Lea & Liz: The Power of &
Liz’s blog was the like adding dessert to some reading I had been
doing over the long weekend. If only it had actually come WITH a
dessert, perhaps something chocolate… oh, i digress already.
I have been reading the book Good to Great by Jim Collins about why
some companies become great and others don’t seem to make that leap.
And I found so many useful life lessons in this book and so many
applications to who might or might not be a good president that it
almost makes my head spin.
Collins makes the point that the great companies all had CEO with this
one thing in common… they were humble & willful, modest & fearless.
He compares them to President Lincoln, personal humility & willful
strength to get it done. Now if only I could find a candidate with
that fabulous combination of seemingly opposite characteristics. But
it does make me evaluate candidates with a different set of criteria.
Do I see them as an either OR personality, or do they posses that
elusive & within their soul…
Another great story he tells is of Admiral Jim Stockdale, who was
imprisoned for 8 years in the “Hanoi Hilton” prison of war camp.
Stockdale managed to survive because he believed 2 seemingly
contradictory things at the same time (again with the contradictory
&). He retained faith that he would prevail in the end, regardless of
the difficulties & he confronted the most brutal facts of his current
reality, whatever they were.
Businesses that do this become great. They know what is wrong and see
clearly what they need to correct & they know that they can overcome
it and become great at some undetermined point in the future. I think
countries and political parties and ordinary people can use this
“Stockdale paradox” to motivate them to make the necessary changes to
become great.
The power of &…
So many times we think things are __________ OR __________, when in
reality we need the &. We don’t need a country that is Republican OR
Democrat, we need both Republican & Democrat to make a great county.
I mean Liz is great on her own, but put Liz & Lea together blogging
and all I can say is WOW.
Diet & exercise, good & plenty, peanut butter & jelly, freedom &
responsibility, give & take, tastes great & less filling, saving &
spending wisely, helping others & taking some time for yourself, cream
& sugar. So many things are better with the & in the middle instead of
the OR.
We need to stop focusing so much on the OR these days and embrace the
& whenever we can. We have a good country, but let’s be totally
honest, it has flaws. And there are some big ones that need hard work
and someone tough enough to take on that job.
Let’s take an honest look at our challenges without the blame game
(which takes a lot of humility) and see what lies before us & let’s
unwaveringly believe that we can do it, that we will prevail, that we
will take our lives and the lives of other Americans into the
GREATness that is in our future.
OK, got to go off to the gym to face the brutal facts & the harness
the power of hope for a smaller jean size tomorrow. Now that is the
power of the & at work….
Add comment January 22nd, 2008
