Mel Brooks, while playing the role of Louis XVI in the Movie “History of the World, Part I,” kept emphatically stating “It’s good to be the King!” I’m sure it’s at least partially true that this particular line of thinking drives many of us to either proceed up the corporate ladder, or venture off to form our own business. But when you do become “King,” is it really all that “good?” Louis XVI was beloved at first, but his indecisiveness and conservatism eventually resulted in his own execution. Yes, being “King” can be good some of the time, but treacherous all of the time. The key is that you must find a way to achieve “success.” How do you achieve success? Well great writers starting with Napoleon Hill have tried to come up with the secret formula based upon interviewing the most successful people of all time, and I certainly encourage you to read books such as “Think and Grow Rich.” I’m certainly not as talented a writer as Napoleon Hill, nor have I achieved a fraction of the success as did any of the 500 people he chronicled. But, I have managed to achieve just about everything I’ve wanted from the small business arena, and I’ll be happy to share my story with you in future blogs. In the meantime, enjoy being King while you can, but never dare to rest on your laurels. Keep learning, keep improving, or face the consequences!
Barry Sea Siegel has over 35 years’ entrepreneurial experience in both large corporate and small business environments. He is President of Houston based Barry Siegel LLC as well as CEO Focus of Greater Houston, which provides peer advisory groups for small business leaders. Barry can be reached at barrys@ceofocus.com
