November 26, 2024

This week, I finished a book that highlighted a principle of success?worth sharing. The book was?And Then There Was Light: Abraham Lincoln and the American Struggle,?written by Jon Meacham. It?chronicled Lincoln's path from a child in Kentucky to the White House.??

On the eve of the 1864 election, the Union Army was mired in a long, seemingly endless war. Though they had a victory here and there, the Southern successionists were still fighting—and winning their fair share. England was on the precipice of recognizing the Confederate States of America as a sovereign entity.?

Lincoln was running for re-election, and the wolves were out. Many Northerners were calling for compromise. They wanted to accommodate the CSA, end the war, bring the Union back together, and return to some semblance of status quo. Lincoln, by that time, was firm; there would be no Union that included slavery. That wasn't the popular opinion of the day.

In August, it was a foregone conclusion that Lincoln was a lame-duck President. There was little chance of being re-elected. He had given up hope. He said, "We may be defeated; we may fail, but we will go down with our principles."?

Lincoln was talking to Senator William Seward during that August, musing on what would happen if he weren't re-elected and General McClellan (his opponent) was nominated. "I will go see him and talk matters over with him. I will say, "General, the election has demonstrated that you are stronger and have more influence with the American people than I. Now let us work together, with your influence and I, with the Executive power of the government, to try to save the Union. You raise as many troops as possible for this final trial, and I will devote all my energies to assisting and finishing the war."?

Seward said, "And the General would say yes, yes, yes."?

"And the next day, when you saw him again and pressed those views upon him, he would say yes, yes, yes, and so on forever. And he would have done nothing at all."?

McClellan was a perfectionist. When he was commanding the Union Army, he stalled, made excuses, and refrained from sending his men to battle. He is likely why the Civil War lasted as long as it did.?

How many of us suffer from the same malady of delay and procrastination??

Go. Launch. Try. Ship. Send. Act. Move.

Imperfect action is a hallmark of high achievers. Using failure as feedback, they know that if they are on the right track and just sit there, they will be run over.?

What are you procrastinating on today? What next steps do you need to take? What excuses do you need to eliminate?

Lincoln once said of US Grant, "I can't spare this man. He fights."

Aim and fire.?

?

The Huddle?is a weekly newsletter that is designed for leaders. Leaders must be learners. There is never a?moment?when leaders arrive. It's a never-ending growth process. I hope this can be a resource that you can use to stay sharp and share with your team.

With that, here are some things I ran across this week.?

Winning?vs. Success -?One of my long-time clients turned me on to a book called?The Go-Giver,?which?I read many years ago. At the time, I thought it was a nice book with a good message. It was simple. Cute. Clever.

Like Heraclitus, "No man steps in the same river twice." Back then, I was a corporate soldier. Now, as an entrepreneur, this simple little book has a new meaning. I'll save the lessons learned for another day.

One of the principles of the book is the idea that the traditional definition of winning might be incorrect. Being others-centered and giving more in value than we receive in pay is a better path.?

This article?discusses winning vs. success, win-win outcomes, and measuring growth. The meat of the article serves as a good reminder, but after digging into the book, I'd offer a bit of caution: win-win is a way of keeping score and can turn into "tit for tat."?

If you want to keep clients for a long time, it's not about keeping score but delivering more service than they pay you in money. Some accountants and CFOs may disagree...but giving your clients what they pay for—and more—is a winning strategy.?

Overdeliver for your clients. Overdeliver for your boss. Overdeliver for your peers.?

Pain is Good: Part II -?Last week's opener focused on pain. I shared the idea that pain is ever-present, but will it be an ounce of pain now or a pound of regret later??Quite a few people reached out to tell me that hit home.?

Here's a short blurb?on the same idea. As I shared with my clients this week, "We are either making excuses or taking next steps."?

"I'm a Great Listener!" -?According to a recent survey, 96% of participants said they were good listeners, similar to 92% of drivers who say?their driving skills are above average. We tend to overestimate our abilities.?

If you pay attention, you'll find that most people are?not?good listeners. My hard-wiring struggles with it, and it's one of the things I've worked on the most. Sometimes, I'll even mute my smartphone when others are speaking so that I can't blurt out the first thing that comes to mind. It requires me to pause and unmute—and in that moment, I've got time to re-consider if the brilliance I'm getting ready to add is really all that brilliant. It's usually not.?

I like this article, and the third point is essential. If I'm simply present in the conversation,?squinting with my ears,?then I'm a better coach, advisor, husband, father, and friend.?

Not Today -?A client?shared this with me?this week, and I love it. It's a Honda commercial, and honestly, it makes me feel fired up!?

A quote to leave you with

Have a great Thanksgiving holiday!