[Music]
some of these mountains that can be
climbed by you and me that it takes a
day to get to the top and then that you
camp up there you combine that down the
next day and on many of these places
where in Switzerland where you could do
that about halfway up the mountain is
what they call the halfway house halfway
house have waived them out so the group
of people starts off with a guy in the
morning and about noon you’re kind of
tired you’ve been walking now for four
or five hours and here comes you’re
coming to the halfway house it is just a
it’s a wonderful sight because as soon
as you enter in the halfway house you
can smell the food and they’re getting
ready for a good lunch and you sit down
there’s a fire in the fireplace and
there’s nice soft chairs and you just
rest your body and refresh your body and
so the people go into the halfway house
and they eat and laugh and joy and and
just really really just kind of take in
that that wonderful refreshing
atmosphere about an hour and a half
after being the halfway house the guide
gets up this will gang it’s time to put
on your gear we we got a hike we got to
get on at the top this is a fact
about half the people decide not to go
on a flu talk they’re sitting around the
table they’re just saying you know what
go on up and you’re going to come by
here tomorrow we’ll be having lunch here
again tomorrow
we’re just going to hang here and and so
the people that want to get the top they
put their stuff on and they kind of
leave and the rest of the people sit
behind they eat a little bit more food
get around the piano sing some songs get
around the fireplace enjoy the fire warm
themselves by the fire no I play games
all afternoon kind of enjoy themselves
but about 4:30 chordal 5:00 in the
afternoon without anybody saying a word
people who stayed in the halfway house
they slowly go over to where the window
is the big window and they start looking
outside and they start looking up the
top of that mountain and as they look at
the top of that mountain
they see their friends their friends are
now getting the tents out and they’re
getting ready to prepare for the night
and it becomes very quiet very somber
because everybody in the halfway house
realizes the mistake they’ve made
they’ve they’ve they’ve sold their
mission for a little bit of comfort for
a few hours next morning down come their
friends and by noon they come into the
halfway house when they come in a half
they are laughing they’re high-fiving
they’re talking about what they’ve seen
where they’ve been experiences the fact
that it was almost impossible to get up
there in fact they had to help each
other get up there and how they joined
teams and held hands and they just tell
all these stories and talk about the
pictures they take it and they yeah they
got the group picture up there with the
flag the top and people who remain
behind you’ll save
they just eat their lunch and then
follow the rest of them down to the
bottom of the hill where their friends
are waiting for them those who paid the
price and went to the top who understood
now is the time to reach the mission
they hug and health stories and
celebrate and the other state just kind
of slip off and get in a car and go home
because they realize they’re never going
to be what they wanted to be they never
want to see what they want to see that
everyone to do what they want to do
because they fail to realize when
there’s the halfway know now’s the time
to rest and they’re gone
[Music]
the first thing I want you to know that
success is is not a destination it’s a
journey think of success as a process
let me let me illustrate it and explain
it this way if you go to college you
work hard and then four or five years
depending on what kind of degree you’re
working on and in today’s society
sometimes six or seven years but but
eventually you comes the day of
graduation and you’re all excited and
your family is there and your friends
are there and and you’re there with your
classmates you got your cap and your
gown and and you know that there’s going
to be a time in that ceremony where
you’re going to walk across stage and
the president Provost somebody’s going
to shake your hand hand your diploma
congratulate you and and you’re going to
get off the other side I’m gonna have
presents waiting for you and they’ll be
taking pictures and everybody shaking
your hand say congratulations today you
become a success your college graduate
down now my friend you did not become a
success the day that you got your
diploma now what you did have happened
to you in that ceremony is you got
recognized for success the Diploma is
recognition of what you have done the
previous four or five years you see
you’re a success in your freshman year
when you decided to not drop out of
school like some of the other classmates
and decided to stick to it and you’re a
success every time you studied for a
test and you were success every time you
did a project or or did a writing
assignment you see you’re a success all
through sin all through school your
success every day success is a daily
thing not a destination thing the day
you got the diploma
you just got recognized for the success
that you already were and that’s very
central
because so many times people have it
have a tendency to devalue the moment
today what they do is they greatly value
the destination and so they kind of talk
about well when I get there or if I
arrive there or when I do that or when I
accomplish this and they don’t
understand that success is a daily thing
and I’m here to share with you that the
secret of success is determined by your
daily agenda in fact I wrote a book a
few years ago called today matters I’m
passionate about that book because what
it does is it helps you it helps me to
understand that we make decisions and
then we manage decisions and too often
we think I will make a decision for
example you’re saying I’m going to make
a decision to be a coach or I’m going to
make a decision not you know what I’m
going to make a decision to be a public
speaker I want to be a communicator well
congratulate Yun congratulations you’ve
made a wonderful decision coach speaking
good decisions but that won’t make you a
successful coach that will make you a
successful communicator it’s not the
decision that makes you you’ve got to
make the decision by managing it and you
manage the decision on a daily basis in
other words what you want to be tomorrow
you’ve got to do today
you visualize tomorrow that gives you
hope
but that’s your motivation and that’s
your dream you’ve nothing wrong with
that you visualize tomorrow but you
value today what’s that mean
that means that what I do every day is
either getting me closer to that vision
that dream that rule or it’s really
driving me farther away from you see
every day we are either repairing or
we’re preparing you see if I messed up
yesterday guess what I get to do today
fix yesterday in other words if I didn’t
do the right thing yesterday what I got
to do today is I’ve got to repair I’ve
got to go back make amends backtrack put
the car in reverse put my life in
reverse I’ve got to go back there I’ve
got to repair now every day I spend
repairing I’m not spending preparing
well you see we repair when we fail to
manage the decisions that we’ve made we
prepare when we on a daily basis manage
the decisions that we’ve made so your
footprints to success are really
footprints of success because every step
that is made and taken based upon the
goals that you have for your life and
you’re managing those goals correctly
every step is the progressive
realization of success in your life and
by the way I want you you’ll get the
Diploma you’ll get the certificate but
but when you get that you didn’t arrive
it just is another step in preparing you
to reach your potential each one of us
should live our life as
if we’ll never learn everything we never
need to learn we’ll never be able to
accomplish everything we wanted to
accomplish we won’t be able to
experience everything we wanted to
experience we should live our life every
day hungry understanding that we are to
live until we die you see I think
success can be summarized in a flippant
degree or program or diploma or arrival
I think today if you are learning to
coach if you are learning to speak if
you’re doing the things that are
essential to the decisions and you’re
managing those decisions well can I say
something to you congratulations you are
already a success now guess what over
time it shows up you’ve heard the
expression you maybe even a said it
yourself you heard the expression I’m
sure I worked all my life to become an
overnight success so it works all of a
sudden somebody recognizes you all of a
sudden somebody congratulate you you
didn’t get good at that moment you’ve
been good for a long time it just showed
up someday
when somebody comes and says John I want
to be a leader I was asking the question
why why do you want to be a leader I
mean do you want to be a leader because
you want a corner office do you want to
be a leader because you like to be in
control you like to want to be a leader
because you love to be in the front of
the pack you want to be a leader because
you want to have a good parking place or
you want to be a leader this leadership
is an easy leadership a lot of times
isn’t fun leadership a lot of times it’s
kind of lonely there’s only one reason
to be a leader and that is to add value
to people and you and I will only add
value to people if we truly value them I
have a nonprofit organization equipped
this trained almost two million leaders
internationally around the world and I
kid you not as I go to developing
countries twice a year and I travel
internationally and I sit down sometimes
I have the privilege of being in the
office as a presidents of countries and
as I watch these developing countries
the thing that is the cardinal sin among
leadership so much is that they have
leaders of their countries that truly
don’t value the people and if you and I
don’t value people we will devalue
people number two if you want to add
value to people you have to make
yourself more valuable you just have to
get better you have to keep growing you
have to keep learning you have to keep
developing why very simply if you’re
leading the pack you’ve got to be able
to give what you have and you can’t give
what you don’t have and so therefore
you’ve got to put a lot of good stuff in
so you can pass it on to others and
share with them and and add value to
them thirdly if you want to add value to
people you have to know and relate to
what other people value
[Music]
you can tell you on the road success
because it’s uphill all the way and I’m
here to tell you this something for
nothing entitlement mindset that invades
so many people’s lives is a bunch of
garbage I can promise you nothing that
I’ve ever had worthwhile did I have just
kind of fall into my lap like hope my
goodness I won the lottery and I and I
once while people win the lottery but
basically for the people that win the
lottery half up lose their money within
three years the money they won and it’s
because they got money but they never
changed the way they thought and it kind
of tastes something if you have all the
assets in the world but you don’t change
the way you think you’ll lose all the
assets in the world and what I have
discovered that hope in this whole
process of trade offs is that every step
of the way of my journey I have to trade
something off and it’s for you that are
young the good news is your trade offs
will never be easier than when you’re
young because I remember when I when I
smart I started out I think man you know
I give up everything I wasn’t I was I
was a pastor to go in the ministry I
gave up everything and then I start
smiling at I’m sure I gave up everything
I didn’t have anything to give up what I
did I was a kid you know what I mean I
had a 1964 Ford talkin and you know
u-haul trailer and five pieces of
furniture and life was grand and off we
went
here’s what I’ve discovered kid and I
think that I want the audience don’t
want everybody watching around the world
to know today and this is very simple
the more successful you become the
higher the trade-offs are you see we
make a mistake thinking it gets easier
it doesn’t get easier gets harder and
the more you have every time you go back
and say am I willing to risk that again
the more you realize wow I’m not sure
I’m willing to risk this and what I’ve
learned is the moment I stop making
trade-offs is the moment that I plateau
and life is continually filled with
trade-offs in your life and in my life
we my expression show use all the time
can you’ve heard me say this you have to
give up
to go up
when I started off in college in my in
my freshman psych class they gave us a
test that he preached dude to take on
creativity and there were 17 in that
class I could remember it well and I was
at the bottom of the class on creativity
I mean I was like number 17 out of 17
and and what the teacher posted the
scores and so I mean I saw how bad I was
and then I really felt bad not only
because I wasn’t creative but I was
going to go past her I was going to go
in the minister I was going to teach I
was going to do sermons and then I got
to think of it myself I’m going to be
another boring preacher and you know I
said just grip inside oh this is gonna
be awful I’m gonna bore people all my
life you want to be and I’m going to ask
him to pay while they hear me I mean
this is an awful deal so it and so two
things I did and I talked about it the
book what when as I started filing I
started taking thoughts and growth and
the reason I started doing that is I
thought if I’m not going to be good at
what I say I need to quote somebody that
is good and so I started filing things
that other people would say so I go
around and I did well Kim said you know
what I mean and Jo said and Suzy said
and so that at least I would be a little
bit more interesting and that’s how it
started but the big breakthrough the big
breakthrough I had was and this will
help everyone how many of you would like
to be more creative let me let me see
your hands okay how many of you like to
just absolutely have an imagination that
just took you to a new level you see the
greatest motivational principle in the
world
the greatest motivational principle in
the world is that people do what people
see and too many too many travel agents
too many travel agents they’re like or
too many leaders too many years are like
they’re like travel agents they’re
sending people where they’ve never been
themselves and you want to be a tour
guide you want to take people with you
you want to say this is the area where
I’ve been this is where I live this is
the area where I lead come along and
follow me and at level number three your
leadership begins to gain credibility
because now you are fleshing out for the
people around you and you’re modeling
for them things that they want to see
and you are starting to produce
something magical happens when you begin
to understand the most appreciable asset
you have in any organization is the
people of that organization and you
begin to commit yourself to develop the
people’s in that organization because
how do you grow a company you grow a
company by growing people and when you
grow them they increase their capacity
when they can increase their capacity
they begin to increase the capacity of
what you can do and what you can
accomplish
[Music]
let me just share with you quickly three
thoughts on developing people just very
quickly number one is the key to
developing leaders and if it’s the key
to developing good people is in
recruitment the better person you bring
in the door the higher odds you can do
well with them
I remember having lunch one time with
Lou Holtz and Lou Holtz said Johnny I’ve
had bad players on my football team and
I’ve had good players on my football
team he said just to be honest with you
I I’m a better coach with good players
of course he is
of course it let me say something 80% of
your success of equipping people to be
successful it’s in the front door on who
you bring in I wish I had time to
develop that for you because what
happens is unless you and I have a clear
picture of what we’re looking for we
don’t know when we see it happens all
the time
people come to me and say John I’m
looking for some leaders for my company
what do you suggest the first question I
ask is what what does the leader look
like give me the characteristics give me
the qualities please please paint a
picture for me what does that leader
look like because you’ve got to have
that clear picture so that when you see
that person you know that they’re one
that you want recruitment is key number
two is positioning the ability not only
to bring the right person in the right
in the in the front door but also put
them in the right place as comments
would say get them on the bus get them
on the right seat and position is huge
and what I’ve discovered is that
successful people have always positioned
them well themselves well would you see
a successful person they’re successful
because what they have done is they’ve
found their strengths on and they found
their niche and they stay right in that
sweet spot and they just work that sweet
spot you’ve never heard anybody be an
interview that was successful that you
came up and you interviewed and they
said well the secret of my success is
that I’ve never discovered what I was
good at or the see my successes I’ve
always worked on I’ve just I’ve just
worked in my weaknesses no no they’re
always in their strengths they always
are they’ve already discovered once
they’re good at now successful people
have discovered what they’re good at
successful leaders discover what other
people are good at successful people
position themselves well successful
leader position the other people well
and at level number four that’s exactly
what happened the leader is always
looking at the people observing watching
just like last week I went back to my my
first school my graduate I graduate from
Ohio Christian University and in the old
town encircled Ohio and and so little
school I go back every year and I give
them a day to speak and they get all the
proceeds and keep the money and and so
because I grew up in that town I told
one of my friends that played ball with
me tear I said Tim let the ball players
let’s let the team know that sir my high
school kids know done globe in town and
let’s have a dinner afterwards and we
had over fifty people came together I
hadn’t seen many of these had seen many
of my high school mates since I
graduated from high school clear back in
1965 we had a wonderful time we laughed
and talked and told stories for two
hours and coached naff our basketball
coach he came back hadn’t seen him for
years and when I saw him I thought of
myself and I thought of a back in those
scrimmages in basketball because the
first scrimmage every year coach Neff
would take the first team and he said
now I’m going to let you play the second
team but there’s one condition the first
team is not going to play their position
and he’d take Doug Roth who was six foot
eight and put him out a point guard I
remember he stacked me one year under
the under center and and he put all the
first-team players out of position on
offense but he left the second team play
in their position and the second team
always beat us in the scrimmage why’d
they always beat us because and then he
would stop and say let me just explain
something to do no matter how talented
you are if you’re out of position you’ll
never reach your potential
most coach snap teaches he was coaching
it and he was teaching us that it’s key
to get positionally corrected it’s also
as a leader key to get your people of
the right position in a level number
four that’s what happens at love
whatever fort you recruit well you
position well and then you equip well
now you take them and say okay I
understand what their strengths own is
I understand what their giftedness is
now I’m going I’m going to equip them
I’m going to come alongside of them and
I’m going to develop them and I’m going
to train them and I use a very simple
for years for many many years a simple
five-step equipping process it really
works step one I do it it’s that simple
you can’t teach somebody which can’t do
yourself you know if we may teach what
we know but we reproduce while we are so
if you’re going to reproduce yourself
you’ve got to be it yourself so the
first step is is I do it step two as I
do it and you’re with me I take you with
me now we’re going to spend together I’m
going to be your mentor I’m going to be
your coach you’re going to watch me
you’re going to observe me you’re going
to see me in different situations we’re
going to make sure that it works we’re
going to make sure you’re going to be
able to ask me questions
step three is that now we turn it and I
had I hand the ball off to you now I’m
step three you do it you do it and I’m
with you now I’m watching you and I’m
tweaking you and I’m getting I’m helping
you to get better and I I’m I’m I’m just
really fine-tuning you step four is you
do it you just do it you don’t need me
anymore you know how to do it you do it
you do it well and many times people
think that equipping stops at step four
but it doesn’t there’s one more step
that’s absolutely essential Step five is
is if you do it in somebody’s with you
you’ve never really trained and equipped
somebody until they can multiply
themselves that’s where all compounding
is that’s where all compounded of time
money influence the whole process
compounding begins when you could train
somebody who has trained somebody I know
that well because 14 years ago I started
a nonprofit organization called equip
that is now the largest leadership
organization in the world and we’ve
trained and equipped over three million
people in 154 countries and the key to
that is we don’t train anybody unless
they make a commitment to train somebody
else it has to continue to go on that’s
level number four it’s a beautiful level
to be on it’s the level where you
develop
I think success first of all is knowing
my purpose in life as I have watched and
observed successful people what I have
discovered about them is they really
have figured out why they’re here they
really do have their act together and
knowing their purpose in life is a
stability for them so that when everyone
else is rocking and rolling and and and
things are a little unsteady and people
are kind of leaving the ship and people
are kind of abandoning their causes with
these people they hold steady right
throughout the storm because they they
have a true Northstar they truly are
focused it becomes an it comes an anchor
in their life that just holds them
steady and the anchor is a confidence
based upon a knowledge of purpose
I’ve never met a person who is not
successful that didn’t have a great
amount of self-discipline in their life
self-discipline and being able to
perform and being able to keep your life
on schedule and being able to keep
commitments and promises and meet
deadlines is essential to success of
none of us none of us can afford to have
a life that is controlled by someone
else or a life that is basically
controlled by our emotions I learned
many years ago that there are two kinds
of people there’s the type of person who
says I’m going to wait till I feel like
it before I do it and then there’s a
person who says I’ve got to do it so
that I feel like it one will never get
anything done because they’re still
waiting to feel the moment to move when
the other person says no I need to move
and then I will begin to feel the moment
Sonia self-discipline is essential in
your life and in my life if we’re going
to get things done so I have a challenge
for every one of you this weekend the
challenge is simple as you go through
your weekend and sometimes it’s kind of
a hopefully an easier time of your week
ask yourself am i practicing
self-discipline in my life am i doing
the things that I should do because I
need to do them or am I kind of waiting
to feel the moment do like our friends
Nike say just do it
I made a major change in my early 30s
from just having answers and being a
leader that just had to cast vision and
show everybody what I was doing and
where we were going and I started asking
intentional questions and I became a
person I asked questions all the time
every day I ask questions and I have
found just asking questions we’ll take
you on exciting journeys more than
anything else you’re right you excel in
that kid I’ve watched you over the years
you’d excel really at that but for my
early years I didn’t ask enough
questions and so therefore I didn’t get
enough ideas and thoughts from others so
when people say I want to be more
creative what step one step number one
is ask more questions just go to people
and start asking questions it’s amazing
what you learn
[Music]
they’ll say something like if you can
believe it you can achieve it and that
never quite rang true with me so I began
to press the issue and I have come the
conclusion that attitude isn’t
everything
now I’m not just blaming or in any way
being disparaging about attitude because
I think attitude is very important but
if anybody comes up to you tells you
that attitude is everything I don’t buy
into that that’s not true
for example attitude can’t replace in
confidence if you’re incompetent you can
be very happy but you can still be very
unsuccessful now here’s what I do know
attitude isn’t everything but attitude
is the main thing that’ll make a
difference in your life because I
believe that I wrote the book the
difference maker
you see that’s what attitude is attitude
is the difference maker you have two
people side by side that you’re thinking
about employing your company both of
them have the same background same job
description education experience I mean
you can almost flip a coin in second
hire the wet one on the right or I could
hire the one on the left but one has a
great attitude and one has a bad
attitude now who you gonna hire you’re
gonna have the first with a great
attitude why because it was the
difference-maker
some of these mountains that can be
climbed by you and me that it takes a
day to get to the top and then that you
camp up there you combine that down the
next day and on many of these places
where in Switzerland where you could do
that about halfway up the mountain is
what they call the halfway house halfway
house have waived them out so the group
of people starts off with a guy in the
morning and about noon you’re kind of
tired you’ve been walking now for four
or five hours and here comes you’re
coming to the halfway house it is just a
it’s a wonderful sight because as soon
as you enter in the halfway house you
can smell the food and they’re getting
ready for a good lunch and you sit down
there’s a fire in the fireplace and
there’s nice soft chairs and you just
rest your body and refresh your body and
so the people go into the halfway house
and they eat and laugh and joy and and
just really really just kind of take in
that that wonderful refreshing
atmosphere about an hour and a half
after being the halfway house the guide
gets up this will gang it’s time to put
on your gear we we got a hike we got to
get on at the top this is a fact
about half the people decide not to go
on a flu talk they’re sitting around the
table they’re just saying you know what
go on up and you’re going to come by
here tomorrow we’ll be having lunch here
again tomorrow
we’re just going to hang here and and so
the people that want to get the top they
put their stuff on and they kind of
leave and the rest of the people sit
behind they eat a little bit more food
get around the piano sing some songs get
around the fireplace enjoy the fire warm
themselves by the fire no I play games
all afternoon kind of enjoy themselves
but about 4:30 chordal 5:00 in the
afternoon without anybody saying a word
people who stayed in the halfway house
they slowly go over to where the window
is the big window and they start looking
outside and they start looking up the
top of that mountain and as they look at
the top of that mountain
they see their friends their friends are
now getting the tents out and they’re
getting ready to prepare for the night
and it becomes very quiet very somber
because everybody in the halfway house
realizes the mistake they’ve made
they’ve they’ve they’ve sold their
mission for a little bit of comfort for
a few hours next morning down come their
friends and by noon they come into the
halfway house when they come in a half
they are laughing they’re high-fiving
they’re talking about what they’ve seen
where they’ve been experiences the fact
that it was almost impossible to get up
there in fact they had to help each
other get up there and how they joined
teams and held hands and they just tell
all these stories and talk about the
pictures they take it and they yeah they
got the group picture up there with the
flag the top and people who remain
behind you’ll save
they just eat their lunch and then
follow the rest of them down to the
bottom of the hill where their friends
are waiting for them those who paid the
price and went to the top who understood
now is the time to reach the mission
they hug and health stories and
celebrate and the other state just kind
of slip off and get in a car and go home
because they realize they’re never going
to be what they wanted to be they never
want to see what they want to see that
everyone to do what they want to do
because they fail to realize when
there’s the halfway know now’s the time
to rest and they’re gone
[Music]
the first thing I want you to know that
success is is not a destination it’s a
journey think of success as a process
let me let me illustrate it and explain
it this way if you go to college you
work hard and then four or five years
depending on what kind of degree you’re
working on and in today’s society
sometimes six or seven years but but
eventually you comes the day of
graduation and you’re all excited and
your family is there and your friends
are there and and you’re there with your
classmates you got your cap and your
gown and and you know that there’s going
to be a time in that ceremony where
you’re going to walk across stage and
the president Provost somebody’s going
to shake your hand hand your diploma
congratulate you and and you’re going to
get off the other side I’m gonna have
presents waiting for you and they’ll be
taking pictures and everybody shaking
your hand say congratulations today you
become a success your college graduate
down now my friend you did not become a
success the day that you got your
diploma now what you did have happened
to you in that ceremony is you got
recognized for success the Diploma is
recognition of what you have done the
previous four or five years you see
you’re a success in your freshman year
when you decided to not drop out of
school like some of the other classmates
and decided to stick to it and you’re a
success every time you studied for a
test and you were success every time you
did a project or or did a writing
assignment you see you’re a success all
through sin all through school your
success every day success is a daily
thing not a destination thing the day
you got the diploma
you just got recognized for the success
that you already were and that’s very
central
because so many times people have it
have a tendency to devalue the moment
today what they do is they greatly value
the destination and so they kind of talk
about well when I get there or if I
arrive there or when I do that or when I
accomplish this and they don’t
understand that success is a daily thing
and I’m here to share with you that the
secret of success is determined by your
daily agenda in fact I wrote a book a
few years ago called today matters I’m
passionate about that book because what
it does is it helps you it helps me to
understand that we make decisions and
then we manage decisions and too often
we think I will make a decision for
example you’re saying I’m going to make
a decision to be a coach or I’m going to
make a decision not you know what I’m
going to make a decision to be a public
speaker I want to be a communicator well
congratulate Yun congratulations you’ve
made a wonderful decision coach speaking
good decisions but that won’t make you a
successful coach that will make you a
successful communicator it’s not the
decision that makes you you’ve got to
make the decision by managing it and you
manage the decision on a daily basis in
other words what you want to be tomorrow
you’ve got to do today
you visualize tomorrow that gives you
hope
but that’s your motivation and that’s
your dream you’ve nothing wrong with
that you visualize tomorrow but you
value today what’s that mean
that means that what I do every day is
either getting me closer to that vision
that dream that rule or it’s really
driving me farther away from you see
every day we are either repairing or
we’re preparing you see if I messed up
yesterday guess what I get to do today
fix yesterday in other words if I didn’t
do the right thing yesterday what I got
to do today is I’ve got to repair I’ve
got to go back make amends backtrack put
the car in reverse put my life in
reverse I’ve got to go back there I’ve
got to repair now every day I spend
repairing I’m not spending preparing
well you see we repair when we fail to
manage the decisions that we’ve made we
prepare when we on a daily basis manage
the decisions that we’ve made so your
footprints to success are really
footprints of success because every step
that is made and taken based upon the
goals that you have for your life and
you’re managing those goals correctly
every step is the progressive
realization of success in your life and
by the way I want you you’ll get the
Diploma you’ll get the certificate but
but when you get that you didn’t arrive
it just is another step in preparing you
to reach your potential each one of us
should live our life as
if we’ll never learn everything we never
need to learn we’ll never be able to
accomplish everything we wanted to
accomplish we won’t be able to
experience everything we wanted to
experience we should live our life every
day hungry understanding that we are to
live until we die you see I think
success can be summarized in a flippant
degree or program or diploma or arrival
I think today if you are learning to
coach if you are learning to speak if
you’re doing the things that are
essential to the decisions and you’re
managing those decisions well can I say
something to you congratulations you are
already a success now guess what over
time it shows up you’ve heard the
expression you maybe even a said it
yourself you heard the expression I’m
sure I worked all my life to become an
overnight success so it works all of a
sudden somebody recognizes you all of a
sudden somebody congratulate you you
didn’t get good at that moment you’ve
been good for a long time it just showed
up someday
when somebody comes and says John I want
to be a leader I was asking the question
why why do you want to be a leader I
mean do you want to be a leader because
you want a corner office do you want to
be a leader because you like to be in
control you like to want to be a leader
because you love to be in the front of
the pack you want to be a leader because
you want to have a good parking place or
you want to be a leader this leadership
is an easy leadership a lot of times
isn’t fun leadership a lot of times it’s
kind of lonely there’s only one reason
to be a leader and that is to add value
to people and you and I will only add
value to people if we truly value them I
have a nonprofit organization equipped
this trained almost two million leaders
internationally around the world and I
kid you not as I go to developing
countries twice a year and I travel
internationally and I sit down sometimes
I have the privilege of being in the
office as a presidents of countries and
as I watch these developing countries
the thing that is the cardinal sin among
leadership so much is that they have
leaders of their countries that truly
don’t value the people and if you and I
don’t value people we will devalue
people number two if you want to add
value to people you have to make
yourself more valuable you just have to
get better you have to keep growing you
have to keep learning you have to keep
developing why very simply if you’re
leading the pack you’ve got to be able
to give what you have and you can’t give
what you don’t have and so therefore
you’ve got to put a lot of good stuff in
so you can pass it on to others and
share with them and and add value to
them thirdly if you want to add value to
people you have to know and relate to
what other people value
[Music]
you can tell you on the road success
because it’s uphill all the way and I’m
here to tell you this something for
nothing entitlement mindset that invades
so many people’s lives is a bunch of
garbage I can promise you nothing that
I’ve ever had worthwhile did I have just
kind of fall into my lap like hope my
goodness I won the lottery and I and I
once while people win the lottery but
basically for the people that win the
lottery half up lose their money within
three years the money they won and it’s
because they got money but they never
changed the way they thought and it kind
of tastes something if you have all the
assets in the world but you don’t change
the way you think you’ll lose all the
assets in the world and what I have
discovered that hope in this whole
process of trade offs is that every step
of the way of my journey I have to trade
something off and it’s for you that are
young the good news is your trade offs
will never be easier than when you’re
young because I remember when I when I
smart I started out I think man you know
I give up everything I wasn’t I was I
was a pastor to go in the ministry I
gave up everything and then I start
smiling at I’m sure I gave up everything
I didn’t have anything to give up what I
did I was a kid you know what I mean I
had a 1964 Ford talkin and you know
u-haul trailer and five pieces of
furniture and life was grand and off we
went
here’s what I’ve discovered kid and I
think that I want the audience don’t
want everybody watching around the world
to know today and this is very simple
the more successful you become the
higher the trade-offs are you see we
make a mistake thinking it gets easier
it doesn’t get easier gets harder and
the more you have every time you go back
and say am I willing to risk that again
the more you realize wow I’m not sure
I’m willing to risk this and what I’ve
learned is the moment I stop making
trade-offs is the moment that I plateau
and life is continually filled with
trade-offs in your life and in my life
we my expression show use all the time
can you’ve heard me say this you have to
give up
to go up
when I started off in college in my in
my freshman psych class they gave us a
test that he preached dude to take on
creativity and there were 17 in that
class I could remember it well and I was
at the bottom of the class on creativity
I mean I was like number 17 out of 17
and and what the teacher posted the
scores and so I mean I saw how bad I was
and then I really felt bad not only
because I wasn’t creative but I was
going to go past her I was going to go
in the minister I was going to teach I
was going to do sermons and then I got
to think of it myself I’m going to be
another boring preacher and you know I
said just grip inside oh this is gonna
be awful I’m gonna bore people all my
life you want to be and I’m going to ask
him to pay while they hear me I mean
this is an awful deal so it and so two
things I did and I talked about it the
book what when as I started filing I
started taking thoughts and growth and
the reason I started doing that is I
thought if I’m not going to be good at
what I say I need to quote somebody that
is good and so I started filing things
that other people would say so I go
around and I did well Kim said you know
what I mean and Jo said and Suzy said
and so that at least I would be a little
bit more interesting and that’s how it
started but the big breakthrough the big
breakthrough I had was and this will
help everyone how many of you would like
to be more creative let me let me see
your hands okay how many of you like to
just absolutely have an imagination that
just took you to a new level you see the
greatest motivational principle in the
world
the greatest motivational principle in
the world is that people do what people
see and too many too many travel agents
too many travel agents they’re like or
too many leaders too many years are like
they’re like travel agents they’re
sending people where they’ve never been
themselves and you want to be a tour
guide you want to take people with you
you want to say this is the area where
I’ve been this is where I live this is
the area where I lead come along and
follow me and at level number three your
leadership begins to gain credibility
because now you are fleshing out for the
people around you and you’re modeling
for them things that they want to see
and you are starting to produce
something magical happens when you begin
to understand the most appreciable asset
you have in any organization is the
people of that organization and you
begin to commit yourself to develop the
people’s in that organization because
how do you grow a company you grow a
company by growing people and when you
grow them they increase their capacity
when they can increase their capacity
they begin to increase the capacity of
what you can do and what you can
accomplish
[Music]
let me just share with you quickly three
thoughts on developing people just very
quickly number one is the key to
developing leaders and if it’s the key
to developing good people is in
recruitment the better person you bring
in the door the higher odds you can do
well with them
I remember having lunch one time with
Lou Holtz and Lou Holtz said Johnny I’ve
had bad players on my football team and
I’ve had good players on my football
team he said just to be honest with you
I I’m a better coach with good players
of course he is
of course it let me say something 80% of
your success of equipping people to be
successful it’s in the front door on who
you bring in I wish I had time to
develop that for you because what
happens is unless you and I have a clear
picture of what we’re looking for we
don’t know when we see it happens all
the time
people come to me and say John I’m
looking for some leaders for my company
what do you suggest the first question I
ask is what what does the leader look
like give me the characteristics give me
the qualities please please paint a
picture for me what does that leader
look like because you’ve got to have
that clear picture so that when you see
that person you know that they’re one
that you want recruitment is key number
two is positioning the ability not only
to bring the right person in the right
in the in the front door but also put
them in the right place as comments
would say get them on the bus get them
on the right seat and position is huge
and what I’ve discovered is that
successful people have always positioned
them well themselves well would you see
a successful person they’re successful
because what they have done is they’ve
found their strengths on and they found
their niche and they stay right in that
sweet spot and they just work that sweet
spot you’ve never heard anybody be an
interview that was successful that you
came up and you interviewed and they
said well the secret of my success is
that I’ve never discovered what I was
good at or the see my successes I’ve
always worked on I’ve just I’ve just
worked in my weaknesses no no they’re
always in their strengths they always
are they’ve already discovered once
they’re good at now successful people
have discovered what they’re good at
successful leaders discover what other
people are good at successful people
position themselves well successful
leader position the other people well
and at level number four that’s exactly
what happened the leader is always
looking at the people observing watching
just like last week I went back to my my
first school my graduate I graduate from
Ohio Christian University and in the old
town encircled Ohio and and so little
school I go back every year and I give
them a day to speak and they get all the
proceeds and keep the money and and so
because I grew up in that town I told
one of my friends that played ball with
me tear I said Tim let the ball players
let’s let the team know that sir my high
school kids know done globe in town and
let’s have a dinner afterwards and we
had over fifty people came together I
hadn’t seen many of these had seen many
of my high school mates since I
graduated from high school clear back in
1965 we had a wonderful time we laughed
and talked and told stories for two
hours and coached naff our basketball
coach he came back hadn’t seen him for
years and when I saw him I thought of
myself and I thought of a back in those
scrimmages in basketball because the
first scrimmage every year coach Neff
would take the first team and he said
now I’m going to let you play the second
team but there’s one condition the first
team is not going to play their position
and he’d take Doug Roth who was six foot
eight and put him out a point guard I
remember he stacked me one year under
the under center and and he put all the
first-team players out of position on
offense but he left the second team play
in their position and the second team
always beat us in the scrimmage why’d
they always beat us because and then he
would stop and say let me just explain
something to do no matter how talented
you are if you’re out of position you’ll
never reach your potential
most coach snap teaches he was coaching
it and he was teaching us that it’s key
to get positionally corrected it’s also
as a leader key to get your people of
the right position in a level number
four that’s what happens at love
whatever fort you recruit well you
position well and then you equip well
now you take them and say okay I
understand what their strengths own is
I understand what their giftedness is
now I’m going I’m going to equip them
I’m going to come alongside of them and
I’m going to develop them and I’m going
to train them and I use a very simple
for years for many many years a simple
five-step equipping process it really
works step one I do it it’s that simple
you can’t teach somebody which can’t do
yourself you know if we may teach what
we know but we reproduce while we are so
if you’re going to reproduce yourself
you’ve got to be it yourself so the
first step is is I do it step two as I
do it and you’re with me I take you with
me now we’re going to spend together I’m
going to be your mentor I’m going to be
your coach you’re going to watch me
you’re going to observe me you’re going
to see me in different situations we’re
going to make sure that it works we’re
going to make sure you’re going to be
able to ask me questions
step three is that now we turn it and I
had I hand the ball off to you now I’m
step three you do it you do it and I’m
with you now I’m watching you and I’m
tweaking you and I’m getting I’m helping
you to get better and I I’m I’m I’m just
really fine-tuning you step four is you
do it you just do it you don’t need me
anymore you know how to do it you do it
you do it well and many times people
think that equipping stops at step four
but it doesn’t there’s one more step
that’s absolutely essential Step five is
is if you do it in somebody’s with you
you’ve never really trained and equipped
somebody until they can multiply
themselves that’s where all compounding
is that’s where all compounded of time
money influence the whole process
compounding begins when you could train
somebody who has trained somebody I know
that well because 14 years ago I started
a nonprofit organization called equip
that is now the largest leadership
organization in the world and we’ve
trained and equipped over three million
people in 154 countries and the key to
that is we don’t train anybody unless
they make a commitment to train somebody
else it has to continue to go on that’s
level number four it’s a beautiful level
to be on it’s the level where you
develop
I think success first of all is knowing
my purpose in life as I have watched and
observed successful people what I have
discovered about them is they really
have figured out why they’re here they
really do have their act together and
knowing their purpose in life is a
stability for them so that when everyone
else is rocking and rolling and and and
things are a little unsteady and people
are kind of leaving the ship and people
are kind of abandoning their causes with
these people they hold steady right
throughout the storm because they they
have a true Northstar they truly are
focused it becomes an it comes an anchor
in their life that just holds them
steady and the anchor is a confidence
based upon a knowledge of purpose
I’ve never met a person who is not
successful that didn’t have a great
amount of self-discipline in their life
self-discipline and being able to
perform and being able to keep your life
on schedule and being able to keep
commitments and promises and meet
deadlines is essential to success of
none of us none of us can afford to have
a life that is controlled by someone
else or a life that is basically
controlled by our emotions I learned
many years ago that there are two kinds
of people there’s the type of person who
says I’m going to wait till I feel like
it before I do it and then there’s a
person who says I’ve got to do it so
that I feel like it one will never get
anything done because they’re still
waiting to feel the moment to move when
the other person says no I need to move
and then I will begin to feel the moment
Sonia self-discipline is essential in
your life and in my life if we’re going
to get things done so I have a challenge
for every one of you this weekend the
challenge is simple as you go through
your weekend and sometimes it’s kind of
a hopefully an easier time of your week
ask yourself am i practicing
self-discipline in my life am i doing
the things that I should do because I
need to do them or am I kind of waiting
to feel the moment do like our friends
Nike say just do it
I made a major change in my early 30s
from just having answers and being a
leader that just had to cast vision and
show everybody what I was doing and
where we were going and I started asking
intentional questions and I became a
person I asked questions all the time
every day I ask questions and I have
found just asking questions we’ll take
you on exciting journeys more than
anything else you’re right you excel in
that kid I’ve watched you over the years
you’d excel really at that but for my
early years I didn’t ask enough
questions and so therefore I didn’t get
enough ideas and thoughts from others so
when people say I want to be more
creative what step one step number one
is ask more questions just go to people
and start asking questions it’s amazing
what you learn
[Music]
they’ll say something like if you can
believe it you can achieve it and that
never quite rang true with me so I began
to press the issue and I have come the
conclusion that attitude isn’t
everything
now I’m not just blaming or in any way
being disparaging about attitude because
I think attitude is very important but
if anybody comes up to you tells you
that attitude is everything I don’t buy
into that that’s not true
for example attitude can’t replace in
confidence if you’re incompetent you can
be very happy but you can still be very
unsuccessful now here’s what I do know
attitude isn’t everything but attitude
is the main thing that’ll make a
difference in your life because I
believe that I wrote the book the
difference maker
you see that’s what attitude is attitude
is the difference maker you have two
people side by side that you’re thinking
about employing your company both of
them have the same background same job
description education experience I mean
you can almost flip a coin in second
hire the wet one on the right or I could
hire the one on the left but one has a
great attitude and one has a bad
attitude now who you gonna hire you’re
gonna have the first with a great
attitude why because it was the
difference-maker
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