When it comes to the secret of success, a common mistake we all make is to confuse correlation with causation. Leaders sit at the table. But that doesn’t mean sitting at the table makes you a leader. The average self-help book prescribes a set of behavioral rules for you to follow. The unspoken (and false) assumption is that since those behaviors all correlate with success, if you act the same, you’d be successful, too. This logic is more or less followed by Sheryl Sandberg’s neo-feminism manifesto, Lean In, which I reviewed in the video below.
Correcting behavior is a rather clumsy, and massively inefficient way to make transformations happen. It’s like turning on the exhaust hood when your kitchen is on fire. There’re more fundamental traits shared by people who make a real impact in the world, other than what they do or don’t do. If you master these traits, it really doesn’t matter whether you “lean in” or “lay back”. You’d be unstoppable anyway. In the video I talked about one of them…
Watch this video on YouTube
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