Bryan C. Fleming

One of the quickest sure-fire ways to get anything you want is to find someone who has already done it and do what they did. It’s easy to emulate their success provided they’re willing to tell you.

Today many successful people write books telling you what they did and how they did it. They drop nuggets of wisdom that can make your journey easier. There are two ways to gain experience at anything. Make your own mistakes or learn from someone else’s. The latter of course will cost you a lot less money.

So we should be following people, but how do you know whom you should follow? Might I suggest it would be the people who’ve actually done something?

This month’s issue of Fortune Magazine illustrates this principle right on the cover. If you walk by a magazine stand you’ll it with Jack Welch’s face right on the cover. In big letters it says his rules don’t apply anymore. You can read this article here:

http://money.cnn.com/2006/07/10/magazines/fortune/rules.fortune/index.htm

Let’s examine this closer. We have a journalist Betsy Morris telling us that one of the greatest business leaders of our time is wrong. I ask you, did Betsy turn around a multi-billion dollar corporation? How many companies has she been the CEO of? In short, what is her track record? I believe you’ll find she’s a journalist working a job for a paycheck. There’s nothing wrong with that of course, but the point is, she’s not a business leader. If you want to know how to get on the cover of Fortune magazine, I’m sure she has the best advice for you.

So who’s advice should you follow?

If you’re running a business you should certainly follow the leader who’s done it. Look for his principles, why he does things. Don’t get too caught up in techniques, because those change all the time. Principles never do.

Follow the right people, the people who’ve already done what you want, and you’ll short cut your path to success.

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