Well here we are, a new year and a new plan, right? I know this – the Platform Builders have some new plans for 2014 and this year we are starting our Mastermind study with a little twist.
This month we are masterminding through The Men Who Built America, a DVD produced by the History Channel along with Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill to compliment the mini-series built around some of the great early leaders and entrepreneurs that help build the United States into a world power at the end of the 19th Century.
If you don’t know the back story on how these two connect together, Napoleon Hill was commissioned by Andrew Carnegie to study the most successful people and find out what resulted in their success. The men who built America were among many of the 20,000+ that Hill interviewed over the twenty year period it took him to write the book.
This month we are going take a look at Andrew Carnegie, Thomas Edison, JP Morgan and Henry Ford. In this, the final of four posts, we will take a look at Henry Ford.
Ford set himself apart from the other men who built America buy focusing his efforts on the people. He paid twice the average wage and wanted the average working man to be able to afford an automobile. Amazed at how machines worked, Ford used his vision to transform the auto industry.
So how did a man that began his business career under the challenges of poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance become “one of the men who built America?”
I Think I Can, I Think I Can, I Think I Can
AUTOSUGGESTION
“If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right!” – Henry Ford
Ford Motor Company was actually Ford’s third automobile venture. The first two failed miserably yet Ford refused to give up. He continued to believe that he could successfully manufacture automobiles at a profit and at the same time, do what no one else had done, make them affordable. His vision was strong enough to become reality. He refused to give in to negative talk and literally convinced himself that it could be done through the power of autosuggestion.
1+1=3 … Sometimes More
POWER OF THE MASTERMIND
“If there is any one secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person’s point of view and see things from that person’s angle as well as from your own.” – Henry Ford
Ford’s most outstanding achievements began when he formed acquaintances with Harvey Firestone, John Burroughs, and Luther Burbank, well known thought leaders at that time. Ford realized that not only could he gain knowledge from spending time with big thinkers but the interaction in itself, was increasing his ability to retain information and think better himself.
If Only I Would Have Known Before It Was Too Late!
SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE
“Coming together is the beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.” – Henry Ford
Ford had great vision but lacked the knowledge, in multiple areas, to make his vision a reality. What Ford did know, was that by surrounding himself with the right people – the people that had that knowledge, he could achieve anything he wanted. He continued to do this throughout his career and when faced with the issue of not knowing, simply found someone who had the specialized knowledge he was looking for and added them to his team.
Napoleon Hill said; “Strength and growth come only through continuous effort and struggle.” (Tweet This / Share on Facebook / Post to LinkedIn)
Hill was right, our success will come from continuous effort and struggle. The difference comes in how we take on the struggle. Ford found ways to reduce the struggle by bringing those to his team that could provide the “right” kind of effort.
Here is an important question: Are you trying to do it all on your own or are you enlisting the help of others through collaborative relationships? The answer might just predict your success or failure in that endeavor. Who can you add to your team that will take you to the next level?
- Click here to read Part 1 on Andrew Carnegie
- Click here to read Part 2 on Thomas Edison
- Click here to read Part 3 on JP Morgan
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Barry Smith 1/29/14 photo courtesy of Amazon © Building What Matters 2014
