Happy New Year!
Last month, I was scratching my head...what to blog about...I found myself staring at the bookshelf in my basement office in hopes of inspiration. A paperback copy of Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich stared back at me. It's a classic, the bestselling success book of all time, initially published in 1937. Everything still rings true.
I'm not a success coach. Do I believe in the laws of attraction? In part, I suppose. But, I'm a curmudgeon. Having said that, I'm not a complete skeptic. I do believe that thoughts have energy and that how we live our lives exerts an impact we may never fully appreciate.
What strikes me about Napoleon Hill’s famous book?
Leadership.
This is what Napoleon Hill lists as “The 10 Major Causes of Failure in Leadership”:
1. Inability to organize details
2. Unwillingness to render humble service
3. Expectation of pay for what they know instead of what they do with what they know
4. Fear of competition from followers
5. Lack of imagination
6. Selfishness
7. Intemperance (lack of moderation)
8. Disloyalty
9. Emphasis on the authority of leadership
10. Emphasis of title
Is there much difference between what Hill wrote in 1937 and what is portrayed in the endless leadership books, studies, and theories that continue to be published? We'll explore this together in the upcoming posts.
Leadership failure in both the public and private spheres occurs time and time again. What can we revisit together as leaders and managers?
Stay tuned!