Living the American Dream
By Tim Dannelly
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About this ebook
Most leaders in style='font-size:11.0pt'>Americastyle='font-size:11.0pt'> have worked their way to their current position
through a series of promotions. Most of
them don't posses an MBA or any sort of degree from an institution of higher
learning. Most haven't even completed a
short course in leadership techniques.
They have worked hard and now they lead the way they worked - by
watching what someone else does and by adapting it to fit their own
personality. In too many cases, one is
reminded of the axiom, If you keep on doing what youve been doing, youll
keep on getting what youve been getting. The purpose of this book is to
provide proven tools of leadership based upon what has worked for thousands of
successful leaders. Rather than
complicated formulas or catchy phrases, youll find captivating examples of
what really works. These are practical
techniques that can be applied in your business environment.style='mso-spacerun:yes'> Youll recognize most of them! Written in a
style that makes for easy reading, Living The
American Dream is less like reading the directions and more like enjoying a
good story. Filled with real world
examples, youll picture yourself and your employees as you gain the insight it
offers.style='mso-spacerun:yes'>
Tim Dannelly
Tim Dannelly travels the United States speaking to salespeople, US and State Government agencies, and various civic and church organizations. He has well over thirty years experience in the areas of sales, public relations and broadcasting. A native of Texas, Tim grew up in coastal North Carolina. He served his country in Vietnam, Virginia and Texas. While a member of the Air Force, he originated a nationally aired Air Force Recruiting radio program, which he also hosted. He has owned his own small business, with over 80 employees, and has successfully turned around failing businesses for several owners. His management background includes corporate as well as private broadcast, real estate and automotive sales organizations.
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Living the American Dream - Tim Dannelly
© 2003 by Tim Dannelly. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the author.
ISBN: 1-4140-1988-2 (e-book)
ISBN: 1-4140-1987-4 (Paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-4140-1988-8 (eBook)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2003097984
IstBooks-rev. 10/27/03
Chapters
Thank You
Preface
1 What Is Success-Really
2 Getting Your Ideas Sold
3 It’s All In Your Mind
4 The Top, Home of the Lonely Brave
5 Building a Great Person, Beginning With You
6 The Role Of Enforcer
7 Running in the right circles
8 Go To The Head Of The Class!
9 Life’s Greatest Quest
Dedicated to those great Americans who start at the bottom and work their way to greatness
Thank You
To Frances Wilkins for carefully proofreading each page and enduring all the rewrites.
To Brian Dannelly and Mike Dannelly for giving me first-hand experience with effective personal leadership techniques and for growing into men that make their dad proud.
Preface
In New York Harbor is a place called Ellis Island. It’s merely a museum today with larger than life pictures of the huddled masses yearning to breathe free, but some of your ancestors probably came to our shores through that portal. It’s strange, isn’t it, that Ellis Island’s warehouse for human processing stands in the shadow of the beautiful Statue of Liberty. The dream of liberty and freedom that fills the hearts of immigrants sailing past the lady in the harbor becomes a shocking reality as one enters the Ellis Island buildings. In just minutes, a dreamy pilgrim moves from the deck of a ship to the line where they are classified and processed. Then the work begins. If one is to eat, one must work (even in America).
Immigrants faced the same reality in America that they faced in their homeland. America had poverty, bad weather, customers who didn’t buy, employers who didn’t hire and taxes. But the immigrants came here by the endless boatloads because America had limitless opportunity. It still does. And they still come. The dream of accomplishing great things is realized every day here in the land of the free.
For years, people in search of a better life have left their homeland and their kin in search of the American Dream. Every day, those of us born here in The United States of America take for granted all the opportunity and freedom made available to us. We think nothing of crossing a state line on a shopping trip. Without government approval, we openly attend a revival meeting at a neighborhood church. Without fear, we watch military planes leave their vapor trails across the skies and go routinely about our daily activities. We bravely travel hundreds of miles on the Interstate highways to visit clients as we compete for their business. Fewer than half of us routinely vote on issues and candidates. If those in public office disappoint us, we write letters to our newspapers or call a talk show and speak our piece! Once or twice in our lives, we may even express disagreement with government policies in an open televised meeting.
Nowhere is the American Dream more real than in the marketplace. Someone in your family has probably started at the bottom and worked his or her way to the absolute top. Perhaps you started as a wage-earning employee and have now moved into management. This is a routine occurrence here in America! It happens every day! We in America are limited only by our thinking and willingness to act.
Many great Americans had no idea or intent of moving into management at some point. We got a job because we wanted money and all the things it could buy. In the process, though, we discovered a love for what it was we did for that money. And we excelled. And company leadership gave us a raise and asked us to move up into a leadership role.
Some of us failed to succeed in the leadership of an organization where we once were the bright shining star. Perhaps this is one of those times when we have thought of it as the great American Nightmare! If we had only stayed out of management! Some people reading these words have experienced this agony on more than one occasion. Or perhaps you’re in the pits of it right now! Even worse, perhaps you’re managing the efforts of several people successfully and you have no idea why everything is moving along smoothly. If anything different comes your way, you remain calm on the surface but you worry about your future as the leader. Each time you see a young star emerge from college, you cringe in fear. After all, young people are so smart and educated! And you are just a hard working person who survived all the cuts and changes.
Many leaders with degrees in Business Management feel the same concerns! You are a leader today because, in the opinion of leadership, you were the best qualified at the time of the opening. You continue to lead because people (including leadership) don’t like to fix things that aren’t broken!
There are no magic formulas in these pages. The author is no genius who has made millions or become famous. He is merely a man who believes in the true American Dream, appreciates the price that has been paid to preserve it and the right of every citizen to seize it.
Far too many people only reach for a small part of what our free enterprise system offers to everyone who lives here. This book is dedicated to the great Americans who see the opportunity and are prepared to go for it all! If you are higher up the ladder of responsibility in your company than when you started or if you have a wish to step up, this is your book.
Success is not only for the rich and famous
Chapter one
What Is Success-Really
You certainly don’t remember the day you were born. That’s impossible! But you may have heard about the circumstances of it all. As a tot and small toddler, things happened to you that the family still talks about. Your memory may go back to the first day of school in the first grade. You may recall the teacher vividly. You may remember the friendships you cultivated in the early elementary school years. Some of these may be with you to this day.
Junior high and high school seem to be a threshold for fond memories. Whether you’re eighteen or eighty, you have some fond memories of those. Perhaps it’s your first kiss or your first date. Could it be the championship game or the award you earned? For some of us, it’s the night we were touched by the ‘long arm of the law’ or, worse, some tragedy that brought home to us the mortality of this life.
Early adult years bring memories home by the truckload. Good memories, like the freedom and excitement of college or a military enlistment, fill your memory bank with stories that your friends and family know by heart, they’ve heard them so often. Your first real job affords you the opportunity to have a nice car, nice apartment and the resources to save and even invest. You meet your Soulmate and find a love that is deeper than you imagined could