Lead

7

REWARD & CELEBRATE

“WHAT you do is not who you are.”

THE SEVENTH ABSOLUTE FOR LEADERS:

The number one reason for divorce in America: money. The source of countless wars throughout history: money. What does it take to be President of the United States: money, and a lot of it—how about needing to raise $1 billion for a job that pays $400,000 a year, puts you in the world's tiniest bubble, turns your hair gray (except for Ronald Reagan thanks to tubes of Grecian Formula) and makes half the world disagree with you—no matter what you do.

Money is like water. It is necessary and in many parts of the world it is in short supply; it has a purpose, but it's not durable; and in excess, it's overly visible and utterly destructive.

I recently asked a former member of the President's Cabinet “What was the most surprising thing about Washington, D.C.?” He didn't blink an eye and immediately responded, “The singular goal of the people on the outside is to be back on the inside, and the only objective of the people on the inside is not to be back on the outside.” A sad commentary but probably truer than we would like to believe. Power is all too often seated to the right hand of money.

But I have a different view: Money can rent loyalty, but it can't buy it. If money is the only thing that is ...