Leadership 101 – Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

Leadership 101 – Standing on the Shoulders of Giants

By Nikki Viljoen – Viljoen Consulting October (Pty) Ltd

“If I have seen further (than others), it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.”

This is a quote from Isaac Newton, mathematician, astronomer & physicist and they are pretty much the words that I try to live by.

I learnt pretty quickly when I started out in 2003, that I am not an island and that I needed help – not just any old help, mind you, but specifically help from people who knew what they were doing in their chosen profession.

I learnt that by ‘following’ them (and I don’t mean in a stalkerish type way) and doing things the way that they did them, I saved a huge amount of money (in school fees), and an even bigger amount of time and of course, I saved myself the angst that we all go through when we try new things.

I learnt that there would still be lessons that I needed to learn on my own, but by measuring my progress on the stuff that I did do on my own and measuring my progress when I learnt from a Master – my progress was far better when I learnt from a Master.

In fact one of the first lessons I learnt from the Master was to measure everything.  If you don’t measure how on earth do you know if or how you are progressing.

Some of my “Master Guru’s” are Dr John Demartini, T Harv Eker, Roger Hamilton and here in South Africa, Brian Walsh.  All of these men started at the bottom and worked their way up to being multi-millionaires.  They all teach the ‘how to’ to anyone who cares to listen and to learn.  Their passion and conviction and congruence is evident by the way that they live their lives.  They don’t just talk the talk, they live their talk.  It is therefore apparent that in order to be really successful, you have to be congruent.

I have learnt that you have to be clear on what it is that you want to achieve and then by means of a plan, you have to “act”.  A dream or a goal without action is just . . . well a dream or a goal.

I have learnt not to hide my light but let it shine brightly.

I have learnt to speak my truth (even if that truth is not well received by the recipient.)

I have learnt to be humble, but at the same time to take pride in what I do and to be proud of my achievements.

I have learnt that I need to learn on a ‘ongoing’ basis -  not only to learn, but also to implement and share what I have learnt. The more I learn, the more I think differently and when I think differently, I do things differently and this allows me to succeed.

I have learnt that we all serve in one way or another and that we should always ‘give back’ something – even if that something is only our time. Paying it forward should become a habit, something that we do not even need to think about.

I have learnt all of this and so much more, by standing on the shoulders of these (and many more) giants.

I am grateful to these Giants and the many other’s whose books I read, whose podcasts, webinars and talks I was watch and listen to. I am eternally grateful to the Universe for putting these people into my life serendipitously. Thank You

Nikki is an Internal Auditor and Business Administration Specialist who can be contacted on 083 702 8849 or nikki@viljoenconsulting.co.za or http://www.viljoenconsulting.co.za