made anyone bigger. Sure it’s very human to take the path of least resistance. And I’d agree it’s pretty
normal to want to avoid putting stress on yourself by intensely challenging yourself to shine. But greatness
never came to anyone normal. (Mahatma Gandhi, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, Mother Teresa, Albert
Schweitzer, Andy Grove and Thomas Edison definitely marched to a different drumbeat – thank God).
I’ve never forgotten the story of the famed explorer Hernando Cortes. He landed on the shores of
Veracruz, Mexico, in 1519. Wanted his army to conquer the land for Spain. Faced an uphill battle: an
aggressive enemy, brutal disease and scarce resources. As they marched inland to do battle, Cortes
ordered one of his lieutenants back to the beach with a single instruction: “Burn our boats.” My kind of guy.
Challenge serves beautifully
to introduce you to your best – and most
brilliant – self
How fully would you show up each day – at work and in life – if retreat just wasn’t an option? How
high would you reach, how greatly would you dare, how hard would you work and how loud would you live
if you knew “your boats were burning,” that failure just wasn’t a possibility? Diamonds get formed through
intense pressure. And remarkable human beings get formed by living from a frame of reference that tells
them they just have to win.
21.
Grow Leaders Fast
One of the training programs that we offer companies to help them get to world class in their market space
is called Grow The Leader. Organizations all around the world including NASA and pharmaceutical giant
Wyeth are using our unique process to increase employee engagement, enhance culture, dramatically
boost performance and produce superior business results. Grow The Leader is based on a simple yet
powerful concept: The ultimate competitive advantage of your enterprise comes down to a single
imperative – your ability to grow and develop leaders faster than your competition. The more quickly you
can get every single person in the company demonstrating leadership behavior – regardless of their