Calculated risks are part of what you do, but the idea that something completely crazy will work just because it’s completely crazy is completely crazy.
For me the starting point for everything – before strategy, tactics, theories, managing, organizing, philosophy, methodology, talent, or experience – is work ethic. Without one of significant magnitude, you’re dead in the water.
My theory is that, just like with omitting a final comma in a list when not essential for meaning, publishers are trying to save paper and ink or pixels on-screen.
I’ve observed that if individuals who prevail in a highly competitive environment have any one thing in common besides success, it is failure-and their ability to overcome it.
Strength of will – is essential to your survival and success. The competitor who won’t go away, who won’t stay down, has one of the most formidable competitive advantages of all.
Afford each person the same respect, support, and fair treatment you would expect if your roles were reversed. Deal with people individually, not as objects who are part of a herd-that’s the critical factor.
On occasion I omit commas. On occasion, I use them. (The more you know about English, the less you’re likely to think there are unbreakable “rules” for a lot of these things.)
By instinct we-leaders-want to run hard all the time; by intellect we know this is not possible. Reconciling those two positions in the context of leadership is an ongoing challenge.
