The Hot Seat and the Beatitudes: Great Teachers of Humility
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to do a “Hot Seat” presentation at a conference I attended. What that involves is talking about a new business you have under development to a panel of experts in order to get some candid feedback about how you might improve your business model, some things you might have overlooked, other opportunities you could pursue and overall constructive feedback.
Unfortunately, I was introduced as “the guy who sold ClickZ for $16M to Internet.com” (which in itself is misleading, as I state in my “About Me” page on this blog). This led to one of the panelists asking me quite earnestly why, if I had experienced so much success in my life, would I subject myself to a Hot Seat where my ideas would get picked apart and I would risk humiliation.
I answered that simply because I may have had success in a business in the past, doesn’t mean that I am assured of success in the future. Later, in private conversation, I told her that my biggest mistakes and failures have come about because I have refused to seek out or listen to constructive feedback from those who might know a little more than I do about the terrain I was wandering in to, and that for this venture, I wanted to make damn certain that my assumptions and subsequent plans were based on a firm foundation of truth.
Fact of the matter is, there was a fundamental fact about the nature of the audience I was pursuing that I would have noticed had I really paid attention to the internet marketers I had breakfast with that morning. Thank God that panel was there to point out this oversight and make some solid suggestions about what adjustments I would need to make in my business and revenue models in order to succeed with this market.
Were I of the “my sh*t doesn’t stink because I made millions on a business venture back in 2000″ frame of mind, I would have never cared to seek out their guidance and would have subsequently gone blindly forward to a certain debacle.
I now feel much more confident in my business plan, knowing that by showing a little humility, I was guided by people who truly want me to succeed and have a far greater chance at success than I did before.
But it is a little weird that people think that just because you had one major success in your life, you’re a lock in for future success. It’s also disconcerting that people think that I wouldn’t be open to advice or guidance just because I succeeded once.
Business history is full of the stories of men and women who have experienced a great success only to have it followed by numerous failures, and I’m not afraid to admit that I’ve been through a few since ClickZ — mainly because of the mind set those panelists expected me to have.
I found out last week that Napoleon Hill, the author of the all time bestseller, “Think and Grow Rich”, in fact died penniless after a history of going through one get rich quick scheme after another.
It’s all too clear that the same thing could happen to me if I don’t operate under the same level of humility, teachability, egolessness and emptiness that I and others have had as a mindset prior to experiencing great success.
Last week, in church, our Associate Rector had the opportunity to preach on the Beatitudes — an opportunity he blew royally by putting himself above the scripture, chuckling about the differences between Matthew and Luke’s version and whether or not it was “The Sermon on the Mount” or “The Sermon on the Plain”. Nevertheless, I ignored his half hour of blathering and posturing, and actually read the scripture for what it had to say:
“Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.Blessed are they who mourn,
for they shall be comforted.Blessed are the meek,
for they shall inherit the earth.Blessed are they who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they shall be satisfied.Blessed are the merciful,
for they shall obtain mercy.Blessed are the pure of heart,
for they shall see God.Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they shall be called children of God.Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
The lesson I took from this was that an attitude of emptiness (not being full of yourself), hunger, thirst, openness, teachability, etc is the mindset one must have to enjoy the blessings of life.
It’s so easy to believe your own b.s. when you’ve had a little success.
But the cup that is empty gets filled. Those that are thirsty get their thirst quenched. The hungry get fed. Those that seek knowledge and understanding learn. Those that ask, receive. Those that seek, find. Those that knock, get the door answered.
It’s all in your approach to life isn’t it? An attitude of emptiness will help you get filled in the way you need.
No need to go on. I’ll be accused of preaching.
If the dear woman who asked me that question so earnestly actually reads this, she’ll understand better where I’m coming from.
And thanks to those who have guided me back to humility of thought over the past few years.
I needed it.
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Your statement “I found out last week that Napoleon Hill, the author of the all time bestseller, ‘Think and Grow Rich’, in fact died penniless after a history of going through one get rich quick scheme after another” is simply not true. Hill “died at age 87 on November 8, 1970, at his retirement home on Paris Mountain near Greenville, S.C., where he spent the last 18 years of his life.” (The quotation is from “Think and Grow Rich!: The Original Version, Restored and Revised.”) His home was in an exclusive residential area, and he was extremely well off in his retirement after a decade-long collaboration with multi-millionaire W. Clement Stone, at the time one of the richest men in America.
Hill and Stone, among other things, started “Success Unlimited” magazine and co-authored the hugely popular book “Success through a Positive Mental Attitude.” Hill’s royalties from his books and other “success materials” he developed left him an extremely wealthy man, wealthy enough to establish and endow a not-for-profit foundation that is still active today.
I had the privilege of having dinner on occasions with Hill’s official biographer, and I can tell you that while it is true that Hill had many ups and downs during his early career, he was well off in later life and died far from penniless.
Vic Johnson, founder of AsAManThinketh.net, had this to say on this whole subject (quoted, with permission, from a correspondence from him to me, Ross Cornwell):
“Several months ago I came across an audiobook biography of Napoleon Hill, and it was an eye-opening adventure into the life of a man whose days were not the ‘smooth sailing’ I had always assumed they were. Napoleon struggled against a myriad of obstacles throughout his life—many of which were brought on by some of the earlier choices he had made. I can’t count the number of times he became broke and penniless following a highly successful venture gone sour. His personal life was as spotted as his financial life, and a recounting of that could easily consume a full book.
“I would have thought that my discovery of his many flaws would cause me to lose respect for him, and thus doubt the veracity of his teachings that have influenced me for more than twenty years. But it is quite the opposite. Having listened to the struggles of this very human man has given me a whole new perspective of respect, even awe, of the incredible resilience and persistence that he displayed repeatedly against sometimes massive odds.
“I now understand that he didn’t write about some ‘theory’ of how to think and grow rich. He wrote from experience—his numerous experiences and the experiences of America’s most successful. While the casual observer would believe that this book is only about making money, those of us who have studied it for years know otherwise. It’s about a better way to live a ‘rich’ life. And for that I am grateful that Napoleon gave so much of himself in order that he might leave us with this incredible work.”
I stand corrected and thank you for pointing out the facts to me. I read about Napoleon Hill dying penniless (which came as a surprise to me) in an article somewhere and assumed it to be true. I found a few items on the web that seemed to lend veracity to the story, but none as complete and concise as your version.
So to anyone reading this article, consider Ross Cornwell’s comment above to be far more credible than the version I cited in my post.
Thank you Ross!
Andy
Andrew,
I loved your response to the person’s question. Humility is a rare trait. If people knew how vital it was to greatness, it would get much more attention than it does. It’s not reserved for Sunday sermons and community service. Humility needs to make it’s way more often to meeting rooms and boardrooms.
I though you might enjoy this quote:
“True humility is intelligent self respect which keeps us from thinking too highly or too meanly of ourselves. It makes us modest by reminding us how far we have come short of what we can be.”
Ralph Sockman
Again, thanks.
I just came across this post and found the posts just as informative and educating as the post itself.
Thank you all for your input.
P.S. I love Vic’s work so his comments are nothing less than spectacular and I’m glad I came across this because I too had bought into the idea that Mr. Hill died broke.