Orrin Woodward on LIFE & Leadership

Chris Brady’s new book was just released at the TEAM major function!  I cannot share enough adjectives to describe the effect that this book will have on you.  If you have ever dreamed of entrepreneurship, independence, and achievement, then this is the book you must read.  I have witnessed first hand the amazing accomplishments of Chris over the years.  Rascal captures the essential difference between follower and leaders and gives you the tools necessary to develop into a leader.  Read the book and please share your thoughts on what you learned.  Here is the Foreward that I wrote for the book.  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

Rascal?  Who are you to be calling me names?  But that is exactly what every great achiever is in life.  Rascals are willing to step out of line and pursue their own dreams, not conform to the wishes of the masses.  What is it that separates the Rascals from the rest of humanity?  Chris Brady’s new book will reveal that and much more.   
I have known Chris Brady since I was 17 years old and have been a business partner and close friend for 15 plus years.  As I read his captivating book on Rascals, I saw so many parallels between the characters described and Chris that I have named him Honorary First Rascal.  Rascals fear insignificance more than they fear peer pressure; they fear losing more than they fear change; they fear endless talk more than dangerous actions.  I believe that everyone has inside of them a rascal, but it has been buried by endless, mind-numbing conditioning to be part of the herd. 

Let me share just a few highlights of Chris Brady’s life as an example of rascality.  Chris grew up in a middle class family with supportive parents who taught their two boys that anything was possible in life.  Chris bought into this principle and pursued his passion for racing motorcycles to a competitive level, even though he started at the late age of 16.  From this early success, he parlayed his work ethic into a sponsorship with General Motors and a degree at the prestigious GMI Engineering & Management Institute (now Kettering University).  Chris graduated at the top of his class and went on to obtain his Masters at Carnegie Mellon University, even conducting his thesis in Japan!  With all of these credentials for success behind him, you would think he would have followed the traditional route and climbed the corporate ladder.  Everything certainly seemed to indicate that he should.

All of this changed when he went to a Michael Dell seminar and learned from a billionaire that many of tomorrow’s future leaders would be those who could master the art of building communities that drive traffic to on-line sites.  Being the Rascal that he is, Chris put all of his efforts and know-how to work, leaving his corporate job, and putting everything on the line to develop his leadership skills and systems understanding to help found the TEAM.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Hundreds of thousands of people in community and millions of dollars of revenue later and a lifestyle that is incomprehensible to non-rascals, Chris and his lovely wife Terri have traveled the world with their four talented children.  With multiple best selling books including a Wall Street Journal #1 Best Seller: Launching a Leadership Revolution, I would say Chris has broken out of the herd.  

What made the difference?  Was it just sheer talent?  Luck, by being in the right spot at the right time?  Connections?  God’s Providence?  The Bradys would certainly agree they have been blessed, but I believe this book spells out many of the keys of the Bradys Rascal-like success.  If I were to boil it down into one sentence, I would say Rascals have the courage to pursue their own dreams.  Chris knew what he wanted and pursued it with a singular focus against opposition, against the norms, against the setbacks until success finally surrendered its secrets.  In life, you either hate losing so much that you are willing to change or you hate changing so much that you are willing to lose.  Rascals cannot stand the thought of surrendering their dreams, so instead surrender their comforts in pursuit of their destiny.  

I am proud to strongly recommend this book to all who dare to dream and hunger for significance in life.  Chris doesn’t promise easy when you step up to the Rascal plate, but he does promise worth it!  Get reading and find out that everything you need to be a Rascal has been inside of you all along.