Good Morning,
My current read is “Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership: Executive Lessons from the Bully Pulpit” by James M. Strock (http://www.amazon.com/Theodore-Roosevelt-Leadership-Executive-Lessons/dp/0761515399). Folks who know Theodore or Teddy Roosevelt know he was a strong man, both physically, mentally and spiritually. He was the king of firebrands and would push hard to do whatever job was in front of him as best as he could, no matter how ‘menial’ the position. He took leadership of to a whole new level during his tenure in government. Many folks feared him for what he would do next, and others were happy to sit on his coattails and enjoy the ride.
One of the best Theodore Roosevelt quotes mentioned in this book bears repeating due to its power and significance in my life, and hopefully in yours as well:
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, and comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error or shortcoming; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory or defeat.” - Theodore Roosevelt.
What President Roosevelt is saying, in other words, is the Monday morning quarterback does not know the thrill of victory or the agony of defeat on the field. It is those of us who actually stand up and DO that Theodore Roosevelt is praising, and his praise is for a good reason. It is hard to stand up. We have to overcome many challenges, there is peer pressure, there is fear of the unknown, there is fear of failure, fear of success, and fear of well, being afraid.
Nitpickers have their place in life, and they are helpful to find errors, but the purpose of finding errors is not to belittle someone or undermine them, rather give them the fuel and direction to make course corrections and try again. Nitpickers who continue nitpicking instead of ever getting up and actually doing something are pretty much a waste of our time. Also, if we listen to them too often, it could cause us more problems and challenge or faith in ourselves and our goals.
When you listen to critics, and yes, they are your friends because they care enough to say something, understand who they are and their background and knowledge. If you are a golf pro with decades of experience, and you nitpick a rookie golfer, your advice will probably be better than the critic who has never played the game, but watched a lot of golf on TV from his command chair.
In the end, as Theodore Roosevelt says, the credit belongs to the person in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood. It is not the critic who nitpicker how solely looks to criticize, who deserves the credit.
History will bare this out. For example:
Who built one of the first automobiles? Henry Ford. Who were his critics? ……. I hear crickets.
Who invented the light bulb? Thomas Edison. Who were his critics?........ crickets again.
Who flew the first powered airplane? The Wright Brothers. Who were their critics?........crickets.
Who designed the first suspension bridge? Roebling. Who were his critics?........... crickets.
Who…….. Crickets.
See the point. The pressure from critics and nitpickers today may be overwhelming, but history honors those who push through while the critics are mostly forgotten.
So, go and do!
Enjoy
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