Straight-Line Leadership

He didn’t see that situation as an obstacle to the perfection he was embodying. To him it was simply a condition of the game. His

CHAPTER 49 MAKING A LIVING VERSUS CREATING PERFECTION

Expectations, on the other hand, only lead to more stress. Leaders who lead by expecting things are not straight-line leaders. They are stressed-out circle people trying to manage.

“When that’s happening I introduce the straight-line distinction of Expectations versus Agreements,” says Ron. “When people learn to sit down with other people and create agreements, it’s almost as if miracles

Ron wants them to see the distinction between waiting and creating. All the time waiting for circumstances to be perfect is time that you are not creating. And creating is what drives business success.

CHAPTER 48 STRESSING VERSUS CARING

McGovern sees that focusing on always making a contribution pays off. Whereas focusing on what you deserve is a futile activity that never leads anywhere but to low energy and low creativity. McGovern has learned that coming from

involves taking ownership of getting the distinctions that shift your inner stance. It requires that you apply the distinctions to your own professional life.

“You’ve really got to help somebody before they are going to help you,” he says. “I’ve always looked at becoming valuable to others first, and then they would be of value to me. Be good at something yourself—be really good at something—so you can be valuable to somebody else; and then they’ll include you in their business and their life in a way th