Can you imagine what it would be like to be personally and professionally ridiculed in public? To be told to your face that you are odd, a little off? To be the laughing stock of your community? Oh, and even if you happened to succeed, your project/invention would have such little value no one would even notice or care? Then top it off by being shunned by the church because what you were doing was evil? All this while knowing that what you were building, if successful, would most likely kill you? Still want to proceed?
Most of us would rather give up and perhaps even apologize for our craziness.
How strong would your passion and vision need to be to continue? Would you be willing to work your “real” job for 12 or 14 hours a day, six days a week to support your dream? And would you be willing to use all your available cash and savings to pursue what others say seems impossible?
Such were the lives of Orville and Wilbur Wright. All they wanted to do was build a human flying machine. (And you thought you had big dreams!)
Then they cracked the code, yet nobody believed them until they could actually witness the human flying machine for themselves. In fact, the US government did not believe them and initially had no interest. Remember in the early 1900s, there was no Internet, 24 hour news, social media, selfies, texting, etc. Even some 20 years after their flight, only 13% of the country had home telephone service. The brothers eventually sold their first flying machine to the French, but only after a demonstration, of course.
Within 60 years, human flight went from flying a measly 153 feet to sending a man into outer space and flying around the world. Note in the picture we see the Wright brothers replica plane a mere few feet away from a space capsule. And today’s technology even makes that space capsule seem antiquated.
How curious to think many believed sincerely and passionately there was little value to human flight, yet today’s world can’t function without it. Just another example that sincerity does not equate truth.
And you think you have challenges selling an idea, a new concept, or way of doing business.
Three questions to consider:
- What seems impossible to do today, but if it could be done, would change how you think, work, and play?
- When you wake up in the morning after a good night’s sleep and turn on your working mind, what do you think about?
- What did you once dream about, but now due to the business of life, have since given up on or tabled?
No one is asking you to have the same resolve as that of Orville and Wilbur Wright, but what might happen if you had a little of their passion and enthusiasm?
For me, it is to be a student of servant leadership and then to provide as much development, coaching, and training for others to unlock the transformational power of being a servant leader. It’s helping others learn ways to unleash talent and see productivity increase to produce compound growth to their customers’ benefit and team’s success.
Exciting news based on July 2015 research — Dale Carnegie, as a global organization, believes 2016 will be the year of Experience Innovation. This innovation will happen in our markets and in our workplaces, and it will need to be servant lead. Stay tuned!
Human relations principle of the week: “Arouse in the other person an eager want.” ~ Dale Carnegie
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