A couple weeks ago, I wrote that
"it's the little things
that make all the difference."
Many people wrote to say how
helpful that was and asked me to
write more about it. I'm
convinced that a great life is
rarely built on a brilliant
flash of inspiration or profound
insight. Even less often
is a remarkable life built on rare
genius. Mostly, great
lives are built by ordinary people,
doing ordinary things,
extraordinarily well.
Do you remember the old clich� that even the rich and
famous "put their pants on one
leg at a time?" I've always
loved that insight. It gives me
great hope!
This week I read Stephen Ambrose'
biography of President
Dwight Eisenhower. "Ike"
was one of the great heroes of
World War II and arguably one of our
better presidents. But
he wasn't brilliant in terms of IQ.
He was in the middle of
his class at West Point, and no one
saw him as a unique
talent. Ambrose makes the comment
that if one promotion had
gone differently, "the world
would never have heard of Col.
Eisenhower." How true! And, in
a wonderful way, how
inspiring!
Eisenhower did have three great
gifts, but they were
"ordinary" gifts that we
each have in abundance and that we
can all leverage in our own lives.
First, he worked very, very hard. He
was up early, stayed
late, immersed himself in each task
until it was done right
and on time. His genius was the
"ordinary genius" of
dedication, duty and discipline. I
may not be able to copy
that exactly, but I can certainly
learn from it. I can do
my best and appreciate the results
of "out-working the
competition."
The second of Eisenhower's great
gifts was his ability to
focus on things that mattered. He
focused on the few things
that make all the difference! Most
of us work hard. In
fact, I've argued that most of us
work too hard because we
"sweat the small stuff,"
and "major in minor things." Ike
never did that. Even those who
criticized him always
acknowledged his gift for calmly
assessing a situation and
spotting the leverage point that
made all the difference.
For months before D-Day, June 6th
1944, he met with his
chief meteorologist every single
day. He knew that guns and
ships and strategy were critical,
but ultimately the
invasion would depend on the weather
and he wanted to
personally assess his chief
meteorologist. In the end, on a
stormy night with rain pelting
against the windows, he made
the decision to "go"
because he trusted his weatherman. He
knew he would get a 6-hour window of
clearing weather (A 6-
hour window for the greatest
invasion in history!) and that
was all he needed. The course of the
war changed over-night
because Ike focused on the weather
and knew his
meteorologist could be trusted.
Finally, Eisenhower had the gift of
choosing the right
people and relying on them. He
refused to work with people
who were unreliable or ineffective.
He wanted the best
people around him. Notably, after
giving the order to "go"
on June 5th, Ike went to bed. There
was literally nothing
more for him to do. All the orders,
all the staff work, all
the plans were in capable hands and
his work was done. He
didn't try to do it all himself. He
chose good people,
delegated responsibility and trusted
that the right things
would be done, in the right way, at
the right time.
For me, there is great hope in this!
Ike was not born a
genius beyond my ability. To the
contrary, much of his
achievement came from knowing three
skills that we can all
master. He worked very, very hard.
He learned to identify
and focus on key leverage points.
And he chose to work and
associate with the very best people
he could find, and he
trusted them. I can do this, and so
can you.
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