Three Most Important Rules

What’s the secret? How do you get ahead at work, at home, in life? Follow these three simple rules and you will increase the odds of your success. I’ve used these rules in every position of Leadership I’ve ever had. I guarantee you, if you follow these rules, your chances of success cannot be higher. You will need skills and you will need to work hard but all the skills in the world and the most diligent and dedicated work ever will fail unless you follow these rules. I’m giving these rules to you free of charge.

Rule number 1! It is all about building trusting relationships. You cannot accomplish anything of value without other people. Whether those people are part of your team or people who will buy your products or services, it’s all about people. Hurt people, cheat people, manipulate people and see who’s there to support you when you really need it. If you do nothing else, be some one others can count on. When I think of my heroes in life I think of people who treated everyone with dignity, respect, and caring compassion. Men and women like Marty Carver (retired CEO of Bandag Corp.), Rema Ella (Education Professor at Eastern Michigan University), Kent Roberts (retired Executive Director of the National Civility Center), Al Recher (retired CEO of Five Star Food Services), Laurie Stewart (consultant and presenter extraordinaire) and finally, my wife, Barb, shine so brightly. How they treat people is an example we can all learn from.

What do these heroes do that made such an impression on me? They do not appear to think about themselves first. It always seems like they are considering others before themselves. What they do probably benefits them, but in my estimation they are not doing what they do for their own personal gain. Each of these heroes has experienced great life success; personal, relational, and financial. The most amazing thing is, however, they are revered. Their communities love them. They make a difference. They’ve changed their part of the world! Enough of these people in the right places and we can change the whole world!

So let’s talk about rules number 2 and 3! Both of them are pretty easy to understand and apply. Simply refer to rule number 1. If you build trusting relationships, nothing else matters! That’s our lives and our world. If we could all trust and care for one another, what a wonderful world this would be!