Three Minute Leadership: Thoughts on Greatness

Recently I attended a Women in Leadership Workshop at which a video, Will Smith Wisdom, was played as an inspiration for great leadership – in all its passion, commitment, possibilities and belief.  The following are Smith’s inspiring words about life. Enjoy the wisdom and build it as part of your life.

Greatness – “Greatness is not this wonderful esoteric elusive god-like feature that only the special among us will ever taste. It is something that truly exists in all of us.  It is very simple.  This is what I believe and I am willing to die for it.  I know who I am and what I believe, and that is all I need to know. And from there you do what you have to do. We make this situation more complex than it has to be.” 

Talent and Skill – “The separation of talent and skill is one of the greatest misunderstood concepts for people who are trying to excel who have dreams and who want to do things. Talent you have naturally.  Skill is only developed by hours and hours and hours of beating on your craft.  Where I excel is (through my) ridiculously sickening work ethic. While the other guy is sleeping, I am working. While the other guy is eating, I am working. There is not easy way around it. No matter how talented you are, your talent is going to fail you if you are not skilled.”

Passion and Commitment to Being the Best – “The only thing that I see that is distinctly different about me is I am not afraid to die a treadmill. You might have more talent than me.  You might be smarter than me, but if we get on a treadmill together, there are two things:  you get off first, or I am going to die.  It’s really that simple.

Focus on the Moment – About his father’s lesson to him after tearing down a wall and telling Will and his brother to rebuild it:  “Now don’t you ever tell me, there is something that you can’t do. You don’t try to build a wall; you don’t set out to build a wall…  You say I’m going to lay this brick as perfectly as perfectly as a brick can be laid, and you that every single day and soon you have a wall.”

Serving Others – “I want to do good.  I want the world to be better because I was here.  I want my life, I want my work, my family I want it to mean means something.  If you are not making someone else’s life better, than you are wasting your time. Your life will become better, by making other lives better.”

Believing – “The first step before anybody else in the world believes it is you have to believe it.  There is no reason to have a Plan B, cause it distracts from Plan A.”

Seeing Possibilities – “I think that there is a certain delusional quality that all successful people have to have.  You have to believe that something different than what has happened for the last 50 million years of history you have to believe that something different can happen….Confucius said he who says he can and he who says he can’t are usually right…. Being realistic is the most commonly travelled road to mediocrity. Why would you be realistic? What‘s the point of being realistic? I am going to do.  The second I decide it’s done, it’s already done.”

Choice Is Power – “There is a redemptive power that making a choice has. Rather than feeling that you are an effect to all things that are happening, make a choice.  You just decide what it’s going to be, who you’re going to be, how you’re going to do it. Just decide, and from that point the universe is going to get out of your way.  It’s water.  It wants to move and go around stuff.”

We have greatness, power and possibility beyond our belief.  The choice is in our hands.  Fill your life with passion.  Make people’s lives better.  Remember the title of Steve Job’s new biography, The Journey is the Reward.  Have fun on yours along the way.  It will be a magnificent journey.

Have a beautiful day and a magnificent week!!!

Mike