Orrin Woodward on LIFE & Leadership

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    Former Guinness World Record Holder for largest book signing ever, Orrin Woodward is a NY Times bestselling author of And Justice For All along with RESOLVED & coauthor of LeaderShift and Launching a Leadership Revolution. His books have sold over one million copies in the financial, leadership and liberty fields. RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions For LIFE made the Top 100 All-Time Best Leadership Books and the 13 Resolutions are the framework for the top selling Mental Fitness Challenge personal development program.

    Orrin made the Top 20 Inc. Magazine Leadership list & has co-founded two multi-million dollar leadership companies. Currently, he serves as the Chairman of the Board of the LIFE. He has a B.S. degree from GMI-EMI (now Kettering University) in manufacturing systems engineering. He holds four U.S. patents, and won an exclusive National Technical Benchmarking Award.

    This blog is an Alltop selection and ranked in HR's Top 100 Blogs for Management & Leadership.

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Fire the Manager and Hire the Leader

Posted by Orrin Woodward on May 22, 2014

Hockey legend Wayne Gretzky, when asked what made him great, responded, “I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”  This simple statement concisely explains the difference between leaders and managers. Leaders acknowledge the present realities (where the puck is) but never forget the future possibilities (where the puck is going).

This is the key difference between leaders and managers. Whereas managers seek to organize the present resources of a company, a leader seeks to build the resources of a company by creating products, services, and systems that satisfy currently unmet needs in the marketplace.

Vision is tomorrow’s reality expressed as an idea today and leaders are the drivers that make today’s ideas tomorrow’s reality. Are you a leader actively sailing your ship to its future or merely a manager allowing the wind to blow you where it will? LIFE Leadership is about teaching people to seize the helm and sail! My advice is to fire the manager and hire the leader within.

The world has plenty of people capable of managing the results of your productivity, but is suffering from a dearth of true leadership. Despite having no guarantee of success, despite lacking all the relevant data and despite competing against bigger and faster ships, leaders still muster the courage to set sail upon the rough seas of free enterprise.

So what are you waiting for? Get out of the harbor of life and out onto the high seas. This is where the adventures, the learning, and the prizes are in life. Will everything go perfectly? Of course not! But refusing to leave he harbor ensures that you will never arrive at your port of destination. Leaders must leave home port to arrive at their future destination.

Perhaps you think the effort is not worth the reward. Only those who have not experienced the joy of sailing on the high seas could contemplate such a thought. Antoine de Saint-Exupéry described it best, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.”  Personally, I yearn for the high seas that God has called me to and seek others of similar intestinal fortitude to take the journey with me.

Thus reminds me of Ernest Shackleton’s advertisement seeking men to be the first to journey to the South pole. The ad read, “Men wanted for hazardous journey. Low wages, bitter cold, long hours of complete darkness. Safe return doubtful. Honour and recognition in event of success.” Interestingly, there were no guarantees, nor huge bonuses, but just the challenge of doing something great together!

In fact, it’s the challenge of doing something that has never been done before that unites a team and steels their resolve to finish what they have started.  At the Columbus LIFE Leadership Convention, on June 21 of 2014 (Saturday starting at 8am until every book is signed), LIFE Leadership will seek to do what has never been done before in the history of mankind.

With Guinness World Records staff officially tracking the proceedings, LIFE will seek to break the all-time record for Largest Book Signing. The goal is to break over 5,000 books signed in one sitting. Perhaps, if enough people participate, and my hand holds out 🙂 we can break 6,000 books signed!

In any event, leaders make events like this possible and I would like to thank all the leaders in advance who intend to play a part in making history in Ohio. Isn’t it time to fire the manager and hire the leader in your life?

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Guinness Book of World Records Attempt

Guinness Book of World Records Attempt

22 Responses to “Fire the Manager and Hire the Leader”

  1. wendi witkowski said

    I look forward to being part of making the record happen. I will be in line with my book in hand. Thanks Orrin Woodward for being an exemplary leader we can all follow.

  2. Scott Staley said

    I’m looking forward to having some books signed and being a small part of that record breaking moment!

  3. Awesome! I can’t wait!

  4. Yitz Weiss said

    Looking forward to taking part as well! Even averaging 10 seconds per book that’s 16.67 hours for to sign 6k books! GO ORRIN!

  5. Shaun Bushey said

    WHORAAH ORRIN! See you in Columbus!

  6. Maybe you should work on becoming ambidextrous to give your hand a rest. 🙂

  7. Tim Marks said

    Orrin
    Absolutely awesome post! leaders are the people that do things managers wish others would do so they look good.
    Tim

  8. Elizabeth Sieracki said

    I like the ambidextrous idea! How exciting!! We’ll be there.

  9. Marathon runners and cyclist train for months to prepare for a big event. How do you train for a marathon book signing?

    • Orrin Woodward said

      Scott, I have done 4 hour book signings but this one will push 10 to 12 hours. I will take it one book at a time and stay focused on the objective and rely on God to give me the strength to finish what I started. 🙂 thanks, Orrin

  10. Adam M Rossman said

    We can’t wait to be a part of the new Guinness Book World Record!! Thank you for offering up your whole day at the event to help promote a book that will help educate our nation.

    I just heard someone say on a cd today, “I believe the greatest days of this nation are still ahead of us.” (his initials are OW), and I agree with that statement!

  11. Dawn Lichty said

    Let’s make history! I love it!

  12. Hillel Naiman said

    Orrin, The book signing is a done deal!
    Much more important is that the Gunnies World Record of TEAM; your instilling
    In it LIFE (Yes pun is intended), and developing inspiring LEADERS IS AWSOME!
    Please never stop being CREATIVE!

  13. CJ Calvert said

    Orrin, if anyone has the mental stamina to overcome such personal discomfort it’s you! Kudos in advance for setting a world record!

  14. Matt Mielke said

    I love this statement, until I look in the mirror.. Ha! Management is much easier, but it’s leadership that makes a difference. Can’t wait to add a world record book to my library!

    M

  15. Owen Derry said

    Orrin: Correction in the ad for the book regarding the Guinness world record: The words “…attempt to…” should not be there.
    Owen Derry

    • Orrin Woodward said

      Owen, all I know is, Lord willing, I am going to sign book after book after book until everyone who wants to participate in the GWR process is served. If that blast over 5,000 then LIFE achieves the record!!! Guinness will be on hand to ensure we follow all the rules and process to qualify for the record. What a weekend its going to be! 🙂 thanks, Orrin

  16. Steve Meixner said

    I will be there and I can’t wait to be a part of this Awesome Event!
    I also can’t wait to read the book!!!
    Steve

  17. Ginette Genest said

    Hi there,
    Looking forward to reading your new book and getting it signed in Columbus 🙂

    In my profession I sometimes come across suggested books on leadership and often ask myself whether you have knowledge of it and whether it would be a good addition to the LIFE offerings. Are you interested in getting input of this kind?

    The most recent book I have come across is “The Leadership Contract: The Fine Print to Becoming a Great Leader” by Vince Molinaro.

    Take care and God bless.

  18. AR said

    Great blog … Key word is learning … A person must believe/know that he/she can learn in order to leave dry land and sail the oceans …

  19. This is going to be an exciting event. Ironically, and I must blame LIFE for this manner of thinking, I’m certain that the world record of 5,000+ books signed will be broken in the future by this very same organization. I can even see where we will have multiple conventions having contests of who will have more books signed. I love it. I love being part of an organization that helps mold our thinking to always be looking further down the horizon. We are going to 1 million and beyond. Here we come!

  20. Chris Olson said

    Good stuff.

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