The Influential Executive Lesson #1: What do you want?

Josh Steimle
Jul 25, 2017 · 2 min read

Do you want to become an influential executive? This marks the first of 20 tips I’ll give over the next 20 days on this topic. Each tip can be implemented quickly and easily. In most cases it just requires a bit of thinking. Follow these tips and at the end of 20 days I guarantee you’ll have a new perspective on influence, and you’ll have increased your own substantially.

Tip #1: Figure out what you want. Here’s a hint, it’s not money. Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it.

The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead of filling a vacuum, it makes one. — Benjamin Franklin

You might think it’s money, but if money is the only thing motivating you then what you want is a job. People work in fast food for minimum wage because they want money. But mere money will never provide the motivation necessary to make you care about something so much that you are willing to do what it takes to become an expert in that thing, and then work hard to spread your message. If you want to become an influential executive then you need to have a cause larger than wealth, larger than numbers in a bank account. Identify what that desire is, that cause, post it as a response if you’re willing to share, and come back tomorrow for the next lesson.

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