This week’s Monday Morning Message from Wm. H. Danforth, founder of Ralston Purina:
What is the Monday Morning Message?
Leaders simply fascinate me. I read about them, talk about them. I sidle up to them, hoping some Leadership stuff will rub off on me.
To get a job done, find a Leader.
To distribute a product, sell some Leaders. Few people insist on what they want. A Leader does. Dealers carry what a relatively small number of their Leading customers want. Others follow the Leaders.
A shrewd observer said that when Irene Castle bobbed her hair the sub-debs of Manhattan mimicked her, and finally the buds in Battle Creek and Bloomington followed her example. The skirt line was raised first by a few Leaders on the boulevards — and then on Main Street.
What’s the biggest thing you want to accomplish this week? Put it down on paper. Then pick your Leaders at the specific point of contact to do the job. Your ability to do this will determine just what kind of a Leader you are.
Who are the leaders who can help your business?
These people may be thought leaders who can influence your customers, or leaders who can pull together a team to help you accomplish what you need to do.
If you do not personally know the leaders who can help you, figure out how you can reach them. You may know people who know them, or you may be able to make yourself known to them by doing something for them.
Figure out what you need to do, identify the leaders who can help you reach your goals, then determine how working with you can benefit those leaders.
