“People may spend their whole lives climbing the ladder of success only to find, once they reach the top, that the ladder is leaning against the wrong wall.” Thomas Merton
“Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” Stephen Covey
THINK Box-
The Principle of “One Thing”
Now that we have elevated our THINKING, our Choosing and our Actions we begin to look at principle two-
THINK Box- The Principle of “One Thing.”
One day a few years ago I returned a phone call to a man who had left me a message.
When he answered the phone he explained that he had been busy doing some calculations. I proceeded to ask what he was calculating and he explained.
“I was taking the salary I was making at the age of 25 and I was adjusting it for inflation to find out if I was making more money than my son is now making at the age of 25. I am pleased to tell you that based on my calculations, my salary at age 25 was higher than his salary at age 25.”
So in this man’s perspective he had won. He saw the world through his perspective and found success and value- “Winning”- by making more money than his son. To be honest I was shocked. I had always hoped my boy’s would exceed my success in all areas of life (except when I used to play basketball against them as kids. :-). But, for this man he was winning at life if he was beating his son by making more money.
How many times do we do the same thing? Who are you competing with in life? Perhaps you are not trying to beat your own child, but are you comparing yourself with others and determining whether you are winning based on where you are in comparison to them.
Significant Leaders do no such comparison. Significant leaders carry their value within. Significant leaders actually try to raise up those around them to a higher level of success and significance then they themselves have achieved. Significant leaders realize they ultimately only win when they help other people win.
However, this father probably had been given this perspective or map from his own father. Instead of first determining whether the map was even valid, he just used it. Therefore, the way he determined whether he was successful or not was entirely based on how his salary compared to that of his son. If his salary was higher he “won” if his son’s salary was higher he “lost”.
Success was measured by whether or not he was beating his own son. Is that a valid way to determine if you are successful let alone if you are significant? Does that make any sense? What message does he send to his son? What map is he giving his son?
Sometimes it may appear that we are winning, but we are we even playing the right game.
74. What are you trying to win at? Who are you competing with? Are you climbing the right ladder?
75. What is your definition of- “Winning at life”?
“There are more important things in life than winning or losing a game.” Lionel Messi
