Eye Opener

An Opinion   
by Alex Hutchins

Do or Not Do, There is no Try...

The above comment was said by the character Yoda in Star Wars Sagas and has no doubt been repeated many times by consultants and professors of Leadership classes many times since then; but, the phrase is easy to do and very difficult to put into practice because most people, including this author, unconsciously use the words, “I’ll try.”

Try

to make an effort to do something 

to attempt to accomplish or complete something

to do or use (something) in order to see if it works or will be successful

to do or use (something) in order to find out if you like it

Do

to bring to pass  carry out

to  perform, execute

to  commit or to  bring about, effect

to bring to an end :  finish

While Do is more proactive than Try, doing puts you into a mind-set of completion and even if one does not reach one’s goal straight away, then there is always the concept of continuous improvement and ultimate accomplishment.

If you were to talk to a successful person and ask them if they should “try” or “do,” the odds are that they would say the latter, without even having to think about it.

If you look at the explanations of “try” you will see that all of them give the person a backdoor of escape which should only be used, in this author’s opinion, as a last resort and not as a launching point.

Presidents Day Leadership Advice from Former Presidents

1. George Washington:  Don’t doubt your own authority
2. Andrew Jackson:  Build on what makes you unique
3. Abraham Lincoln:  Balance idealism with pragmatism
4. Teddy Roosevelt:  Embrace innovation for the sake of innovation
5. Woodrow Wilson:  Consider the needs of others as well as your own
6. Franklin Roosevelt:  Focus on how you communicate change
7. Dwight Eisenhower:  View your rivals as partners
8. Lyndon Johnson:  Don’t lose sense of your priorities
9. Richard Nixon:  The cover-up is always worse than the crime
10. Ronald Regan:  Bring a sense of optimism to everything you do.

Note:  While this list/comments were found online and therefore represent someone else’s opinion, I am still disappointed that John F. Kennedy was not included.                     

During a recent conversation with a  Navy SEAL commander, tangible advice that can be applied to almost any business was offered:

     1. Teamwork is your top priority.

     2. Early leaders are good leaders.

     3. Excel at ethics.

     4. Stay calm.

     5. Hard times help you adapt--quickly.

     6. Ambush the competition

     7. Study Darwin.

Leadership lessons from Nelson Mandela

• Never give up on seemingly impossible ideal
• Choose collaboration over retaliation
• Leadership is behavioral, not positional

à The main Leadership lesson from Steve Jobs is:  Staying Focused

And what is truly amazing in all of this is that it takes a SciFi writer, George Lucus and his ghost writer Alan Dean Foster to break down a fundamental truth of leadership into one simple, easy to remember phrase, around which all other concepts revolve…  and yet, if one truly reflects upon these all these Men of Wisdom statements, one cannot help but realize that DO is embedded in the heart and soul of all of them... 

Less is indeed more!