Monty Strategies","founding_plan_name":"Timeless Supporter","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><br /></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42525836,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Leadership Can Be Like the Dog In the Night-Time","truncated_body_text":"“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.” — Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891 Timeless & Timely has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to Premium subscribers. This one is available here:","date":"2021-10-13T12:33:35.678Z","like_count":5,"comment_count":0,"bylines":[{"id":429,"name":"Scott Monty","photo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9ea180a7-4ad6-4937-b37a-52810591c920_2717x2531.jpeg","bio":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Jump ahead of the leadership curve by learning from the best from throughout history.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#2879af","created_at":"2020-02-02T20:45:53.185Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"Scott Monty","copyright":"Scott Monty Strategies","founding_plan_name":"Timeless Supporter","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><i>Read more: <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">Leadership Can Be Like the Dog in the Night-Time</a></i></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42525836,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Leadership Can Be Like the Dog In the Night-Time","truncated_body_text":"“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.” — Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891 Timeless & Timely has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to Premium subscribers. This one is available here:","date":"2021-10-13T12:33:35.678Z","like_count":5,"comment_count":0,"bylines":[{"id":429,"name":"Scott Monty","photo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9ea180a7-4ad6-4937-b37a-52810591c920_2717x2531.jpeg","bio":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Jump ahead of the leadership curve by learning from the best from throughout history.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#2879af","created_at":"2020-02-02T20:45:53.185Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"Scott Monty","copyright":"Scott Monty Strategies","founding_plan_name":"Timeless Supporter","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><br /></div><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42525836,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Leadership Can Be Like the Dog In the Night-Time","truncated_body_text":"“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.” — Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891 Timeless & Timely has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to Premium subscribers. This one is available here:","date":"2021-10-13T12:33:35.678Z","like_count":5,"comment_count":0,"bylines":[{"id":429,"name":"Scott Monty","photo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9ea180a7-4ad6-4937-b37a-52810591c920_2717x2531.jpeg","bio":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Jump ahead of the leadership curve by learning from the best from throughout history.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#2879af","created_at":"2020-02-02T20:45:53.185Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"Scott Monty","copyright":"Scott Monty Strategies","founding_plan_name":"Timeless Supporter","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><br /></div><h2><strong>Successful People Don’t Mind Not Liking Things</strong></h2><p>Gray continued:</p><blockquote><p>The common denominator of success — the secret of success of every man who has ever been successful — lies in the fact that he formed the habit of doing things that failures don't like to do.</p><p>The things that failures don’t like to do are the very things that you and I and other human beings, including successful people, naturally don’t like to do. In other words, we’ve got to realize right from the start that success is something which is achieved by the minority of people, and is therefore unnatural and not to be achieved by following our natural likes and dislikes nor by being guided by our natural preferences and prejudices.</p><p>We don’t like to call on people who don’t want to see us and talk to them about something they don’t want to talk about. Any reluctance to follow a definite prospecting program, to use prepared sales talks, to organize time and to organize effort are all caused by this one basic dislike.</p><p>Perhaps you have wondered why it is that our biggest producers seem to like to do the things that you don't like to do. They don’t!</p><p>But if they don’t like to do these things, then why do they do them? Because by doing the things they don’t like to do, they can accomplish the things they want to accomplish. Successful people are influenced by the desire for pleasing results. Failures are influenced by the desire for pleasing methods and are inclined to be satisfied with such results as can be obtained by doing things they like to do.</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Why Successful People Do What Failures Don’t</strong></h2><blockquote><p>Why are successful people able to do things they don't like to do while failures are not? Because successful people have a purpose strong enough to make them form the habit of doing things they don’t like to do in order to accomplish the purpose they want to accomplish.</p><p>Every single qualification for success is acquired through habit. People form habits and habits form futures. If you do not deliberately form good habits, then unconsciously you will form bad ones. You are the kind of person you are because you have formed the habit of being that kind of person, and the only way you can change is through habit.</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>This is reminiscent from that scene at the beginning of <em>Lawrence of Arabia</em> when Lawrence puts out a match with his bare fingers, and William Potter, a junior officer, attempts the same thing, burning his fingers in the process:</p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Ooh! It damn well ’urts!”<br />“Certainly it hurts.”<br />“What’s the trick then?”<br />“The trick, William Potter, is not minding that it hurts.”</strong></em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre><pre class="text"><br /></pre></div><h2><strong>Success Comes From Continued Habits</strong></h2><blockquote><p>But before you decide to adopt these success habits, let me warn you of the importance of habit to your decision. I have attended many sales meetings and sales congresses during the past ten years and have often wondered why, in spite of the fact that there is so much good in them, so many people seem to get so little lasting good out of them. Perhaps you have attended sales meetings in the past and have left determined to do the things that would make you successful or more successful only to find your decision or determination waning at just the time when it should be put into effect or practice.</p><p>Here’s the answer. Any resolution or decision you make is simply a promise to yourself, which isn’t worth a tinker’s dam unless you have formed the habit of making it and keeping it.</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Habits Are Formed Through Purpose</strong></h2><blockquote><p>And you won’t form the habit of making it and keeping it unless right at the start you link it with a definite purpose that can be accomplished by keeping it. In other words, any resolution or decision you make today has to be made again tomorrow, and the next day, and the next, and the next, and so on. If you continue the process of making it each morning and keeping it each day, you will finally wake up some morning a different person in a different world, and you will wonder what has happened to you and the world you used to live in.</p><p>Here’s what has happened. Your resolution or decision has become a habit and you don’t</p><p>have to make it on this particular morning. For the first time in your life, you have become master of yourself and master of your likes and dislikes by surrendering to your purpose in life.</p><p>That is why behind every success there must be a purpose and that is what makes purpose so important to your future. Your future is not going to depend on economic conditions or outside influences of circumstances over which you have no control. Your future is going to depend on your purpose in life. So let’s talk about purpose.</p><p>First of all, your purpose must be practical and not visionary. But in making your purpose practical, be careful not to make it logical. Make it a purpose of the sentimental or emotional type. Remember needs are logical while wants and desires are sentimental and emotional.</p><p>Your needs will push you just so far, but when your needs are satisfied, they will stop pushing you. If, however, your purpose is in terms of wants and desires, then your wants and desires will keep pushing you long after your needs are satisfied and until your wants and desires are fulfilled.</p><p>And if it’s an honest purpose, you will be honest and honorable in the accomplishment of it. But as long as you live, don’t ever forget that while you may succeed beyond your fondest hopes and your greatest expectations, you will never succeed beyond the purpose to which you are willing to surrender.</p><p>Furthermore, your surrender will not be complete until you have formed the habit of doing the things that failures don't like to do.</p></blockquote><p> </p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>There are finer points, more details, and other directions in the full speech. But it identifies the core of what we need to commit ourselves to if we want to achieve success.</p><p>Gray’s work is as timely and inspirational as when it was first delivered, and is available in a booklet if you’d like to read the entire thing. (<em><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/3nj81lu">The Common Denominator of Success</a></strong></em> | Amazon)</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><hr style="background-color: white;" /><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.</p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join the club by signing up below:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="2643" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div>

The Common Denominator of Success

  A view of the Endeavour's watering place in the Bay of Good Success , by Alexander Buchan, 1769 (public domain — Wikimedia Commons) “...

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Manufacturing Fame

<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFmzycZtZj8/YYy5pKft7aI/AAAAAAABXew/IhcCXa5fagYPB9zXRM0XPyDuwsgdTjHoACLcBGAsYHQ/s1280/Guillaume-Alphonse%2BHarang%2BCabasson%2B-%2BApotheosis%2Bof%2BNapoleon%2BIII%2B1854.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1014" data-original-width="1280" height="508" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zFmzycZtZj8/YYy5pKft7aI/AAAAAAABXew/IhcCXa5fagYPB9zXRM0XPyDuwsgdTjHoACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h508/Guillaume-Alphonse%2BHarang%2BCabasson%2B-%2BApotheosis%2Bof%2BNapoleon%2BIII%2B1854.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Apotheosis_of_Napoleon_III.jpg" target="_blank">Apotheosis of Napoleon III</a></i> by Guillaume-Alphonse Harang Cabasson, 1854 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons)</span><br /></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p><p><em></em></p><blockquote><em><strong>“Two centuries ago when a great man appeared, people looked for God's purpose in him; today we look for his press agent.” </strong>— <em>Daniel Boorstin, 1961</em></em></blockquote><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>When he delivered the Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln self-deprecatingly said, “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here.”</p><p>And yet his 274-word speech has become one of the most lauded pieces of rhetoric in history.</p><p>Lincoln chose his words carefully not because he knew he was becoming an inextricable part of the American story, but because he knew the moment required words that would inspire.</p><p>He rose to the occasion, delivering a speech that has withstood the test of time and has been part of what has contributed to our assessment of the greatness of Abraham Lincoln as a leader.</p><p>How much inspiration do you get from what flashes in front of you every day? How many influencers are chasing fame?</p><p>In an age when <a href="https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/marketing-strategies/video/youtube-stars-influence/" target="_blank">YouTube stars are more influential than traditional celebrities</a> and <a href="https://www.linqia.com/insights/the-state-of-influencer-marketing-2021/" target="_blank">68% of marketers plan to use TikTok</a>, the desire to attract an audience is stronger than ever.</p><p>In 19th century Paris, theatres hired a claque, a group of professional applauders who would supply reactions to ensure a performance was received well in the media: applause, cheers, stamping feet, and such. Like a laugh track, claques helped to buoy the mood at the performance, but didn’t guarantee critical success.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“There’s not a thing on earth that I can name<br />So foolish and so false as common fame.” </strong>— John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester, 1679</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><h2><strong><br /></strong></h2><h2><strong>Fame Over Greatness</strong></h2><p>The rise of what Daniel Boorstin called the “Graphic Revolution” — newspapers, radio, television, and all associated media — gave us the ability to manufacture fame. Mass media gave us the ability to share the same message, the same voice, and the same face across vast amounts of the population.</p><p>What does that get us, though? Not greatness, but fame.</p><p>He was clear that fame ought not to be confused with greatness:</p><blockquote><p>“We can fabricate fame, we can at will (though usually at considerable expense) make a man or woman well-known; but we cannot make him great. We can make a celebrity, but we can never make a hero.”</p></blockquote><p>Heroes are granted monuments, and there are fewer monuments being built these days.</p><p>Another 50 years beyond Boorstin’s writing drops us square into the Digital Revolution (same concept, new technology). Now our markers of fame are likes, clicks, views, and follows as we build monuments to ourselves under the auspices of a “personal brand.”</p><p>It’s a race to online celebrity as we take a shot at digital immortality. And yet, the meme mausoleum is littered with viral stars that have since gone supernova and have burned out.</p><p>I was thrust into the spotlight when I was an executive at Ford leading digital communications and social media during the rise to social media. It was a byproduct of the work I did, not the goal. But I used my position to share what I learned working within a Fortune 10 company, building my expertise along the way.</p><p>And yet, I saw (and still see) the self-styled “gurus” online who are hustling their hearts out, attempting to convince you that they know how to run a global enterprise because they can push buttons, buy fans, or make bots in their attempt to achieve fame and build their personal brands.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Perceptions of the world furnished by the camera substitute montage for narrative…the camera doesn't think.” </strong>— Lewis H. Lapham, 2011</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><h2><strong><br /></strong></h2><h2><strong>Being, Not Becoming</strong></h2><p>Social media gives us our fair share of Hollywood celebrities and their legions of fans. But it has also birthed thousands more YouTubers, Instagrammers, TikTokkers and the like, who dazzle us with their creativity nonstop. So much so that <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/02/forget-law-school-these-kids-want-to-be-a-youtube-star.html" target="_blank">one-third of children want to grow up to be YouTubers</a>.</p><p>The unending parade of content is an assault on our senses that doesn’t give us time to recover. The infinite scroll keeps our thumbs moving while our brains are at rest, passively consuming whatever is presented to them.</p><p>It’s what allows us to have celebrities who are famous for being famous. Zsa Zsa Gabor was probably the first of this kind who eventually gave way to the likes of the Kardashians and Paris Hilton. [Incidentally, Zsa Zsa was Conrad Hilton’s second wife (he was the second of her nine husbands); Paris Hilton was Conrad’s great-granddaughter. The circle is complete.]</p><p>And who can blame erstwhile fame-chasers? The accidental viral success of mere nobodies is enticing alternatives to actually doing the work. Of course shortcuts to fame seem preferable. Celebrity is about being, not becoming, and that sums up the skewed priorities that the world seems to reward.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Men are more generally pleased with a widespread than a great reputation.”</strong> — Pliny the Younger, c. 110</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>So we have online personalities (I refuse to call them “influencers”) who see the fame, think it’s easy to achieve, and chase after it with willful disregard for how they’re perceived by those who are paying attention. Or at least by those who are paying attention and can understand the difference between aspiration and raw, greedy ambition.</p><p>In pursuing their unbridled passion for digital dominance (followers, likes, views), with their own personal claques in tow, they may be sacrificing their reputation along the way. Or perhaps they’ll simply further demonstrate who they are — they’ll have a reputation, alright.</p><p>With so much content out there and limited space on the platforms, it’s harder to get noticed. In an age of content deluge, <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/culture-character-etiquette-and-reputation">we ought to think more about reputation</a>. Rather than pursuing fame, perhaps we should pursue excellence. Or competence. Or helpfulness.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“If you are ever tempted to look for outside approval, realize that you have compromised your integrity. If you need a witness, be your own.”</strong> — Epictetus</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>What you have to live with every day, and the legacy you leave—particularly to those who care most about you—is your integrity, your character, and your reputation.</p><p>Put your efforts into leading with integrity and character, and greatness will follow.</p><p class="button-wrapper" data-attrs="{"url":"%%share_url%%","text":"Share","class":null}"><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The related episode of </span><em style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><strong>Timeless Leadership</strong></em><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> (released every Thursday) is now available. Our guest is Jason Falls, author of <i><a href="https://amzn.to/3qqXNSi" target="_blank">Winfluence: Reframing Influencer Marketing to Ignite Your Brand</a></i>. Listen to it below or <a href="https://pod.link/timeless" target="_blank">wherever you get podcasts</a>.</span></div><div><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><br /></span></div><iframe frameborder="0" height="170px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/influence-M5JxOPSo4l8/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe><p><br /></p><p><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;"></span></p><hr style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; color: black; font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: medium; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; font-variant-ligatures: normal; font-weight: 400; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: left; text-decoration-color: initial; text-decoration-style: initial; text-decoration-thickness: initial; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay and the audio version of it, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.</span></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join the club by signing up below:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="1631" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure style="text-align: left;"><br /></figure></div>

Manufacturing Fame

  Apotheosis of Napoleon III by Guillaume-Alphonse Harang Cabasson, 1854 (public domain - Wikimedia Commons) “Two centuries ago when a grea...

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Who Is Your Éminence Grise?

<p></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fnC1KAz34Fc/YYKY0quBGrI/AAAAAAABXac/Z3YBToJjf1I2C4IQQ-CqVVJwPH0kkfQjgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1639/Jean-L%25C3%25A9on%2BG%25C3%25A9r%25C3%25B4me%2B-%2BL%2527Eminence%2BGrise%2B1873.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1639" height="422" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fnC1KAz34Fc/YYKY0quBGrI/AAAAAAABXac/Z3YBToJjf1I2C4IQQ-CqVVJwPH0kkfQjgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h422/Jean-L%25C3%25A9on%2BG%25C3%25A9r%25C3%25B4me%2B-%2BL%2527Eminence%2BGrise%2B1873.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2607652" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>L<span style="color: black; text-align: left;"></span></i></span></a><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2607652">’</a><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2607652" target="_blank">Eminence Grise</a></i> by Jean-Léon Gérôme (public domain — Wikimedia Commons)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><br /></p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Be courteous to all but intimate with few, and let those few be well tried before you give them your confidence.”</strong> — George Washington, 1783</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p><em><strong>Timeless & Timely</strong> has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/subscribe">Premium subscribers</a>. This one is available here: </em><a class="button primary" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/eminence-grise-audio">Who Is Your Émenince Grise?</a></p><p></p><p><br /></p><hr /><p><br /></p><p>We all need an <em>éminence grise</em>.</p><p>I’m not just saying that because I like to say “<em>éminence grise</em>”. You have to admit: it’s a cool-sounding phrase, isn’t it?</p><p>No, we need an <em>éminence grise</em> because there are times when we don’t see our challenges or problems with clear eyes. We have too much invested in a project, a team, or a relationship. Or we don’t see outside forces as they’re forming.</p><p>Sometimes, it takes outside counsel to advise us and to bring additional perspective to our decision making.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>The term <em>éminence grise</em> (literally, “gray eminence”) goes back to the 16th century, when Cardinal Richelieu installed François Leclerc du Tremblay, the Capuchin monk Père Joseph (1577 – 1638), as his right-hand man. Richelieu was Chief Minister under Louis XIII.</p><p>Richelieu’s ambition for French domination of Europe aligned perfectly with Tremblay’s hope to convert European Protestants to Roman Catholicism. Tremblay’s nickname came from the color of his robes: a beige or grey color, thus the term <em>grise</em>.</p><p>An <em>éminence grise</em> is a powerful decision-maker or adviser who operates behind the scenes, or in a non-public or unofficial capacity. He is often treated with deference or even fear by subordinates, who understand that he has the ear of the leader, and perhaps even the power to steer decisions in a Svengali-like manner.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Famous examples of <em>éminence grise</em> include Rasputin, Dick Cheney, and the 1st Duke of Sussex. Not necessarily the most sympathetic of historic figures. But there are others as well—others upon whom history looks more kindly.</p><p>Harry Hopkins, the Secretary of Commerce under Franklin Delano Roosevelt, advised him on the New Deal that freed the United States from the Great Depression.</p><p>The wise philosopher Seneca advised and tutored the Roman Emperor Nero — until he wasn’t useful anymore. But he left us with books and letters that have formed an essential part of Stoic philosophy.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>The role is an important one—a close confidante who acts as an elder statesman, giving a clear-eyed view of the options and counseling the leadership on decisions. The leader still makes the final call, but his actions are guided by the wisdom of the <em>éminence grise</em>.</p><p>Whether you seek the counsel of others or are an advisor yourself, it’s a role based on <em><strong>trust</strong></em>.</p><p>Leaders rely on others because leadership only works in a team, not as an individual sport. The best leaders have coaches and advisors. They seek out alternative points of view and delegate information-gathering.</p><p>I write here about the need for leaders to be better communicators, but the fact is leaders first need to be great listeners, ready to hear what needs to be said.</p><p>Listening—particularly to those whom we trust—can give us the wisdom we need to become better leaders.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.  </p><p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, an audio version of the public essay, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.<br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join the club by signing up below:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="10745" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div>

Who Is Your Éminence Grise?

L ’ Eminence Grise by Jean-Léon Gérôme (public domain — Wikimedia Commons) “Be courteous to all but intimate with few, and let those few be...

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Is the Past Really Prologue?

<p><em></em></p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huojod-EDSk/YXrfRkfh3OI/AAAAAAABXQQ/YfLUCNrvhRk_9pkVzU_twZAynLXDeCfBQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/Vincenzo%2BGiovannini%2B-%2BVia%2BAppia%2Ball%2527altezza%2Bdel%2BIV%2BMiglio.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="712" data-original-width="1200" height="380" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-huojod-EDSk/YXrfRkfh3OI/AAAAAAABXQQ/YfLUCNrvhRk_9pkVzU_twZAynLXDeCfBQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h380/Vincenzo%2BGiovannini%2B-%2BVia%2BAppia%2Ball%2527altezza%2Bdel%2BIV%2BMiglio.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Vincenzo_Giovannini_Via_Appia_all%27altezza_del_IV_Miglio.jpg" target="_blank"><i>Via Appia at the height of Quarto Miglio</i></a>, Vincenco Giovannini, 1884 (Wikimedia Commons, public domain)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><em><br /><strong><br /></strong></em><p></p><p></p><blockquote><em><strong>“The less a man knows about the past and the present, the more insecure must prove to be his judgement of the future.”</strong> — Sigmund Freud, 1927</em></blockquote><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"><br /></pre></div><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>There are days when life comes at you fast.</p><p>Days when it feels as if we’re being pummeled with news and developments. It’s hard to keep up—overwhelming, even.</p><p>We seem to be living with the results of our constantly evolving technology that is increasingly infringing on humanity. </p><p>Where do we turn?</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Dr. Conrad Gessner, a physician, was one of the first people to raise a concern. He was respected by his colleagues and his professionalism made him a serious thinker. </p><p>So when he warned us about the effects of information overload, the world took note. In one of his five books, he described how the modern world overwhelmed people with data and that the human mind would be confused and irreparably damaged if something wasn’t done. </p><p>Today, as we’re in the midst of oversaturated algorithms, conspiracy theories, and constant interruptions from notifications, we see how Dr. Gessner’s early warnings were real.</p><p>We bemoan the unprecedented risks of living in a digital world that doesn’t seem to have an off switch. We look for digital detox opportunities and quiet spaces. This unique problem must have unique solutions. </p><p>You might be wondering how things turned out for Dr. Gessner. Well, he took his own advice to heart: he never once used e-mail and didn’t even own a computer. But he wasn’t a Luddite.</p><p>You see, his landmark book was the <em>Bibliotheca universalis</em>, and it was published in 1545. For Conrad Gessner the physician, naturalist, philologist and bibliographer wasn’t concerned about Facebook updates, selfies, text messages, emails, or even the Internet itself.</p><p>He was warning the world about the impending flood of information in “<strong><a href="https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/3228379/blair%202003.pdf">confusing and harmful abundance</a></strong>” that was about to be unleashed with the advent of Gutenberg’s printing press. </p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Other Early Skeptics</strong></h2><p>Socrates famously <strong><a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/files/1636/1636-h/1636-h.htm#2H_4_0002">warned</a></strong> Phaedrus against writing because it would “create forgetfulness in the learners’ souls, because they will not use their memories.” </p><p>In the 1700s, the French statesman <strong><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guillaume-Chr%C3%A9tien_de_Lamoignon_de_Malesherbes">Malesherbes</a></strong> railed against the trend of getting news in print, arguing that it socially isolated readers and detracted from the spiritually uplifting group practice of getting news from the pulpit. </p><p>We’ve been through these arguments before, and yet we still seem to find our way back to them through modern technology. The same principles apply, even though the tools are more modern.</p><p> </p><p></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Life is divided into three periods: past, present, and future. Of these, the present is short, the future is doubtful, the past is certain.”</strong> — Seneca, c. 55</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>The point is that while we need to be aware of our past and present, we ought not to view the future as a dystopian certainty. Gessner, Socrates, and Malesherbes warned against a future that seemed unthinkable to them. And yet, their future was no more a foregone conclusion than ours is.</p><p>They look silly to us now, but to themselves, they were making logical predictions based on their observations of the present.</p><p>Now bring yourself back to our present. With the major concerns and conflicts we see today, how are we shaping our future? How much of it is met with Chicken Little the-sky-is-falling fearmongering?</p><p>Conversely, when do we see leaders showing a path forward, with a shared vision for an improved life, driven by promising aspirations?</p><p>Every leader has the power to shape the future, informed by the past. The question is whether we lead people to that eventuality with hope or with fear.</p><p>Whichever one we choose, the outcome may be drastically different.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p>The related episode of <em><strong>Timeless Leadership</strong></em> (released every Thursday) is now available. Our guest is Kate O’Neill, author of <em><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/3bbGUSB">A Future So Bright: How Strategic Optimism Can Restore Our Humanity and Save Our Planet</a></strong></em>.</p><p><br /><iframe frameborder="0" height="170px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/realism-Rwdft57xQj2/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe></p><p></p><div><br /></div><div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay and the audio version of it, plus curated links, stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.<br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join the club by signing up below:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="3639" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></div>

Is the Past Really Prologue?

Via Appia at the height of Quarto Miglio , Vincenco Giovannini, 1884 (Wikimedia Commons, public domain) “The less a man knows about the past...

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The Basis of the Best Relationships

<p> </p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ohr-PKqOR8/YXcKgHmxa5I/AAAAAAABXLw/fMQtR4mBjskKO3kWIJuQt2qnTF77hMsBgCLcBGAsYHQ/s827/Frank%2BGraham%2B-%2BBest%2BFriends.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="551" data-original-width="827" height="426" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-5Ohr-PKqOR8/YXcKgHmxa5I/AAAAAAABXLw/fMQtR4mBjskKO3kWIJuQt2qnTF77hMsBgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h426/Frank%2BGraham%2B-%2BBest%2BFriends.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><i><a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Best_Friends_36x44_ac_Frank_Graham_1995.jpg" target="_blank">Best Friends</a></i> by Frank Graham, 1995 (<a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en" target="_blank">CC BY-SA 4.0</a> — Wikipedia)</span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><p></p><div class="preformatted-block" data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><pre class="text"></pre></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“A broken friendship may be soldered but will never be sound.”</strong> — Thomas Fuller, 1732</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong>Timeless & Timely</strong> has <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/s/audio">audio versions</a> of the posts for <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/subscribe">Premium subscribers</a>. We’ve opened this one to the public so you can decide if you’d prefer listening rather than (or in addition to) reading: </em><a class="button primary" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/best-relationships-audio">The Basis of the Best Relationships</a></p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>Who’s your go-to friend for any occasion?</p><p>That friend who makes you smile, gives you sound advice, and who would drop everything in an instant if you found yourself in a crisis.</p><p>Once you have that person pictured in your mind, I’d like you to answer this: what is it about them that makes you feel that way?</p><p>You’ve probably known them for a while; maybe your whole life. They’ve shown up for you before: they came through when you’ve needed them and gave something when you were lacking.</p><p>Ultimately, you trust this person.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><h2><strong>A Friend in Need</strong></h2><p>The proverb “a friend in need is a friend indeed” is one that rolls off the tongue, but have you stopped to consider what it means?</p><p>If looked at cynically, it could mean that someone who needs help is suddenly in need of a friend to help them out.</p><p>But I like looking at it from the other direction: meaning that a person who helps you in your hour of need is reliable and therefore worthy of your friendship.<br /><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“By mutual confidence and mutual aid<br />Great deeds are done, and great discoveries made.” </strong>— Homer, 8th century BC</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><br />That reliability of your friend, the confidence you place in him — those attributes don’t appear suddenly. They’re the result of consistent and repeated actions over time, like callouses grown from a consistent tug of war, an endless back-and-forth of give and take as one kindness is repaid by another.</p><p>Ralph Waldo Emerson tells us “the only way to have a friend is to be one,” and we know the friends who put in the same level of work and commitment that we put into our friendships. If the teams are imbalanced in that tug of war, one side loses balance and falls back on itself.</p><p>In his <em>Nichomachean Ethics</em>, Aristotle wrote of the virtue that friendship is, and how some friendships were born of utility or of pleasure; they last when each of the friends is equally useful or pleasurable to the other.<br /><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“We cherish our friends not for their ability to amuse us but for ours to amuse them.”</strong> — Evelyn Waugh, 1963</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><br />But for Aristotle, the key to true friendship was to move beyond necessities and instead to focus on virtue itself:</p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Friendship being divided into these kinds, bad men will be friends for the sake of pleasure or of utility, being in this respect like each other, but good men will be friends for their own sake, i.e., in virtue of their goodness. These then are friends without qualification; the others are friends incidentally and through a resemblance to these.”</strong></em></p></blockquote><p>But knowing that you’re paired with another good person takes time—that give-and-take of friendship that Emerson echoed two millennia later. Aristotle reminds us:</p><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Nor can they admit each other to friendship or be friends until each has been found lovable and been trusted by each. Those who quickly show the marks of friendship to each other wish to be friends. But they are not friends unless both are lovable and know the fact, for a wish for friendship may arise quickly, but friendship does not.”</strong></em></p></blockquote><p><br /></p><p>Ah, there it is. The magic word that undergirds all relationships.</p><p>Trust.</p><p>Trust is the basis of all thriving relationships; lack of it is the decay that rots them away.</p><p>Without trust, you have nothing.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><br /></figure></div><div><hr /></div><p>The latest episode of <em><strong>Timeless Leadership</strong></em> is up; we were joined by Margot Bloomstein, author of <em><strong><a href="https://amzn.to/2Za1SPa">Trustworthy: How the Smartest Brands Beat Cynicism and Bridge the Trust Gap</a></strong></em>.</p><p>More here:</p><p><iframe frameborder="0" height="170px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/trust-OFPWbtM1YKk/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links and stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.<br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join the club by signing up below:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="1192" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div>

The Basis of the Best Relationships

  Best Friends by Frank Graham, 1995 ( CC BY-SA 4.0 — Wikipedia) “A broken friendship may be soldered but will never be sound.” — Thomas ...

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Leadership and the Dog in the Night-Time

<em><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7DBa5RLLVEA/YXcIhpfa7eI/AAAAAAABXLo/Bic_l702Us0T0llabh7eQ49NyEmIPr_9gCLcBGAsYHQ/s2000/Paget%2B-%2BFull%2Bportrait.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2000" height="492" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7DBa5RLLVEA/YXcIhpfa7eI/AAAAAAABXLo/Bic_l702Us0T0llabh7eQ49NyEmIPr_9gCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h492/Paget%2B-%2BFull%2Bportrait.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em style="text-align: left;">Portrait of Sherlock Holmes</em><span style="text-align: left;"> (discarded) by Sidney Paget, n.d. (public domain)</span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><br /></em><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of trifles.” </strong>— Arthur Conan Doyle, 1891</em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong>Timeless & Timely</strong> has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/subscribe">Premium subscribers</a>. This one is available here: </em><a class="button primary" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-dog-night-audio">Leadership & the Dog in the Nighttime</a></p><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>Children’s imaginations are the playground for creative types.</p><p>Think about it: if we can imagine something, we can commit it to paper. And children are wonderful vessels for imagination.</p><p>They’re also refreshingly frank in their statements, and without the first smidgeon of shame, diplomacy, or regret, they’ll blurt out exactly what they think.</p><p>Obviously, we can’t regress to child-like behavior, but perhaps we can channel some of our inner child to capture the wonder that was so plentiful in our childhood years.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>I grew up in a time when comic books were a normal and regular reading option. We didn’t have to go to a specialty comics store; we saw them displayed at newsstands and on carousel-style racks at the supermarket, readily available as an impulse purchase.</p><p>And inside the back cover of those comics were a series of classified ads—basically a display page of items you’d find at a joke shop or the Chuck E. Cheese rewards counter: Sea Monkeys, a Charles Atlas exercise brochure, or the inevitable X-ray specs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uaEtqws27To/YXcG6__uYjI/AAAAAAABXLg/kIbHpWj0j1EdFNFPWFYoA9ovdJoPBuWLACLcBGAsYHQ/s522/X-Ray%2BGlasses.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="397" data-original-width="522" height="486" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uaEtqws27To/YXcG6__uYjI/AAAAAAABXLg/kIbHpWj0j1EdFNFPWFYoA9ovdJoPBuWLACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h486/X-Ray%2BGlasses.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><br /><p>After reading a comic book about Superman and his amazing power of X-ray vision, I’d be captivated by the idea of seeing through solid objects. Now, I was never courageous enough to spend my hard-earned allowance on superpowers that were promised without any kind of serious technology (I <em>was</em> practical, after all), and besides, I wondered, what did the “De Luxe Model” offer for twice the price? Would I only be able to see halfway through things with the standard Slimline version?</p><p>But the idea of seeing things that other people couldn’t see appealed to me. It still does.</p><p>When you think about it, that’s what leaders do: they take note of things that mere mortals aren’t aware of—or at least aren’t willing to spend time on.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>Eliminating the Impossible</strong></h2><p>Consider Sherlock Holmes.</p><p>In the very first Sherlock Holmes short story, the detective asked Dr. Watson how many steps led up to their sitting room. Watson, who had trodden up and down them some hundreds of times, said he had no idea.</p><p>Holmes scolded him, saying, “You see but you do not observe. The distinction is clear.”</p><p>The answer, by the way, is <strong>seventeen</strong>.</p><p>How many times are we presented with analytics or data, but we don’t appreciate what they’re telling us? We miss the true impact because we’re not focused on the right thing—or perhaps because we’re distracted by something else.</p><p>Sherlock Holmes gets credit for being a master of deduction, but in order to excel at drawing conclusions, he needed to be a master of preparation and of observation. He paid attention to things, however small, that other people did not. That made him a valuable consultant to his clients.</p><p>And so it is that we need to prepare our eyes, ears, and minds to understand how our business and our teams are doing. And in that preparation, we’re acting with <strong><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/intentionality?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">intention</a></strong>.</p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42035794,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/intentionality","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"Intentionality","truncated_body_text":"This week on Timeless Leadership, the topic is Intentionality. We go through our days, flitting from one meeting to the next, firing off emails, and swatting down Slack messages. But as we do so, are we spending much time really thinking about things?","date":"2021-10-01T03:13:31.928Z","like_count":5,"comment_count":2,"bylines":[{"id":429,"name":"Scott Monty","photo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9ea180a7-4ad6-4937-b37a-52810591c920_2717x2531.jpeg","bio":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"This is a time machine. Time is money, and money is the store of other people’s time and effort.","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#2879af","created_at":"2020-02-02T20:45:53.185Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"Scott Monty","copyright":"Scott Monty Strategies","founding_plan_name":"Timeless Supporter","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><div class="embedded-post-meta"><br /></div></div><p>In “<strong>The Adventure of Silver Blaze</strong>,” Sherlock Holmes finds a wax vesta half burned and half-buried in the ground, so covered with mud that it looked at first like a little chip of wood.</p><blockquote><p>   <em><strong>“I cannot think how I came to overlook it,” said the Inspector, with an expression of annoyance.</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>   “It was invisible, buried in the mud. I only saw it because I was looking for it.”</strong></em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>You’ve heard the phrase “a canary in a coal mine.” This is a metaphor for advanced warning of some danger. It originated from the times when miners used to carry caged canaries while at work. If there was any methane or carbon monoxide in the mine, the canary, being smaller and more sensitive to minor changes in the atmosphere, would die before the levels of the gas reached those hazardous to humans.</p><p>Leading indicators can help determine a broader impact. Your industry probably has leading indicators as well, from which you can infer other impacts.</p><p>For example, when I worked at Ford, we knew that sales of Ford’s F-Series trucks were tied to the performance of the U.S. economy overall. The thinking is that since many small business owners and contractors buy the F-Series (the best-selling vehicle in the United States), they’re tied to home construction, which in turn is a factor in the economy.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>The Curious Incident</strong></h2><p>While you’re busy drawing conclusions from the observable data, at the same time, what you’re <em><strong>not</strong></em> measuring can be more important than what you <em><strong>are</strong></em> measuring.</p><p>Back at work in “Silver Blaze,” Sherlock Holmes gave the local inspector a handy piece of advice that we can all learn from. As Holmes prepared to leave, the baffled Inspector Gregory asked,</p><blockquote><p>   <em><strong>“Is there any point to which you would wish to draw my attention?”</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>   “To the curious incident of the dog in the nighttime.”</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>   “The dog did nothing in the night-time.”</strong></em></p><p><em><strong>   “That was the curious incident,” remarked Sherlock Holmes.</strong></em></p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>The point Holmes was making was that the intruder at the stables was someone who was familiar to the dog, which is why the canine didn’t make a ruckus during the course of the crime.</p><p>It’s the same concept as a black hole. Scientists can’t observe black holes directly. Telescopes that detect x-rays, light, or other forms of electromagnetic radiation can’t pick up a black hole. Instead, scientists study the <em>effect</em> of black holes on other matter nearby. Certain movements or the absence of something they were expecting can indicate the presence of a black hole.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Consider how you’re measuring progress your team is making after implementing a change. In addition to measuring the things that happen, another way is to measure what <em>doesn’t</em> happen: perhaps there are fewer calls to your customer service department, fewer returns at the store, or a shift of interactions with customers from phone to messenger bots. All of these indicate a change and can result in lower costs.</p><p>When dealing with a staff that is working remotely, you might pay attention to the things that people don’t say on calls or who aren’t speaking up. If you know your team well, these behaviors might indicate issues with which they’re struggling, and you can use that as an opportunity to check on them.</p><p>Indicators and clues aren’t always obvious — the proof of your success might not come directly from your own work, but from the impacts of how you notice what’s not there and how you treat other people.</p><p>You just need to know where to look.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>Thanks, and I’ll see you on the internet.</p><div class="captioned-image-container"><figure><br /></figure></div><div><hr /></div><p>As a follow up to this topic, we spoke with Len Herstein, author of <em><a href="https://amzn.to/2YPJ7jV">Be Vigilant! Strategies to Stop Complacency, Improve Performance and Safeguard Success</a></em>, and talked about Attentiveness.</p><p><br /></p><iframe src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/attentiveness-OX6P1wGTium/embed/" height="170px" width="100%" style="width: 1px; min-width: 100%;" loading="lazy" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links and stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.<br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join the club by signing up below:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="1141" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div>

Leadership and the Dog in the Night-Time

Portrait of Sherlock Holmes  (discarded) by Sidney Paget, n.d. (public domain) “You know my method. It is founded upon the observation of t...

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Leadership in an Uncertain Future

<p></p><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-97GkUpqiNP0/YWR0PTmAAsI/AAAAAAABWh0/tssNPrVAhzQ90Vu4VVPrJNia5VLc2kF3wCLcBGAsYHQ/s1200/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B3%2B-%2BThe%2BConsummation.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="814" data-original-width="1200" height="434" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-97GkUpqiNP0/YWR0PTmAAsI/AAAAAAABWh0/tssNPrVAhzQ90Vu4VVPrJNia5VLc2kF3wCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h434/Thomas%2BCole%2B-%2BThe_Course_of_Empire%2B3%2B-%2BThe%2BConsummation.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><figcaption class="image-caption" data-pm-slice="1 1 ["captionedImage",null]" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Course_of_Empire_(paintings)#/media/File:Cole_Thomas_The_Consummation_The_Course_of_the_Empire_1836.jpg">The Course of Empire - The Consummation of the Empire</a></em> by Thomas Cole, 1836 (public domain - Wikipedia)</span></figcaption><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="preformatted-block"><pre class="text"> </pre></div><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong>Timeless & Timely</strong> has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/subscribe">Premium subscribers</a>. This one is available here: </em><a class="button primary" href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/leadership-uncertain-future-audio">▶️ Leadership in an Uncertain Future</a></p><div><hr /></div><p> </p><blockquote><em><strong>“The best-laid schemes of mice and men<br /></strong></em><em><strong>      Go oft awry,<br /></strong></em><em><strong>And leave us nothing but grief and pain,<br /></strong></em><em><strong>     For promised joy!” </strong></em> <em>— Robert Burns, 1785</em></blockquote><p></p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"><br /></pre></div><p>Did you ever have the perfect event planned, only for everything to go awry?</p><p>A product launch, a surprise celebration for an important milestone, a romantic meal. In your mind’s eye, you envisioned everything going off flawlessly, almost scripted like a scene out of Hollywood.</p><p>Then…WHAM!</p><p>Reality hits, and it’s not pretty. A supplier doesn’t come through with essential parts for your launch, a message doesn’t make it to the honoree in time, the power goes out in the middle of cooking dinner.</p><p>What do you do?</p><p>Before you head in any one direction, the first step is simple: acknowledge the reality of your newfound situation.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Very well. So the universe is not quite as you thought it was. You’d better rearrange your beliefs, then. Because you certainly can't rearrange the universe.”</strong> — Isaac Asimov, 1941</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p><br /></p><p>Every leader needs a plan. But they also need backup plans.</p><p>Better leaders know it’s not enough to have a plan. They’ve seen things go sideways before. And like any self-aware person, they know that it could happen to them.</p><p><br /></p><p>Take General Dwight Eisenhower for example.</p><p>He prepared his troops as best he could for Operation Overlord (aka the D-Day invasion). He sent this letter to his men:</p><blockquote><p><strong>“You are about to embark upon a great crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. We will accept nothing less than victory! Good luck!”</strong></p></blockquote><p>He also built their confidence:</p><blockquote><p><strong>“This operation is planned as a victory, and that’s the way it’s going to be. We’re going down there, and we’re throwing everything we have into it, and we’re going to make it a success.”</strong></p></blockquote><p>But Ike knew that there were variables that were out of his control: the weather, the number of enemy awaiting them, and scores of other things. So he prepared a note in the event of a catastrophic loss that day:</p><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N8_P6vVLCfw/YWR047Nk8nI/AAAAAAABWh8/QSvXLosW6cs_6wJGXRF8LjuMEKiNbw3bwCLcBGAsYHQ/s936/Ike%2BLetter.jpeg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="936" data-original-width="600" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-N8_P6vVLCfw/YWR047Nk8nI/AAAAAAABWh8/QSvXLosW6cs_6wJGXRF8LjuMEKiNbw3bwCLcBGAsYHQ/w410-h640/Ike%2BLetter.jpeg" width="410" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: left;">Image credit: </span><a href="https://www.docsteach.org/documents/document/in-case-of-failure" style="text-align: left;">The National Archives</a></span></i></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><p><br /></p><p></p><blockquote><p><strong>“Our landings in the Cherbourg-Havre area have failed to gain a satisfactory foothold and I have withdrawn the troops. My decision to attack at this time and place was based on the best information available. The troops, the air and the Navy did all that bravery and devotion to duty could do. If any blame or fault attaches to the attempt it is mine alone.”</strong></p></blockquote><p>The Allies’ victory was not assured that day, but after many casualties, they succeeded. Ike did not need to send that admission of failure—written with nerves so jangly that he misdated the note as July 5 instead of June 5.</p><p><br /></p><p></p><div><hr /></div><blockquote><p><em><strong>“Life is divided into three periods: past, present, and future. Of these, the present is short, the future is doubtful, the past is certain.” </strong>— Seneca, 49</em></p></blockquote><div><hr /></div><p> </p><p>Seneca’s observation is an important one: nothing in the future—<em>nothing</em>—is certain. Leaders need to have contingency plans and to adapt to the changing market forces, on the fly if necessary.</p><p>So back to the initial example. You find yourself in an unexpected circumstance.</p><p>Maybe you had planned a series of promotions for your company on Facebook or Instagram this week. The big Facebook outage was a surprise—certainly to the folks at Facebook, some of whom couldn’t even access their buildings.</p><p>What did you do instead?</p><p>Some people flocked to Twitter. Others turned inward and took an opportunity to enjoy some relative serenity.</p><p>But the prepared leaders likely knew that it isn’t wise to rely on platforms you don’t control. Building on rented land is a guaranteed disaster. They had their own platforms, their own way to contact their communities. They didn’t depend on Facebook’s availability, nor on its capricious algorithms.</p><p>Facebook itself is in need of a contingency plan. The social media giant has been on top for so long, it seems otherworldly to consider it on the decline. But <strong><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/04/technology/facebook-files.html?campaign_id=4&emc=edit_dk_20211004&instance_id=41978&nl=dealbook&regi_id=75113674&segment_id=70609&te=1&user_id=d65752cb66270b61c489c6eaa53f121c">Facebook is showing signs of weakness</a></strong>, and absent its need to pivot, users ought to give deep thought as to where and when they leverage the platform.</p><p>Especially given what we know from <strong><a href="https://flipboard.com/@tech/the-whistleblower-behind-the-facebook-files-reveals-herself-tt0alok8077isp6o">the whistle-blower</a></strong>, who may be Facebook’s biggest threat in years.</p><p>Makes you wonder what kind of a backup plan the leaders at Facebook have.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I'll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><p>If you’re interested in hearing more about understanding trends and preparing for the future, tune into this episode of the <em><strong><a href="https://pod.link/timeless">Timeless Leadership</a></strong></em> on the topic of <strong><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/adaptability" target="_blank">Adaptability</a></strong> with Jeremiah Owyang:</p><p><iframe frameborder="0" height="170px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/adaptability-IqjdJen-6Yb/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe><br /></p><p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links and stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.<br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join the club by signing up below:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="1439" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div>

Leadership in an Uncertain Future

The Course of Empire - The Consummation of the Empire  by Thomas Cole, 1836 (public domain - Wikipedia) Timeless & Timely  has audio ve...

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Are You Collecting or Accumulating?

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I5_R6wYzv34/YWRvjLKir5I/AAAAAAABWhs/616FXLOzAEw7YdN0Gn4L0TwePcgmGo0jQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Giovanni%2BPaolo%2BPanini%2B-%2BAncient%2BRome.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1582" data-original-width="2048" height="494" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-I5_R6wYzv34/YWRvjLKir5I/AAAAAAABWhs/616FXLOzAEw7YdN0Gn4L0TwePcgmGo0jQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h494/Giovanni%2BPaolo%2BPanini%2B-%2BAncient%2BRome.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><figcaption class="image-caption" data-pm-slice="1 1 ["captionedImage",null]"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em><a href="https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/437244">Ancient Rome</a></em> by Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1757 (public domain - Metropolitan Museum of Art)</span></figcaption></td></tr></tbody></table><br /><div><br /></div><div><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><em><strong>“</strong></em><em><strong>INTENTION (n.): The mind's sense of the prevalence of one set of influences over another set; an effect whose cause is the imminence, immediate or remote, of the performance of an involuntary act.”</strong> — Ambrose Bierce, 1906</em></p><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"><em><br /></em></p><div><hr /></div><p><em><strong><br />Timeless & Timely</strong> has audio versions of the posts for you to enjoy. They are available to <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/subscribe">Premium subscribers</a>. This one is <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/collecting-accumulating-audio" target="_blank">available here</a>. </em></p></div><div><br /></div><div><div><hr /><br /></div></div><div><p data-pm-slice="1 1 []"></p><p>I think there are two types of people in the world: collectors, and people who have yet to discover they’re collectors.</p><p>Collecting comes from an inner passion. Something excites you, intrigues you, makes you want to get deeply involved.</p><p>Some people are born collectors, while others learn the nuances and benefits of being a collector by being exposed to those who collect.</p><p>For many collectors, the thrill isn’t the collection itself; it’s the process. The hunt. Learning deeply about a subject: stamps, coins, baseball cards, cars, books, or lately, <strong>NFTs</strong>.</p><p>Now, before we get too far, let’s agree to one thing: there is a difference between a collector and an accumulator (someone who has all the discernment of a vacuum cleaner).</p><p>And thus the three Ds of collecting: <em><strong>deliberation</strong></em>, <em><strong>discernment</strong></em>, and <em><strong>display</strong></em>.</p><p>Or, taking these three attributes together: intention.</p><p><br /></p><div><hr /></div><h4 style="text-align: center;"><strong>Intention is what we talk about with David Amerland, author of <i>Intentional: How to Live, Love, Work, and Play Meaningfully</i> in the first episode of Season 2 of the </strong><em><strong><a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/intentionality">Timeless Leadership</a></strong></em><strong> podcast:</strong></h4> <div><iframe frameborder="0" height="170px" loading="lazy" scrolling="no" src="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/timeless-leadership/intentionality--vQmHXfUB0V/embed/" style="min-width: 100%; width: 1px;" width="100%"></iframe> <hr /></div><p></p><p><br /></p><p>Arthur Conan Doyle had Sherlock Holmes explain the importance of collecting knowledge with intention:</p><blockquote><p>“I consider that a man’s brain originally is like a little empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so that the knowledge which might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has a difficulty in laying his hands upon it. Now the skillful workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain-attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. It is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones.”</p></blockquote><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><p>When you set out to collect something — and to me, leaders are in the business of collecting people for their teams — you do so with a specific intention in mind. You <em><strong>deliberate</strong></em> which items and with what features you’d like to pursue.</p><p>It could be first American edition James Bond novels, material written about Edgar Allan Poe in the decade after his death, or collectibles from the DC universe offered on VeVe.</p><p>As you come across different specimens, you begin to <em><strong>discern</strong></em> which are appropriate for your collection. Do the books have dust jackets, or are they signed or inscribed? Are the collectibles common, uncommon, rare, or ultra rare?</p><p>Such details about condition and relative scarcity not only determine whether you might want them in your collection, but also how much they cost. It works with physical items as well as with hiring. Rare talent with good reputation means they’re going to cost more to bring on board.</p><p>And finally, <em><strong>display</strong></em>. What’s the sense of having a collection if no one knows you have it? Most collectors I know are thrilled to be able to share their collections with others — particularly with others who can appreciate the collection.</p><div class="preformatted-block"><label class="hide-text" contenteditable="false"></label><pre class="text"> </pre></div><h2><strong>The Big Draw</strong></h2><p>Ultimately, every collector has one thing in common: they love stories. They love to tell them and listen to them.</p><p>For any good collector, knowing an item’s provenance and its chain of ownership adds to the romance and intrigue behind it. Association copies — that is, items that have been owned by people associated with the author, artist, or creator in some way — are just as interesting and valuable as nascent copies.</p><p>Or perhaps they recall the seller or the shop they were in when they purchased it, thus reliving an exciting memory as they were on the chase. A book collector friend of mine recounts pre-dawn starts that led through the countryside into barns, antique stores, estate sales, and used bookstores. He retells these moments as if they were part of a chase scene in a movie. It’s delightful.</p><p>If you’re around enough interesting people or read enough material, then you might find that like me, you begin to collect stories. In fact, I’ve begun chronicling some of these in a series I call “<strong><a href="https://racket.com/scottmonty">Wow Finish</a></strong>” on Racket.</p><p><br /></p><h2><strong>Putting It Together</strong></h2><p>Once you’ve got the beginnings of a collection, things will naturally fall into place. You can spot patterns, or see themes. As you do, it’s an opportunity to consider how you arrange your growing collection.</p><p>That is the essence of <strong>curation</strong>.</p><p><br /></p><p><i><b>We talk more about curation in <a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/the-intentional-art-of-curation">the Premium edition</a> ("<a href="https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/the-intentional-art-of-curation?utm_source=substack&utm_campaign=post_embed&utm_medium=web" target="_blank">The Intentional Art of Curation</a>") where I share some secrets on how I curate material for Timeless & Timely every week.</b></i></p><div class="embedded-post-wrap" data-attrs="{"id":42041086,"url":"https://www.timelesstimely.com/p/the-intentional-art-of-curation","publication_id":28922,"publication_name":"Timeless & Timely","publication_logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","title":"The Intentional Art of Curation","truncated_body_text":"“What do we live for, if it is not to make life less difficult to each other?” — George Eliot, 1871 You’ve been to a museum, right? As you wander around the galleries, stopping at the display cases and pausing in front of wall hangings to ponder the artist’s meaning,…","date":"2021-10-01T11:00:34.934Z","like_count":1,"comment_count":0,"bylines":[{"id":429,"name":"Scott Monty","photo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/9ea180a7-4ad6-4937-b37a-52810591c920_2717x2531.jpeg","bio":"Strategic communications and leadership advisor inspiring people to be better communicators, leaders, and humans. First executive at Ford to lead digital communications. Soothing voice available for hire.","profile_set_up_at":"2021-04-25T06:21:53.329Z","publicationUsers":[{"id":1595,"user_id":429,"role":"admin","public":true,"is_primary":false,"publication":{"id":28922,"name":"Timeless & Timely","subdomain":"scottmonty","custom_domain":"www.timelesstimely.com","custom_domain_optional":false,"hero_text":"Makes you a better leader, communicator, and human with advice and counsel from the past for the issues of today. ","logo_url":"https://bucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984.s3.amazonaws.com/public/images/6b0b5664-8343-4c87-a050-1a89626389ec_1280x1280.png","author_id":429,"theme_var_background_pop":"#2879af","created_at":"2020-02-02T20:45:53.185Z","rss_website_url":null,"email_from_name":"Scott Monty","copyright":"Scott Monty Strategies","founding_plan_name":"Timeless Supporter","community_enabled":true,"invite_only":false}}],"twitter_screen_name":"ScottMonty","is_guest":false}]}"><br /></div><p>For now, keep this in mind: curation is essential when bits of information begin to overwhelm us. Curation is a way of telling a story by assembling the right material in the right order, and giving it context.</p><p>In an age when we’re overloaded with the number of platforms on which to communicate — let alone the amount of content on each — knowing how to curate is an essential skill.</p><p>Similarly, as you assemble your team, you need to think like a curator: put the appropriate managers in place with the right talent, and the right structure. If you throw a bunch of people together without organization or purpose, the result will be chaos.</p><p>The best leaders are collectors and curators. They deliberate over the strategy, discern the talent and resources needed, and arrange everything in a way to display the culture of the organization.</p><p>And doing so with great intention.</p><p><br /></p><p>Thanks, and I'll see you on the internet.</p><p><br /></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><hr /></div><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">👉 Premium Members receive an additional related essay, plus curated links and stories, and audio and book recommendations every Friday.<br /></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><p style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"></p><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;">Join the club by signing up below:</div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Verdana, Geneva, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; text-align: center;"><iframe data-dashlane-frameid="1393" frameborder="0" height="320" scrolling="no" src="https://www.timelesstimely.com/embed" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-image: initial; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; border-color: rgb(238, 238, 238); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; max-height: 450px; max-width: 100%;" width="480"></iframe></div></div>

Are You Collecting or Accumulating?

Ancient Rome by Giovanni Paolo Panini, 1757 (public domain - Metropolitan Museum of Art) “ INTENTION (n.): The mind's sense of the prev...

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