The following video shares the five levels of influence with Chris Brady and myself teaching how to move your leadership up the levels.  Everything rises and falls on leadership and anyone can improve in this critical area. God Bless, Orrin Woodward

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While many think talent is the separation point between the successful and the unsuccessful in life, the truth is that hard work and focus trumps talent every time.  Don’t misunderstand me, successful people are extremely talented, but then again, unsuccessful people have plenty of talent as well, albeit unused.  Talent is given to all, but what separates people on the success journey is the willingness to focus on the critical work to get the job done.  PDCA is a great process, but is nearly worthless without the work ethic to cycle through the process again and again, improving the key skills every new PDCA cycle.  Most people fail in life simply because they are getting outworked.  It doesn’t matter how talented one is; it doesn’t matter how good the plan is; nor how good the intentions were, if someone doesn’t work, they will not win.  One of my favorite books in the Bible is the Book of Acts.  Notice, that they didn’t call it the Book of Intentions or the Book of Thoughts, but the Book of Acts.  Either actions will conquer fears or fears will conquer actions.  Inside of all of us, is a champion waiting to be unleashed upon the world, through the steady persistent application of work to a given task.  Starting today, refuse to allow the excuse of ‘lack of talent’ to stop you from moving in the direction of your dreams.  Work ethic trumps talent period. 

As Malcolm Gladwell, in his thought provoking book, Outliers, writes on the researcher K. Anders Ericsson’s study:

“The striking thing about Ericsson’s study is that he and his colleagues couldn’t find any ‘naturals,’ musicians who floated effortlessly to the top while practicing a fraction of time their peers did. Nor could they find any ‘grinds,’ people who worked harder than everyone else, yet just didn’t have what it takes to break the top ranks. Their research suggests that once a musician has enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That’s it. And what’s more, the people at the very top don’t work just harder or even much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder.”

In fact, the number that seems to keep popping up when researchers study top achievers is 10,000 hours to develop mastery in any given field.  It takes a minimum of 10,000 hours of studies, practice, actions, improvements, and adjustments to develop make the skills look natural.  This concept explains why the ‘haves‘ separate themselves from the ‘have nots’ in life.  How many people are willing to dedicate 10,000 hours of continuous improvement in any profession?  Some may be thinking, but I have worked for twenty-five years in my profession, don’t all people eventually reach 10,000 hours?  But just putting in time isn’t enough, as it takes continuous improvement to count towards the 10,000 hours.  Most people who have twenty-five years in a profession don’t have twenty-five years experience, but only one years experience, twenty-five times.  10,000 hours is literally 10,000 hours of PDCA time, improving in they key areas on a consistent basis, until one has mastered his craft.  Anyone can do this, but sadly, few will dream big enough, building enough passion, pushing through laziness, to strive for excellence.  If someone is going to dedicate 10,000 hours in a profession, it becomes clear that focus is a key, since there isn’t enough 10,000 hours to go around in life to master all of them.  One can become great in nearly any field, but one cannot become great in all fields.  The question becomes what area is one going to master, defining ones life?

Gladwell gives an example of talent vs hard work using the world famous band – The Beatles.  Many assume, that the Beatles were just incredibly talented musicians, and that talent alone, catapulted them to success.  But reading from the Beatles, biography, Shout!, referring to the year and a half of live nightly performances in Hamburg, Germany, it becomes clear that they paid the 10,000 hour price to develop mastery:

“They were no good onstage when they went there and they were very good when they came back. They learned not only stamina. They had to learn an enormous amount of numbers–cover versions of everything you can think of, not just rock and roll, a bit of jazz too. They weren’t disciplined onstage at all before that. But when they came back, they sounded like no one else. It was the making of them.”

Just how many hours did the Beatles play during that year and a half?  They performed 270 times in that period, many times for eight hours or more on stage!  It’s not shocking that the musical skills, and showmanship of the Beatles, improved dramatically with thousands of hours of live performances in Hamburg.  When Beatle mania exploded upon the USA music scene in 1964, the Beatles had performed live over 1200 times, more than most band will perform in a lifetime.  Simply put, the Beatles were willing to work harder than other bands, improving their skills, as the hours accumulated through the PDCA process.  Gladwell reflects, “The Hamburg crucible is one of the things that set the Beatles apart.”  Truthfully, every leader/performer needs his Hamburg crucible, practicing while others are playing, dreaming while others are complaining, enduring while others are quitting.  No great achievement is accomplished without great sacrifice, and, the 10,000 hours is the price to be paid for mastery in any field.  People love the thought of being successful, but few love the thought of 10,000 of hard work in the PDCA process to achieve success.  When one falls in love with, not only the dream, but the work to accomplish that dream, Beatle’s like success is the reward, accomplishing greatness in an age that glorifies mediocrity.

It seems like the harder people work, the luckier they seem to get.  Success occurs when opportunity and preparedness meet.  One cannot control an opportunity arrival, but one certainly controls the preparation beforehand.  Abraham Lincoln, amidst trials and tribulations, wrote, “I will work, I will study, and when my moment comes, I will be ready.”   Working, studying, learning, and improving are key aspects of any solid work ethic.  Winners aren’t lucky, but they are prepared.  They may be blessed, but they prepared themselves for the blessing by constant improvement through hard work for their moment of opportunity.  Like the old saying goes, “Don’t wait until you are thirsty to dig your well.”  Winners would rather be over prepared, waiting for their moment, and, when the moment arrives, they capitalize on it.  Luck is a persons excuse for a winners commitment.  Prepare daily for the opportunity, because in a person’s life, real opportunity may come along only two or three times.  Sadly, most people were too busy knocking the opportunities to hear opportunities knocking.  Do winners have luck?  Yes, if you define LUCK as – Laboring Under Correct Knowledge – then yes, winners have LUCK.

Geoff Colvin, in his powerful book, Talent is Overrated, shares a concept called deliberate practice, a technique that ties in perfectly with the PDCA process described earlier, he writes:

“Deliberate practice is characterized by several elements, each worth examining. It is activity designed specifically to improve performance, often with a teacher’s help; it can be repeated a lot; feedback on results is continuously available; it’s highly demanding mentally, whether the activity is purely intellectual, such as chess or business-related activities, or heavily physical, such as sports; and it isn’t much fun.”

Deliberate practice separates the amateurs from the professionals in any field.  The amateurs, practicing the skills that they competent and comfortable with, while the professionals working at the limits of their skills, pushing to failure, in an effort to move their mastery of skills past their current competence and comfort levels.  Only through pushing past ones comfort zones, will one improve the level of skills.  Few, are willing to consistently endure the failures inherent in a properly running PDCA, because deliberate practice demands a level of focus and endurance, needing a high pain tolerance.  Colvin writes on the importance of pushing past he comfort zone in deliberate practice:

“. . , great performers never allow themselves to reach the automatic, arrested-development stage in their chosen field.  That is the effect of continual deliberate practice – avoiding automaticity. The essence of practice, which is constantly trying to do the things one cannot do comfortably, makes automatic behavior impossible. . . . Avoiding automaticity through continual practice is another way of saying that great performers are always getting better.”

This is why hard work is so important, when the going gets tough, the tough get going.  Knowing why one is willing to endure the hardships of growth is essential to success.  Success is available to anyone reading this, but make no mistake, the success process will reveal what’s inside of you.  Winners will choose to get better, whiners will choose to get bitter.  Success isn’t easy, but then again, neither is failure.  If we are going to struggle either way, let’s struggle in the attainment of excellence, not existence.  One must work hard, accepting no excuses, focusing on the long-term dreams, enduring the pain in the personal growth process, but the rewards are well worth the effort.  Rewards, that go way beyond the financial, and into the satisfaction obtained when one knows that he truly did his personal best in a worthy cause, allowing one to look in the mirror and see a winner staring back at him.  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

When each of the five attitude enhancers, along with adding a strength of will, is applied to life, one develops a strong emotional intelligence quotient.  All of us have heard of IQ – Intelligence Quotient, but only a few of us have heard of EQ – Emotional Quotient.  When it comes to success, EQ is more important than IQ.  The world is full of unsuccessful people who have a high IQ, but when a person develops high EQ, doors are opened for them.  EQ is the ability to maintain your cool while others around you are losing theirs, a grace under pressure.  EQ requires proper communication between the emotional and the rational centers of the brain.  The physical pathway of the senses into the brain travel through the spinal cord to the back of the brain, moving into the center limbic system (where you feel), finally moving to the front rational system (where you think).  Since all senses go through the feeling limbic portion before the rational brain, it’s easy to respond emotionally without allowing yourself time to rationally develop the proper response. Look at the top NFL quarterbacks over the years, the Staubachs, Elways, and Montanas, all of them had EQ, a poise and confidence in their abilities, even with time running out and the game on the line, each responded with his entire brain, not just with emotional feelings.  Without EQ, people succumb to pressures, blaming others, and blowing up, creating chaos along with lack of results.  Every world class leader must have EQ, thinking through situations, even when others start to panic, since panic is not a good strategy.  EQ begins with having a good attitude, but it move beyond it.  EQ includes a strength of will that stands strong regardless of the situation, a strength of mind that forces the brain to think instead of entering ‘fight or flight’ mode.  

The greatest athletes and leaders all have a poise about them that strengthens the resolve of all of those following the leader.  No great achievement can be fulfilled without leaders of great attitude and great EQ.  The good news is that EQ, like a muscle, can be developed by placing oneself in increasing pressure situations over time.  Having a leader with high EQ is essential for others to learn from his or her poise on how to maintain composure even when others are losing theirs.  At the start of leadership, everyone will fail in EQ in different situations, but over time, one learns to develop the internal fortitude to control one’s emotions, rather than have the emotions control them.  Never let them see you sweat is a key principle in EQ based leadership.  Teammates will rally behind the EQ of the leader, developing a confidence that the leader will see them through. Conversely, if the leader lacks EQ, the team will panic, each one attempting to save his own skin, leaving the team and the team’s goals in shambles.  Attitude plus poise, plus strength of will, equals emotional intelligence quotient and every great leader must develop a high EQ.  Remember, it’s not what happens to great leaders that counts as much as how great leaders handle what happens to them.

The story of Phineas Gage, as shared in the must read, Emotional Intelligence Quick Book, was instrumental in helping psychologist understand the workings of the mind.  Here is a quick summary of his story.  Gage was a supervisor of a railroad crew, considered one of the best, for punctual work and leadership skills.  In an on the job accident, while tamping gunpowder into a blasting hole, the gunpowder exploded, sending a 43 inch long tamping iron of a full one and a quarter inches diameter through the frontal lobe of Gage’s brain. Amazingly, Gage lived to tell the story!  It was a miracle that he lived to tell the story, but very quickly, others realized that he wasn’t the same man.  Instead of his famed emotional control and leadership, Gage now lost his temper quickly, becoming emotionally unstable at the slightest provocation.  He would curse like a sailor under stress, creating tension and chaos among his crew, responding to challenges radically different than his previous leadership style.  He went from being one of the best of crew leaders to being unemployed, simply because of his lack of emotional intelligence.  Gage, unlike us, had an excuse, he literally lacked the frontal lobe where reasoning took place.  Meaning it was physically impossible for him to reason through his feelings, but the many EQ impaired people in life, do not have the same physical excuse.  EQ is a simply a choice.  A choice to slow down and think through the issues before reacting with feelings only.  Yes, the senses will hit the ‘feeling’ part of the brain first, but with patience, one can wait for the senses to hit the ‘reasoning’ part also, responding with the whole brain in a high EQ style.  Leaders refuse to react to the emotional stimulus only, but choose a response after feeling and thinking, in other words, with a high emotional intelligence quotient.

How many times have we witnessed people lose their cool, at work, at the airport, or during a sports contest, naming just a few?  Is this type of behavior drawing people towards the potential leader or repelling them?  No one enjoys spending time with a hot-head anymore than one enjoys walking on pins and needles.  People build friendships with people who have predictable behaviors.  Meaning, its hard to be friends with someone who will hug you one day, and hit you the next.  People with low EQ, having not mastered their own emotions; therefore, they cannot lead themselves, let alone, lead others.  All great victories in life begin with a victory over self.  What happens when pressure builds in your life?  How do you respond to the stress?  If you don’t like the answers, welcome to the club, but the good news is that you can change.  Before reacting to the stress emotionally, take a deep breath, forcing the mind to be still until one has time to reflect rationally, responding to the situation like a leader.  It will take practice, but the results are well worth the investment.  When a person lifts his EQ, it has the opposite effect from Phineas Gage.  Gage lost his EQ, when his lost that portion of his brain, but we can gain EQ, by gaining the functionality of this portion of our brains through patient practice.  It almost as if we gained an extra portion of brain matter, since it was practically unused. Learning to respond with EQ is one of the biggest changes in a person’s leadership journey, quickly noticeable to those following your leadership.

Great leaders must develop great EQ, exercising their emotional and rational brains repeatedly, creating mature responses in all leadership situations.  An improved EQ leads to a greater level of respect and admiration from the community following ones leadership trail.  Success is in your daily habits.  Each of us must build our habits by our daily responses, but eventually, our habits will build or break us.  What seeds are being planted in your garden?  What weeds, some that have grown for years, need to be pulled today, in order to provide fertile soil for the twelve resolutions for success?  Success is a personal choice, just as failure is a personal choice, because only the gardener can tend to his personal garden.  Every garden leads to an abundant harvest, the only question being, whether the garden harvest fruits or weeds. God Bless, Orrin Woodward

Imagine your brain as a garden and you as the gardener.  What do you allow to grow in the fertile soil of your brain?  Ideas have consequences in a person’s life, much like plants produce fruit in a garden.  The key question is what fruit is being harvested from the plants growing in your garden?  Better yet, what type of plants are growing in your garden, as the fruit always follows from the plant.  For example, if you plant corn, you will harvest corn.  Likewise, if you plant weeds, more weeds will sprout up, choking off the soil from any productive fruit.  A person’s attitude is a product of the fruit in the ideas percolating in his mind.  A positive attitude results when positive ideas are cultivated in one’s brain.  A negative attitude is the result when weeds choke off all, or nearly all, the brain’s thinking soil.  Attitude is a choice, being the ability to choose the proper response consistently, no matter what the stimulus.  It’s not what happens to you in life that matters as much as how you respond to what happens to you.  No one can plant weeds in your garden without your permission, but sadly, most people are not tending the garden; therefore, weeds grows as a matter of course through the associations they have in life.

The typical person, before learning of his gardening responsibilities for his mind, allows seeds to be scattered around at will.  From the radio, television, friends, co-workers, and family, one is bombarded with seeds, many of them destructive, without understanding the importance of a positive attitude in the success process.  Most people allow life to plant any seeds in their garden, producing whatever results the seeds create.  Sadly, this surrenders the results of life to ones surroundings, rather than to ones choices.  Attitudes in life determines the altitudes of life.  When one decides to move on, one must assume the responsibility to tend his garden, pulling weeds daily, while nurturing the proper fruit producing ideas.  Why is it easier to have ‘stinking thinking’ than it is to have positive thinking?  It’s the same answer as to why it’s easier to have weeds grow in a garden, than it is to have fruit.  We didn’t make the rules of the game of life, but we must learn to apply the rules in our favor to win in the game.

Most people when they fail at a task, quickly develop coping mechanisms like blaming, excuse making, etc, to lessen the pain of defeat.  But people with a positive attitude know that a temporary defeat is only another lesson on how not to win.  Thomas Edison was asked how he failed hundreds of times on his way to discovering the incandescent light bulb.  His answer should be learned by all potential achievers.  Edison said that he hadn’t failed hundreds of times, but actually had successfully learned hundreds of ways that it wouldn’t work.  Failure is never final to a person with a good attitude.  All winners discipline their thinking to ensure that the failures in life are merely stepping stones to further advancements.  Failure is an event, not a person, but without a winners thought process, people will label themselves failures, instead of the event as a failure.  No one has to be a failure in life, but all of us will go through failure events.  Whether we ultimately succeed or fail, has much to do with our perspectives on failures.  Winston Churchill, a man with a stellar attitude, said, “Success is going from one failure to another with no loss in enthusiasm.”

There are five key concepts to tending your mental garden, allowing the right attitudes to prosper while choking out the ‘stinking thinking.’  The first key idea is to develop a thankful spirit.  One won’t find a negative person who has a thankful attitude, conversely, one won’t find a positive person who isn’t thankful.  What are you thankful for in your life?  This may be hard at first, especially if one has nurtured bitterness and resentment in the garden, but it’s essential to develop thankfulness, helping to pull the weeds in from the garden.  It reminds me of the story of a man griping because he had no shoes, until he saw another man who had no feet.  Many times, thankfulness is a matter of perspective, one can easily identify things that are not going right in life, but attitude is helped by focusing on the blessings, empowering further improvement.   Bitterness and resentment is like drinking poison, expecting someone else to die.  Pull the weeds of bitterness and resentment from ones heart.  Let it go, as one cannot get better until bitterness is released.

There’s a humorous story told to two young brothers.  One terminally a positive spirit, the other, oppositely, a negative spirit.  No amount of lecturing by the parents seemed to change the young boys attitudes. The parents, well to do business owners, decided to run a test, wanting to see if they could affect the attitudes of the two young boys.  At Christmas time, the parents filled one room with games, toys, and nearly any gift a young boy could desire.  In another room, the parents loaded a wheelbarrow full of horse manure. On Christmas morning, the parents opened up the room with all the toys, allowing both boys to see into the room, but only letting the negative child enter.  Not surprisingly, the child played for a while, and then, complaining that he couldn’t find all of the toys that he wanted, sat in the corner pouting. Instead of recognizing all of the gifts that he received, he focused on the few things that he still lacked, robbing him of the joy in life.  The parents, with the positive child in tow, headed to the other room with the horse manure, opening up the door and letting the positive boy enter.  Right away the boy enthusiastically ran around the room, searching frantically, looking for something.  After watching this for several minutes, the parents asked him why he was so excited. The boy, looking up at his parents with a twinkle in his eye replied, “With this much horse manure, I’m sure the a pony in here somewhere!”  The young boy had an attitude, an attitude that each one of can choose on a daily basis.

The second key to a healthy attitude is to guard your associations.  There is an old souther saying, “If you hang out with dogs, you get fleas.”  Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying to disassociate with your family, but I am suggesting to set some ground rules in the relationship, ensuring bad seeds are not scattered.  The space in your brain is too precious to be filled with weeds, yielding only more weeds in a person’s life.  Tell me who a person associates with, and I will tell you the persons attitudes.  Birds of a feather flock together.  When people assume the gardeners position over their brain, what and who can scatter seeds into their garden becomes of utmost importance.  Since associations do influence us, it’s critical to ensure the associations are influencing our attitudes in a positive direction.  One cannot hang out with upbeat, forward looking, moving on people without developing an upbeat, forward looking, moving on attitude.  Conversely, one cannot hang out with negative, bitter, resentful, complaining, critical spirited people without becoming negative, bitter, resentful, complaining, and critical spirited oneself.  I started over seventeen years ago with a personal commitment to read at least three personal development books per month, listen to two to three (if not more) personal development CDs per day, and to attend as many personal development seminars as I possibly could.  I knew that it was my stinking thinking that had created the poor results in my life and that it would take improved thinking to improve my results.  Like the Bible states, “Iron sharpens iron.”  If I wanted to develop a positive attitude, then I needed to surround myself with other positive attitudes.

The third key to a healthy attitude is to focus on serving others.  When one is serving others, it helps in providing a greater perspective on ones own challenges.  Self centered people are so wrapped up in themselves, that they cannot see, let alone serve, the hurting people around them. Predictably, self centered people have attitude issues, because they are internally focused, all their issues become magnified, having no comparison to another’s troubles. Serving others is one of the best ways to maintain a positive attitude, lightening your own load by lightening others loads.  In the process, one develops friendships and perspectives that provide true lasting joy.  One cannot help another without feeling better about ones self.  This is a principle of life, neglected by many, but a key factor in all healthy attitudes.  Attitude is a choice, a choice to magnify the good in life.  Attitude is not pollyanna, not ignoring negatives, but simply focusing on the empowering thoughts that will help you persevere through the negatives in life.  By serving others through their challenges, it gives strength and encouragement when facing your own.

The fourth key idea in maintaining a positive attitude is to stay active.  An idle mind and hands are the devil’s workshop.  Pick a path and start working.  Human beings were made to work, and find contentment in a job well done.  When one is truly pursuing a noble objective, one is happier and finds the good in life.  But, when one is idle, having too much time on his hands, one can start nitpicking others, nitpicking life, developing a critical condemning spirit.  Put your hand to the plow and don’t look back.  If you cannot find anything to do, then find someone else that you can help, working for them.  I would rather work, read, think, and learn for free, rather than get paid to be idle. The toughest times in my own life have always been a result of self centeredness, and a corresponding lack of productivity.  I’ve had to discipline myself to keep my focus on others, enjoying the process of productive work.  So many people, have been fooled by the lie, that, if they won the lottery, quitting their job, and focusing only on their own happiness, that life would be complete.  I can assure you, that life is complete only when you are aiding in the completion of other lives.  Working hard in a worthy cause, completes yourself through helping to complete others.  Remaining idle is a recipe for physical and mental disaster.

Lastly, the people with the most consistent, positive attitudes are people with a purpose.  Victor Frankl, author of Man’s Search for Meaning, described that our mission in life wasn’t invented more than it was detected.  Each of us was created for a purpose, but until we start serving and learning, it’s not going hit us upside the head while watching television.  One must get out into the world, focusing on serving others, detecting the purposes and joy created when making a difference in others lives.  I believe that human beings were made in the image of God, having incredible gifts and talents, that we are created an original, like no other human being in the history of the world.  Our lives have meaning and purpose, detecting that purpose, producing results, and sharing with our gifts with others in need, is the goal of every life well lived.  Life is a gift given from above, what a shame that most of us give it back unopened.  The goal of this book is to help provide the hunger in you to open your gift of life and share the fruits of it with the world. God Bless, Orrin Woodward

Are you applying the Three Levels of Motivation into your business or company?  You cannot force people to do what you want, making them feel like your business is a scam, but you can help people get what they want.  Listen in as Chris Brady and I discuss the concept from our WSJ Best Seller, Launching a Leadership Revolution. God Bless, Orrin Woodward

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Here is a video where Chris Brady and I share some of the secrets to improving your leadership.  The Tri-Lateral Leadership Ledger is discussed in detail in our best selling book Launching a Leadership Revolution.  Enjoy. God Bless, Orrin Woodward

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Imagine buying a classic Porsche 911, a luxury 2-door sports coupe made in Stuttgart, Germany. As one studies the distinctive design, the powerful rear engine, the independent rear suspension, and swing axle, one is filled with awe at the engineering masterpiece.  As the new owner, one decides handle with care, ensuring nothing but the best for the classic car.  When people buy cars of this caliber, they go the extra mile in taking care of their new possession, requiring garages, premium gas, planned maintenance, and special parking to avoid other cars who may ‘ding’ your masterpiece.  None of this is out of line, per say, but to the extent that people carry the care for their automobile, as compared to the lack of care, most people have of their true masterpiece, their brain, it does seem peculiar.  How can a car be considered more worthy of care than a person’s brain, since one is replaceable, the other is not.  I love fancy cars as much as the next person, being an engineer by training, but the mind of any healthy human being is exponentially more valuable than any car ever produced.

The brain is capable of mental gymnastics beyond the most powerful computer ever designed.  It can assimilate data into working models of life, identifying similarities in multitudes of disparate data points, finding patterns where chaos seemed to reign.  Even something as simple as language to the mind is extremely difficult for a computer to recognize as the mind quickly determines the meaning based upon emphasis of words or syllables, where the computer is lost.  Engineers have worked for decades attempting to re-create, what so many people take for granted; the one of a kind ability of the human brain to collect, sort, recognize patterns, make predictions, and produce results.  Billions of dollars have been invested to manufacturer a computer like the brain that everyone is born with, and engineers are not even close to replicating the power, scope and magnitude we are all given at birth. With such an incredible asset, why is it, that people treat their brains so nonchalantly, when it is, by far, the most important gift God has given them at birth?  When studying the mass of humanity, one notices that few will do the routine maintenance necessary for the proper working of their brain; few will feed their brain only the best thoughts; and fewer still, will exercise their mind towards a goal or dream.  We are born to win, but learn to lose. Henry David Thoreau wrote, “Most men lead lives of quiet desperation.”  Having a brain with the power to accomplish nearly anything, with the ability to change your circumstances when programmed properly, but choosing not to take responsibility for the implementation, is a plan for failure and the subsequent quiet desperation ensues.

Any veteran computer programmer knows that ‘garbage in’ equals ‘garbage out,’ meaning the outputs are only as good as the inputs.  If this is true for a computer, then it is much more true for one’s brain.  The brain is beyond the Porsche 911 of computers and needs to be treated as such.  Every person is responsible for the upkeep of his prized possession.  Sadly, most are failing in their responsibility, feeding their brains a steady diet of junk thinking, mixed messaging, and doubt filled programming.  If I poured water into the Porsche, thinking that the superior design will overcome my poor behaviors, what chance do I have of driving successfully to my destination?  It’s the same principle with one’s brain.  If one pours improper programming into one’s mind, what chance of success does one have?  Regardless of the beautiful, literally priceless design, the brain is only as good as the source code fed to it.  The good news is that when a person takes responsibility for the source code, deleting the garbage, replacing with the good, the results produced can change dramatically in a short amount of time.  Since ‘garbage in’ equals ‘garbage out,’ perhaps it’s time to take responsibility for what one is feeding his brain.

If one does not program his brain with the source code for success, others will gladly program his brain with their planned programs.  For example, advertisers spend billions per year with the specific intent to program your mind to desire the products that they have to offer.  Maybe one needs them, maybe one doesn’t, but when one surrenders the programming of his mind to someone else, one also surrenders the leadership of his life to another.  Like the old saying goes, “When in charge, take command.”  You are in charge of your life, you are in charge of your brain, take command of the programming to produce the results you desire in life, not what the advertisers desire, or what your boss plan for your life is, or what your environment predicts for your life.  One of the greatest breakthroughs that you will experience on your success journey, is the realization, that you can accomplish nearly anything that you are willing to design into the source code programming inside of your brain.  Ideas have consequences in life, and the ideas that your brain feeds upon, on a daily basis, will produce fruit.  Whether it is good fruit or rotten fruit is up to the programmer, meaning it’s up to you.

What is the correct source code for success principles, producing the results one desires in life?  I believe that there are twelve source code principles, that, if implemented, can produce results beyond most people’s current power of imagination.  Let me give you just a few examples that I have witnessed first hand, watching the person change before my eyes as they implemented the new source code of success, the new operating system for their minds.  I could write a whole book on people’s stories that I have had the pleasure to view first hand, but I will share just a couple to give an example of the amazing power of the changes possible when one changes the source code of the mind.  The following stories are true, each having gone through the discipline of re-programming their minds to produce different results in their lives.  I share these stories, not only to shed light on the idea that one can change, and, not only to recognize the courageous individuals who stepped up to the plate and changed, but also to help the readers understand the joy of making the changes and winning in life. Success can be painful temporarily, as one makes the programming changes, but failure is painful permanently.  As you read these examples, realize, that they are no different than you; they had dreams; they had fears; they had hopes; they had struggles; they had defeats, and they ultimately had victories, overcoming their original poor source code programming.  The same success journey is available to you.

The first couple was over one hundred thousand dollars in consumer debt outside of their mortgage.  Through improper thinking (source code) on finances, this couple habitually overspent, spending money on things not necessary to live, even when massively in debt. They racked up a debt that consumed most of their discretionary money through interest payments and were in bondage through stress engendered from poor behaviors.  With little money remaining, but habits (source codes) that still desired the finer things, this couple proceeded to go further and further into debt.  People will only change for two reasons – the pain or pleasure associated with the change.  When the pain of staying the same becomes too great, people will change.  When the pleasure of a new condition becomes big enough, people will move in the desired direction.  In this case, the pain of staying the same drove this couple to change.  The young man sat down and reviewed all of his bills, laying out each credit card before him, studying each bank loan, car loan, and credit line, until he broke down inside, finally, admitting that it was his thoughts had led to the actions, which had led to the poor financial results.  By implementing the source code changes discussed in this book, the couple transformed their finances, from over a hundred thousand dollars of consumer debt, into a debt free life, enjoying the finer things on a cash lifestyle.  Financial debt can be crippling, but one can use that pain to drive the programming changes producing future victories.  By applying the goal setting principles to their finances, the couple changed their source codes, and thus, their financial destinies.

The second couple allowed fear to control them.  The man being so fearful of people, that he refused to hand out candy at Halloween trick or treating, begging his wife to do the ‘fearful’ activity.  Fear isn’t rational, but it can hold one back from greatness, until one is ready to rewrite the source code.  Action conquer fears or fears will conquer actions.  This young couple decided to act towards their dreams, focusing, not on the fears, but on the future reality imagined in their dreams.  Today this couple speaks in front of thousands of people, inspiring others by their courageous lives, leading others to make the programming changes, creating lives of their dreams, not of their dreads. If one will practice the correct skills, acting out the skills in life, one can conquer nearly any fear, creating the results through facing one’s fears.  This couple went from a mechanic and day care provider to one of the most inspirational speakers and leaders, taking charge of the mental programming in their minds.  From a fearful existence, laden with debt, this couple now lives debt free, and fear free, chasing dreams not even imaginable, when fear controlled their lives.  This is the power of the source code of success in one’s life.

The third example is a young couple who started on the wrong side of the tracks. He, started in the inner city ghetto culture.  Raised by his mother, in a single parent home, he quickly learned the street smarts to survive.  Accepting no excuses from himself, he made paid his way through college while working, but knew he wasn’t fulfilling his potential.  She, was a single mom, having had a baby shortly after high school, her association prohibited her from achieving the potential she had inside of her.  When these two met, they both had dreams, but both had to change their associations and internal labels.  By developing the source code explained in this book, this young couple has accomplished in the less than a decade, more than most will achieve their entire lives.  They recently moved into an 8,000 plus square foot house, with a pool, pool clubhouse, pergola, a thirty person fire pit, and many other amenities.  Through the courage to delete the ‘garbage in’ and replacing the a new source code (good stuff in), this couple has radically transformed their lives.

I shared the above example to help you understand the extent of the changes possible when you take control of the programming coming in to your masterpiece mind. The fourth example, the one most important to you, is still being written, because it’s your example.  What dreams do you have?  What fears do you have?  What temporary sacrifices are you willing to make to rid yourself of the bondage of debts and fear and improper thinking?  Each story is different, but all have an essential pattern of the dream, the struggle and the victory.  Your story must start with a dream, a dream that drives you to change, even though its uncomfortable.  The dream drives you to make the changes, creating the momentum necessary to break the old programming and replace with a better, more productive source code.  Dreams are great, but every dream is birthed amidst struggles.  If you aren’t struggling then you aren’t dreaming big enough.  Big dreams require big struggles, but they are so worth it, not just for the accomplishment of the dream, but even more so, for who you become in the process of achieving that dream.  One will find, than in life, real success is not in the material things, but in the better person created along the journey to success.  Your story will have a dream, it will have a struggle, and it will have a victory through your willingness to change and grow.  Dream, struggle, victory, this is the process for re-writing the source code and developing a game plan to create success in any area of your life.

Let’s examine the twelve source code changes necessary to re-program the mind for success.  The source codes are pre-suppositions of life that help create a success minded world-view, a world-view that helps you see opportunities in every challenge versus the challenges that most see in every opportunity.  Here is the twelve source codes for success:

1. Learn to feed you sub-conscious along with your conscious mind.
2. Decide that character is more important than reputation.
3. Learn that attitude determines your altitude.
4. Learn that failure to plan is a plan for failure.
5. Learn that talent is a gift, but work ethic is a choice.
6. Learn to keep score of the results in the game of life.
7. Develop the art of leading people.
8. Learn that individuals grow, but teams explode.
9. Learn the secrets of emotional intelligence.
10. Develop the art and skills of conflict resolution.
11. Learn to confront the brutal reality.
12. Create a legacy, when you are blessed, be a blessing.

Learning and developing the twelve crucial source code changes will produce results, happiness, and a sense of fulfillment in life, giving one the opportunity to spend most of his time sharing the source codes of success with others.  If you are blessed in life, the Good Book teaches one to be a blessing to others.  The purpose of this book is to pay the blessings in my life forward to others by sharing the source code for success.  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

Alright, I am going to go light on everyone day.  After, some lengthy tomes, violating nearly every rule of blogging, I want to post on my good friend, Chris Brady, and his top selling book Rascals.  The book has received rave reviews from many corners which doesn’t shock me in the least.  Chris has captured the importance of living an original life.  I love the saying, “You were born an original, don’t die a copy.”  On this Sunday, contemplate your original gifts, contemplate the wonderful opportunity to live free, and ponder what part you are to play in keeping the world free.  If you need some help in thinking about what freedom means, that yearning to follow the road less traveled, then I cannot recommend anything greater to you than reading Brady’s book, Rascals.  The book will challenge you to fulfill your purpose and strive for something more than a 9 to 5 life.  While you are picking up the book, let me offer you a glimpse of a Rascal that I saw on a YouTube video recently.  My son, Jordan, told me that I had to see this video and I laughed out loud as I saw a Rascal enjoying life and doing what he was called to do!  Are you following your dream?  Are you a Rascal?  Pick up Brady’s book and take the self test in the book to see how you score.  Enjoy the video of the drummer Rascal!  God Bless, Orrin Woodward
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RXLPveilqo8&w=480&h=385]

Andrew Jackson, when right or when wrong, was always a man of strong convictions, willing to stand by his principles even when it hurt him personally to do so. It takes character to stand by one’s convictions, especially when a financial motive is offered to tempt one to ignore them.  Character is the ability to follow true principles because they are true principles, regardless of the financial consequences involved.  In today’s ‘situational ethics’ society, principles are twisted to justify nearly any activity, tossing character aside into the dustbin of history.  Much could be learned by studying the courageous stand made by Andrew Jackson against the ‘moneyed interest’ during the re-charter debates for the Second National Bank.  Reading this history makes one yearn to find leaders of conviction to revive America, and the world, out of the moral relativity currently poisoning our society.  Let’s review the historic battle between Jackson and the Second National Bank, learning the lessons of character and conviction so necessary for today world.

Jackson resided in the thriving American West, witnessing first hand the dire effects of inflationary banking policies in the western land prices.  Jackson learned the salutary lesson of hard money (gold and silver coins) vs. the prevalent paper based inflationary policies loved by bankers and wealthy merchants.  Inflationary methods allowed banks to print paper, pretending the paper had value, even thought it wasn’t backed by gold or silver.  Without a check on the banks, like requiring banks to submit gold for paper dollars when requested, one can easily see how banks would fall into the trap of printing more paper than could possibly be redeemed on demand.  Profits for banks can increase greatly in the short term by interest collected on nothing more than paper, causing more money to flow into the marketplace which raises the prices of consumer goods as more printed dollars are available.  The splurge of printed money only corrects  itself when consumers become aware of the inflationary policies of banks, quickly requesting gold for their inflated paper dollars before the banks runs out their reserves.  In theory, paper money should be a promissory note, representing gold, but easier to carry on one’s person.  The minute the promissory note is not backed by real value (gold, silver etc), it becomes fraudulent with the bank benefitting by printing monopoly money at the expense of all consumers who now own dollars less valuable than before the fraudulent activity. For example, if we doubled the amount of dollars in circulation today, giving everyone twice as much money as they have currently, each dollar would quickly fall to half of its former value, prices would rise as each person’s dollars bid up the prices in an attempt to purchase the means for living.  Printing money does not produce wealth, but it can benefit the few at the expense of the many, a temptation too lucrative to be left in the hands of government politicians and their wealthy patrons.

When Jackson was elected President of the United States, one of his missions was to end the syndicate of control over America’s money supply by three power hungry groups: foreign interests, big business, and big politicians.  Jackson believed that banks ought to run like any other businesses, having to sink or swim based upon their own business acumen, needing reserves to secure their loans provided.  But when a national bank receives the protection of the federal government to ensure its solvency, this is no longer free enterprise, but a form of fascism, where government and business partner, reducing competition amongst banks, and increasing the cost of the entire system.  It would be similar to all automotive companies agreeing to fix prices on cars, certainly improving the profits for manufacturers, while decreasing the downside risk of the manufacturers, all of this, at the expense of the customers.  The Second National Bank received the deposits of the America, ensuring its solvency, providing a special deal for the bank and its investors at the expense of other banks and all customers.  Nicholas Biddle, the president of the Second National Bank, was not alarmed, at first, with Jacksons rhetoric, having heard many politicians boast of drastic changes when entering office, only to conform into the system when elected.  But Jackson character was different, his campaign promises before aligned with his actions after election, necessitating a showdown between the President and the money interest behind the Bank.

Biddle, President of the Second National bank, a scion of a high society Philadelphia family, did not like the rough and tumble behavior of the American political process, preferring to do his work behind the scenes. Jackson, on the other hand, loved the volatile political process and was elected by the populist vote throughout America.  No two people better contrasted the opposing currents in the American stream of consciousness: the first, an equal opportunity for all proponent; the second, wealth and privilege for the few proponent. Jackson shared his disdain for the Bank in his first Presidential message saying, “Both the constitutionality and the expediency of the law creating this bank are well questioned by a large portion of our fellow citizens, and it must be admitted by all that it has failed in the great end of establishing an uniform and sound currency.”  Biddle, not concerned, responded to Jackson’s message with a cool indifference, writing of Jackson, “They should be treated as the honest though erroneous notions of one who intends well.”  Biddle, simply put, did not believe that Jackson had the character and fortitude to fight, let alone win, against the moneyed interest firmly entrenched in America’s political system.  Biddle would soon repent of this mistaken belief.

After confirming Jackson’s intention to not renew the Bank’s charter, Biddle rallied his political forces, including Henry Clay and Daniel Webster, deciding to re-charter the Bank in Jackson’s first term, instead of the waiting until the charter ran out at the end of Jackson’s second term.  The goal being to force Jackson’s hand, since, desiring to be re-elected, Jackson, the money interest believed, would not risk his re-election on the Bank’s charter. But not for the last time,  the Biddle and his crew, underestimated the character of Jackson.  The Bank Bill, with the help of Clay and Webster, quickly passed through both houses, leaving Jackson with a fight or flee choice on his veto decision.  Most people would have simply bowed to the powerful money interest, maintaining their prestige and electability, but Jackson was not like most people.  In a historic veto address, Jackson declared war on the wealthy aristocracy attempting to subvert the American Republic.  His veto address should be read by all Americans who love freedom and equal opportunity for all.  Let me share a small portion of this powerful address:

“It is to be regretted that the rich and powerful too often bend the acts of government to their selfish purposes. Distinctions in society will always exist under every just government. Equality of talents, of education, or of wealth can not be produced by human institutions. In the full enjoyment of the gifts of Heaven and the fruits of superior industry, economy, and virtue, every man is equally entitled to protection by law; but when the laws undertake to add to these natural and just advantages artificial distinctions, to grant titles, gratuities, and exclusive privileges, to make the rich richer and the potent more powerful, the humble members of society-the farmers, mechanics, and laborers-who have neither the time nor the means of securing like favors to themselves, have a right to complain of the injustice of their Government. There are no necessary evils in government. Its evils exist only in its abuses. If it would confine itself to equal protection, and as Heaven does its rains, shower its favors alike on the high and the low, the rich and the poor, it would be an unqualified blessing.”

With this shot across the broadsides of the financial elite, a shot that could not go unanswered, especially when delivered by the sitting President of the United States, the elites turned on all of their political weapons.  Biddle realized, finally, that Jackson could not be bought, bullied or bs’ed.  Jackson, having studied the effects of paper money for years, especially the South Sea Bubble debacle of the 18th century, knew more about currency than many of his Eastern elites opposing him, understanding that paper money, not backed by hard currency, was a fraud upon the people.  Biddle, on the other hand, suffered no scruples in issuing propaganda articles in support of his Bank against the interest of the people, even using his money to influence, dare I say bribe, editors to run articles in a move to win the people to his side.  He wrote a letter to one editor, “If you will cause the articles I have indicated and others which I may prepare to be inserted in the newspaper in question, I will at once pay to you one thousand dollars.”  A thousand dollars at that time is equivalent to nearly twenty-five thousand today, certainly enough money to buy the principles of all but the editors of the highest character.  Actions like this only confirmed to Jackson his belief in the unhealthy influence of the Bank, not only with politicians, but also the press, leaving our republican political process in a sad state.  Remember, money and power are only two sides of the same coin. Where money gathers, power is soon to follow; where power gathers, money is soon to follow.

Biddle, not to be denied, declared war on Jackson in response to Jackson war on the Bank.  One of the Bank’s most virulent supporters, a man who could name his price, was Daniel Webster, the famed lawyer and politician from New England.  Even though Webster, originally, had opposed the Banks charter, he found Bank religion when Biddle offered a healthy retainer, helping Webster repent of his previous views.  In the midst of the re-charter controversy, Webster wrote the following missive to Biddle, “ I believe my retainer has not been renewed or refreshed as usual. If it be wished that my relation to the Bank should be continued, it may be well to send me the usual retainers.”  Webster, along with Henry Clay, were more than happy to support the financial elite structure as long as perks and recognition flowed to themselves in this Faustian bargain.  Webster launched a vociferous attack on the policies of Jackson, blasting his veto measure of the Bank.  Biddle had bought some of the best names in Congress to oppose Jackson, forcing consternation among many of Jackson supporters, requesting him to yield on the Bank issue to maintain decorum in the government.  On top of that, Jackson’s popularity suffered greatly by the spewed propaganda unleashed by editors congenial to the financial largesse offered by Biddle for diatribes against Jackson’s policy.

With the political forces in Congress assembled against him, with the editors of the press greased for battle by the outpouring of dollars, Biddle still had one more ace up his sleeve.  He feared that Jackson’s would remove the Treasury deposits from the Bank, starving the bank of the money necessary to maintain its unique power base, saying to Webster, “They will not dare to remove them. If the deposits are withdrawn, it will be a declaration of war which cannot be recalled.”  Biddle launched a campaign of loan closures, calling in loans made from his Bank to many businesses across the country, causing financial panic and loud calls for Jackson’s submission to the Bank’s re-charter.  With banks collapsing across the country under Biddle financial flexing of his muscles, Jackson’s resolve to finish the war only strengthened, witnessing, first hand, the inordinate power that the Bank held over the economy.  Jackson believed that any power capable of causing a panic of this magnitude was not healthy for the freedoms of the American people.  He denounced the Bank’s action to his cabinet, “The Bank has by degrees obtained almost entire dominion over the circulating medium, and with it, power to increase or diminish the price of property and to levy taxes on the people in the shape of premiums and interest to an amount only limited by the quantity of paper currency it is enabled to issue.”  Jackson clearly understood the role that money interest can play in causing inflation and market bubbles, an understanding seemingly lost by today’s politicians with our Federal Reserve System.

In fact, H. W. Brands is his remarkable biography of Andrew Jackson writes of Biddle’s plan to buy off members Congress along with key influencers in Jackson’s administration, “In half an hour,” he boasted to an intimate, “I can remove all the constitutional scruples in the District of Columbia. Half a dozen presidencies” — of bank branches — “a dozen cashierships, fifty clerkships, a hundred directorships, to worthy friends who have no character and no money.”  Another example of Biddle’s intuitive understanding that money and power flock together, by gaining one, the other will follow as night follows day.  Biddle, even in the midst of the government’s withdrawal of Treasury Deposits, remained confident of his ultimate victory writing, “My own view of the matter is simply this…. The [instigators] of this last assault on the Bank regret and are alarmed by it. But the ties of party allegiance can only be broken by the actual conviction of existing distress in the community. Nothing but the evidence of suffering abroad [that is, in the country as a whole] will produce any effect in Congress.… This worthy President thinks that because he has scalped Indians and imprisoned judges, he is to have his way with the Bank. He is mistaken.”  The corrupting effects of power are evident throughout the thoughts, writings, and actions of Biddle at this stage of the war, sharing with another confidante, “My own course is decided, all other banks and all other merchants may break, but the Bank of the United States shall not break.”  Biddle literally believed that he, by causing suffering to America, could control the political leaders of our country, making politicians serfs to the whims of the financial elite.

Jackson stood his ground, eventually winning the war, though not without receiving many wounds along the way.  Re-elected in a landslide, Jackson proved that a person with convictions and character can stand his ground, regardless of the forces aligned against him.  At one point in the battle, Jackson told his Vice-President Martin Van Buren, “The Bank is trying to kill me.  But I will kill it.”  Jackson demonstrated the powerful effect that one man or woman, with the courage to stand strong, will eventually strengthen the spine of others who recognize the fight between right and wrong.  Character, like a lack of character, is contagious.  Anyone can say they have character, but character is not recognized in words, but only in deeds, especially when you will suffer for your convictions.  Jackson accomplished many things in his life, both militarily and politically.  He died a revered American patriot, but, in my opinion, his most courageous stand occurred in his battle against the Second National Bank. May all of us learn the lessons of courage and character from Andrew Jackson’s life. God Bless, Orrin Woodward

I have read thousands of books on successful people, on achievers with drive and tenacity, but one of my favorite entrepreneurs was a young man who grew up in Flint Michigan, by the name of William Durant. Billy Durant, the founder of, not only General Motors (GM), but also Buick and Chevrolet, was a classic case of serial entrepreneurship.  In my opinion, no life story represents the “can do” spirit of Free Enterprise any better than Durant’s, displaying the hopes and fears of the American Dream in all its glory.  His vision allowed him to bounce back after multiple setbacks, setbacks that would have demoralized a lesser person. Starting with nothing but vision and drive, Durant foresaw a world-wide automotive empire, founding Buick, Chevrolet, and Durant Motors, along with the automotive icon, GM.  Sadly, his story doesn’t have a happy ending financially, being forced to sell out his interest in GM to the Wall Street bankers in the early 1920’s; he lost his remaining fortune during the 1929 stock market crash, leaving him near penniless despite his creative genius. A key principle of life is to learn from both great successes and great failures, since many times, failure reveals the lessons better than success can. Being inspired by his dreams, humbled by his setbacks, and educated by his entrepreneurship, I have studied Durant’s life extensively, believing that Durant represents the power of vision better than any other entrepreneur.  It takes vision to sell the future, and Durant, many times, sold his vision without the benefit of money to back it up.  His life exemplifies the power of vision to create tomorrow’s reality.

I have read thousands of books on successful people, on achievers with drive and tenacity, but one of my favorite entrepreneurs was a young man who grew up in FlintDurant, in fact, actually lost GM twice during his entrepreneurial journeys.  The first time,  having built Buick into a major brand name and selling more cars than any other manufacturer, he pursued his brainchild of forming a trust to hold multiple car manufacturers into the formation of GM.  Taking the profits from Buick, he purchased Pontiac, Oldsmobile, and Cadillac, to name just a few of the successful manufacturers forming the nucleus of GM.  Over the next several years, Durant expanded his empire by selling the vision of GM to other automobiles manufacturers, offering to buy the companies in return for GM stock.  Several times, surprisingly, Durant nearly bought out Henry Ford by offering GM stock in return for bringing Ford Motors into the GM trust, but Ford demanded cash, not GM stock, in order to close the deal.  Henry Ford, not once, but twice agreed to terms to sell Ford to GM, ultimately, only maintaining ownership in Ford Motors because Durant missed raising the necessary cash by the time deadline, once by less than twenty-four hours.  The true Titan of the automobile industry, the true visionary that saw the automobiles meteoric future was the man from Flint, Michigan named Billy Durant, not Henry Ford as we typically learn in the history books.  Can you imagine the history of automobiles had Durant raised the money in time to bring Ford Motors into the GM fold?

As normally the case with huge leaders, Durant’s vision surpassed his financing. Early in the second decade of the twentieth century, during an economic downturn, the car market stalled, tightening cash flows throughout GM divisions. Durant ran out of money, having used all of his and his friends money reserves, forcing him to sell GM to a committee of bankers happy to buy GM at a bargain basement price.  For the majority of people, people without vision, a setback of this magnitude would have knocked them out, but Durant’s vision carried him forward, undaunted by his “failure.”  Acting quickly,  he started another manufacturer, teaming up with a little known (at the time) racer and mechanic by the name of Louis Chevrolet.  With Durant’s business savvy, Chevrolet zoomed to the top quickly, selling cars so fast that it became one of the top manufacturers, even surpassing many of the GM brands.  Meanwhile, the non-visionary group of bankers managing GM, risked little of their precious capital, playing it safe with the new automotive field.  The bankers were no match for the vision and drive of Durant; even though the bankers had plenty of money, they lacked the one irreplaceable factor – vision.  Parlaying his success at Chevrolet, Durant started swapping Chevrolet stock for GM stock with the intention of buying enough stock to wrest control of GM back from the ultra conservative bankers.  In 1916, Durant achieved his goal.  Walking into a GM board meeting, in front of the bankers who had bought his former company, Durant announced that he was now the majority shareholder of GM, proclaiming his desire merge GM with Chevrolet.  One can only imagine the shock and dismay when the bankers realized they had been outwitted by the local business man with world sized vision.  This is a testament to the power of vision as Durant rebounded from an ignominious defeat, having to sell GM to the bankers and turned it into glorious victory by building Chevrolet into a dynasty, buying back controlling interest in his beloved GM through Chevrolet’s success.  Durant refused to surrender his vision of the future for GM, regardless of the odds against him, displaying the power of vision to surmount any obstacles in one’s life.

Durant also developed the unique structure of GM, including centralized administration at GM corporate, but decentralized operations in the various companies under flying under the GM banner.  Understanding that talented people were essential to the success of GM, Durant, with his magnetic vision, drew strong leaders into the GM orbit.  Nearly all the top automotive men of the time either worked for GM, or like Ford, nearly did. In fact, Walter Chrysler, later the founder Chrysler Motors, worked for Durant for many years as the headman of Buick Motors, being paid over $100,000 per year to do so.  Other recognizable top names who worked with Durant were Charles Kettering, Alfred Sloan, along with many other less recognized notables. Durant’s strong vision attracted other visionaries, drawing many talented people into the automotive field and the opportunities arising throughout GM.  His vision included the strategy of selling cars to fit the customer’s budget.  From low end vehicles for first time buyers to luxury vehicles for the wealthier patrons, GM offered products for every customer’s financial situation, with the goal of becoming a one stop shop for automobiles for every customer.

Durant’s successful takeover of GM, however, did not go unnoticed by the Wall Street bankers.  The bankers were not happy that an upstart businessman had outfoxed them for control of GM, and subsequently, developed a comeback strategy of their own.  Selling millions of vehicles and expanding his company across the globe was Durant’s major objectives, but the bankers had another goal in mind for GM.  Knowing Durant’s loyalty to his business partners, partners who had helped him fund Chevrolet and the GM takeover, the bankers began a covert operation to reduce the GM stock price.  Even though GM was profitable, the stock price began to tumble as the bankers flooded the market with GM stock.  Durant, always loyal to his friends, literally purchased millions of dollars of GM stock, not because he needed more stock, but in an attempt to support the stock price, protecting his friends and fellow GM investors from financial harm.  The Wall Street bankers, knowing Durant’s loyalty to his fellow investors would play right into their hands, calmly drove the stock price down until Durant ran out of personal funds. Having over ten million of his own dollars invested (a huge sum even in todays inflated dollars), Durant was at the brink of bankruptcy.   Finally crying ‘Uncle”, Durant was forced to sell on the cheap to a syndicate consisting of J. P. Morgan, the Dupont family, John Raskob, along with other Wall Street bankers.  Durant was booted out of GM for the second time, receiving only nickels on the dollar in real value.  His failure was not a failure in business strategy, but a failure to conceive of the level of animosity generated by a successful entrepreneur bid to maintain control of his own company against the financial powers aligned against him.  Most people would have surrendered their dreams at this point, becoming bitter at the injustices received, but Durant was not like most people.  Instead of wallowing in his misery, having a pity party at his own expense, he quickly started a third automobile manufacturer, know simply as Durant Motors, creating his third successful brand in less than twenty-five years.  But as fate would have it, in 1929, he lost his remaining millions in the stock market crash leading into America’s Great Depression. Durant was left with no money, no company, and few prospects for the future, having reached retirement age financially insolvent.

Is it possible to endure a setback of this magnitude and get up again?  With a strong vision, a strong character and a never say die attitude, one can endure practically anything.  Clearly, to evaluate Durant honestly, as no one is perfect, one must agree that Durant would have benefitted from a more conservative friend to help ‘reality check’  some of Durant’s visions.  A good example that would have helped Durant is the the role that the conservative Bud Walton, Sam Walton’s brother, played for visionary founder of Wal-Mart.  With that said, , no one can discount the strength of Durant’s vision to overcome nearly any setback.  Perhaps Durant should have played it safe after going from broke to millionaire three times in his life, but that just wasn’t the way he played the game.  In his seventies and eighties, at a time when most people are settling down into retirement, Durant was hard at work again in two new fields.  In the late 1930‘s, he saw a bright future, this time in bowling alleys and fast food restaurants, serving the thriving suburbs created by mass use of automobiles.  It’s hard to imagine the entrepreneurial spirit inside of Durant, recognizing the upcoming fast food revolution over a decade before Ray Kroc of McDonald’s fame.  Only Durant’s failing health and eventual death in the mid 1940‘s ended his vision. By reading the life  and times of men and women like Durant, one can quickly see the difference that vision has in one’s life, creating the enthusiasm and staying power to endure and fulfill a dream.

There are many lessons to learn from Durant’s life, but let me share just a few.  First, he didn’t have the perfect upbringing, his dad leaving his mother when he was young, being raised by his mom on a minimal budget.  Durant knew that if he was going to make his dreams a reality, it would be from his own efforts and leadership, not from gifts of a rich dad or family.  Not only was he up to the task, but the challenge fired him with enthusiasm to do something great, ultimately creating the largest car company in the world for nearly a century.  Durant understood that it isn’t where you start in life, but how far you go that counts. It didn’t matter if he had to borrow money from a local Flint bank to get started in the horse carriage industry; it didn’t matter if he had to ditch the horse carriage business when automobiles were invented; it’s didn’t matter if he failed as long as his vision didn’t fail him.  It’s vision, not money, that is the true delineator in the quest for success.  Billy Durant’s life teaches us to never let lack of resources stop us from chasing our dreams.

Second, Durant saw a bright future for automobiles, seeing it earlier than others, dropping his carriage business to put all his energies into cars.  As early as 1910, long before most even had a car, he spoke of every household owning a car with road criss-crossing America, dreaming of super highways connecting each big city, providing better travel for all Americans.  This vision compelled him to work in the present to create the future.  Long before the founders of both Ford Motors and Chrysler Motors – Henry Ford and Walter Chrysler; Billy Durant led the field for the burgeoning automobile industry.  Many people have forgotten the name William Durant, replacing him with the legends of Henry Ford, Walter Chrysler, and Albert Sloan, but all of these great leaders merely followed the vision casts by the Titan of automobiles, Billy Durant.  Vision is the key to separate your current reality from your future dreams.  A young man, whose only asset was the power of his vision, accomplished greatness in a new field, symbolizing the dream available to all Americans with vision.  I encourage you to read the biographies of Billy Durant. Here is a superb summary by Clarence Young, a historian of the automobile industry, from the book by Lawrence R. Gustin on Billy Durant.  God Bless, Orrin Woodward

In the creation of the Mass
Production Age, Durant was not only the presiding genius; he was,
indeed, the Titan—and, as was the fate of the original Titans, he was
destroyed by the Olympians whom he had created.

 

It is almost poignant now to
tell the beads of carping criticism reiterated against Durant: He lacked
or ignored technical mastery . . . . . he was a good promoter, but no
administrator. . . .He had no organization. . . . He could not delegate
authority. . . . He made poor choices of executives. . . . He was a
promoter, a gambler. . . . He was wrong in believing in himself. . . .

 

It is completely true that W.
C. Durant had a weakness: He was human.  His humanity included love and
trust of his associates—the not-always-correct assumption that they were
as honorable as he.  He gave a degree and quality of loyalty to “his
people” beyond any measurement; he expected the same magnitude of
loyalty from them.

 

He surrendered the control of
General Motors in 1910 to preserve the company for its investors.  In
1920, his loyalty to his company and its stockholders drove him to spend
more money than he had preserving the value of the company’s name,
reputation, and stock.  As for his feckless choice of executives, he
hired and developed Charles W. Nash, Charles F. Kettering, Alfred P.
Sloan, (also Walter Chrysler and almost Henry Ford) and a few thousand others.

 

What was Durant? . . . . A
small-town boy from a broken home who had no advantages at all except
his own character.  With a borrowed $2000 he built up the largest
carriage company in the world.  With a debt-ridden, faltering motor
company, he created the world’s largest corporation, providing millions
of jobs all over the world in the past 65 years. (Over a 100 years now)

 

Small in stature, W. C. Durant
was larger than life in every aspect of his thought, spirit, and
practice.  He was, indeed, so much larger in concept that he made the
lesser men who surrounded him uncomfortable—he was unpredictable as an
elemental force of nature.

 

Durant was an original genius
who escapes classification and definition; he had an almost godlike
prescience; he had the creativity to translate his vision to reality,
not only for himself but for his fellow men.  He was compassionate,
gentle, charming, delightful, considerate, brilliant, generous,
ingenious, and infinitely loyal.

 

Mass production—the greatest
servant ever tamed to the uses of mankind—was still only an idea when
Durant grasped it.  He more than any other man, implemented this great
multiplier of goods and good for mankind.  He was, indeed, what Dickens
called, “The Founder of the Feast”—and we are still eating at his
bountiful table, although we have forgotten his name.