Concentrate on the Process, Not the Results

Some time ago, I was listening to a seminar about a company that was in the furniture business. This company decided that because it was doing so well, it should expand into the piano business, and also sell pianos. They went out and purchased a Steinway and took the piano apart to study all of the pieces. Then they made the same pieces themselves and built a piano. When they finally had built their own piano and tried to play it, nothing but thuds came out of the instrument. Discouraged, not knowing what they possibly could have done wrong, they [Read more]

Avoid Creating “Fatal Friction”

The worst thing you can ever do in a professional relationship—and in a personal relationship, for that matter, is introduce what I call “fatal friction”. I have seen more careers stalled, held back and even ruined by fatal friction than I can count. In addition, people create all sorts of social problems for themselves by introducing fatal friction into their social relationships. What is fatal friction? It is anything you say or do that creates some sort of tension between you and another person, or an organization, which is so severe it is unlikely to ever go away. Once this [Read more]

Are You a Value Creator or Value Extractor?

When I was in my third year of college, I applied to some special accelerated program at the University of Chicago Business School, which would have allowed me to graduate from business school and complete my undergraduate degree in a total of five years–instead of the six years this normally would have required. At the time I was a very good student and I had also been running an asphalt business for the previous several years. I had started the business from scratch and believed that I would have no issue whatsoever getting into this program, due to all the [Read more]

Are You Structured or Free Spirited?

Around six months ago, I was going to meet with an important investment banker in Los Angeles. It was not an ordinary bank-type office because it was located high in a skyscraper, and was full of wood paneling, dark fabrics, oriental rugs–and there was almost a complete absence of people anywhere. In fact, after entering the front door to the office, it felt like I had to walk a full 10 seconds down a long hall before I encountered an immaculate receptionist, sitting in front of what looked like a painting I had remembered studying in an art history class. [Read more]

Influence: How to Exert It

Yoritomo-Tashi presents to us ideas that enormously dominate the human mind through this tremendously inspiring book, Influence: How to Exert It. In the twelve lessons contained in this book, the methods by which influence may be exerted and exercised are considered. According to the author, the key to success lies in the art of influencing others. Just as the flower exerts its influence by spreading its fragrance, the great philosopher believes, the spirit of the individual continuously exerts influence. It’s a wonderful and refreshing book, and I am sure you will gain tremendous insight from it.

–Harrison

INFLUENCE: HOW TO EXERT IT

Yoritomo-Tashi

ANNOUNCEMENT

Yoritomo-Tashi, whose precepts are presented in this book, ranks as one of the three greatest statesmen that Japan has ever produced. He was her most illustrious and wise Shogun, and, as founder of the first Japanese dynasty of Shoguns, the reviser of the Empire’s code of laws, and the organizer of military feudalism, he rescued his native land from the slough of demoralization into which it had sunk. In 1186 he established the seat of his government at Kamakura, where he organized an administrative body similar in its methods and [Read more]

Do Not Be Arrogant

The longer I have been on this earth, the more I have come to realize that the most arrogant people are often the most uncertain of themselves. Out of insecurity, many people decide that it is important to project an image that they are better than others, and to come across as if they know exactly what they are doing at all times; nothing bothers them; and they know more than everybody else. A few months ago I was at a seminar in Australia and there was a young man, no older than 25, sitting behind me [Read more]

Sharing of Information, Invention of the Internet, Parrots and Tool Rooms

I have been having a recurring thought lately that is indicative of a transformation our world has undergone over the past thirty years or so. As a child growing up I observed that most older men I knew always had “shops” set up in their basements or garages. Whether rich or poor, this was something virtually every man I knew had as part of the home. It was a great source of pride. Inside the shop a man would keep his tools all neatly arranged, along with a work table, which was most often built into the garage, outfitted with [Read more]

Narcissistic Entitlement Syndrome

The word “narcissism” comes from the Greek character Narcissus, who fell in love with his own reflection and was made famous by the Greek poet Ovid. The story is one of great psychological complexity. In the story, Echo falls in love with Narcissus and gets rejected. The story makes it clear that Narcissus is only able to love himself and not others. Conversely, Echo completely loses herself in her love for Narcissus and has no sense of self at all. At the end of the story, Narcissus tells Echo, “I would die before I would give you power over me,” [Read more]

You Are Just Fine the Way You Are

I was sitting in a sales seminar several months ago and a well known sales trainer got up and started speaking to the audience. He is considered by many to be one of the best salespeople in America, and I was hanging on his every word. The man was describing how he went into meetings in corporations to sell things, and how he always was able to close. His entire strategy was based on what he called “finding the pain.” “You need to find the pain! You need to find the pain!” he kept shouting as he paced back and [Read more]

You Need to Stand for Something

Today, I read a story in the Washington Post about a girl who recently resigned from West Point and is going to Yale. She resigned from West Point because she is gay and the school will kick her out if it learns that she is gay. Tired of compromising between what she believed was right and wrong, she resigned to protest the policy and be consistent with her own internal compass. When I started reading the story, I immediately thought—she’s probably transferring to Harvard or Yale. Sure enough, I was not surprised when I learned later in the article that that was where she was going. Why wasn’t I surprised? Because a school like Yale probably receives a couple of hundred transfer applications for every spot it has open (very few people drop out of Yale). In order to get one of those spots you need to stand for something. How memorable is it to have a good grade point average? Lots of people have good grades. Very few people stand for something. The people [Read more]

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