The Missing Piece.

Almost every biography - book or article - of a famous person reads like this:

I was not famous.

I did some good/bad/clever/stupid/wrong/right things.

Met some good/bad/clever/stupid/wrong/right people.

Some other interesting stuff happened.

Now I'm famous.

Here is my Philosophy on Life for you to learn what I know.

Wait a minute. Flick back a few lines. Pages. Chapters.

What was the thing that you did or that was done to you that isn't done by or to the rest of us that took you from a couple of human readers of your blog (Hello and thanks you two!) to the international speaking circuit?

Sure, we get that you worked hard and never stopped chasing your dream, passion, goal, vision, obsession, love - despite the poverty, failure, sexual confusion, parental alienation and addictions.

But one minute you were an unemployed, broke teenager with a learning disability, banging a drum kit in a mate's garage next to the sheets and pillow you sleep on, and the next you're Mick Fleetwood of Fleetwood Mac.

The main reason what happened is never spelled out is because it's often Luck.
 

The same thing with leadership and management advice.

It's all 'You're doing it wrong and you know it.'

Then it's 'You can do better'.

Which means 'Have a Vision', 'Be Bold', 'Develop Your Culture', 'Innovate', 'Hire Good People', 'Nurture High Performing Teams', 'Be Disruptive', 'Trust Your People', 'Delegate', 'Work Hard', 'Mastery', 'Agility', 'Ten Ways To..'.

Wait a minute. Tell me how I...

'You want it broken down more? Sure. 'Wake up earlier'. 'Have meetings on Mondays not Fridays'. 'Do Performance Reviews.' 'Remember people's names'. 'First in, last out.' 'Have fun.' 'Give feedback'. 'Eat last.' 'Celebrate success.' 'Learn from failure.' 'Be accountable.' 

Still missing something?

Everything is the result of decisions.

Decisions are the building blocks of everything that happens. Including Luck.

Good decision making is the material that makes up the blocks upon which mighty things are built.

Good decision making is the missing element in every story worth telling.

No-one will tell you this.

Now the two of you know.