Orrin Woodward, two-time NY Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, shares his thoughts on entrepreurship, leadership and life. If a person wants to be a better entrepreneur then he should focus on becoming a better leader. Here's the blog post.

An entrepreneur must be a leader. Why? Because he or she must build and lead teams of people to accomplish the task, satisfy the customer, and do so at a price that leaves profit for the team members. In other words, ineffective leaders soon prove to be ineffective entrepreneurs because the customer isn’t satisfied nor the teams paid well. Nonetheless, many would-be entrepreneurs start business while ignoring the importance of leadership to the health of their enterprise.

Entrepreneurs should enter into markets where they feel they can satisfy the customers better than their competitors. For instance, Jack Welch, in his early days, was called “Neutron Jack” because he refused to be in a business sector where he couldn’t improve to either #1 or #2. His philosophy of business led him to get out of markets where he couldn’t be the best, and move into markets where he could be the best, thus maximizing profits for the company and ensuring employment for the workers. Incidentally, few seem to understand that only a profitable company can maintain its workers. Since profit is the life-blood of any business, when a company is losing money, it’s similar to a patient losing blood.  In both instances, death results if the bleeding isn’t checked.

Accordingly, leaders are constantly studying the vital signs of their business, ensuring the business is not bleeding to death. In fact, leaders must be PDCA champions, constantly making adjustment in the areas where it can have the most impact. They don’t just change things to make change, however. Instead, they listen, study, and analyze until they determine which area of change could have the biggest impact on the bottom line. Then they do something unheard of in our modern world, namely, take massive action to drive the team and business forward.

Whenever I study a business, the first question I ask is: Who is the leader? If an effective leader is in charge, he can overcome lack of capital, lack of resources, and still beat competitors who have plenty of both. Why? Because leaders constantly are developing innovative ways to solve problems while managers focus on the same methods that worked before. I love the saying: If it isn’t broke, then break it and make it better.

When my co-founders and I started LIFE Leadership, we did so with little funds or resources, but we had a superbly talented leadership team. I knew that the leadership team would quickly build the leadership products that could compete with any leadership team anywhere. Interestingly, over the last 18 months LIFE Leadership has become a $50 million dollar conglomerate through building the highest quality personal development products in the industry.

For example, anyone serious about being an entrepreneur ought to purchase and apply the principles from the Mental Fitness Challenge personal development program. The 13 Resolutions are found in my All-Time Top 100 Leadership book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE.  If applied daily, they will radically change the leadership capabilities of any hungry student. In fact, I have hundreds of emails from satisfied customers who did just that.

In summary, if the reader wants to be a successful entrepreneur, then he must be a successful leader. Building a company without building one’s leadership is a fools way to launch a company. For no company will rise higher than the leadership within the company. America needs leaders to create the LeaderShift! What part will the reader play? Here is another segment of the article on the role of entrepreneurs.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Entrepreneur as exceptional leader

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 1:25 PM EDT

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George Guzzardo spells out the recipe for financial health in this blog post. George has worked with Orrin Woodward for over 20 years and has applied leadership, financial, and liberty principles to achieve success. Indeed, George is an excellent example of the LeaderShift in action as he went from a non-reader to one of the biggest readers in the LIFE LeaderShip organization. Here is the article. 

How many of us have heard of someone who was climbing the corporate ladder only to discover that they were on the wrong ladder? In the modern world many of us are realizing that learning is not measured by examinations any more but by experiences that we grow from. That is why there is a buzz about the opportunity to learn from Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady with the release of the up and coming ‘Financial Fitness Pack’. This is a pack of CD’s and workbook that will provide information about the ‘Offense’, ‘Defense’, and ‘Playing Field’, of personal finance.

Many of us have a difficult time understanding today’s modern economy and how it effects us, but if we arm ourselves with more knowledge founded from good economic principles we can prepare ourselves for any change. The ‘Financial Fitness Pack’ will provide principles to help prepare for the unexpected.  Charles Handy writes a story about the Peruvian Indians who seeing the sails of the Spanish invaders on the horizon put it down to a freak of the weather and went on about their business, having no concept of sailing ships in their limited experience. Assuming continuity, they screened out what did not fit and let disaster in. Today there are rules that govern science, reading, writing, and speech but there seems to be some confusion about the rules that govern economics. The Oxford dictionary defines principles as basic truths or general laws about cause and effect. Learning solid financial principles can help us with our household economics.

Today government is guided by its economists not its citizens. There is a stereotype that good economic information must come from Ivy League graduates. Not true. Looking back through history you will find that the word economics comes from Greek origin. It is derived from ‘oikos’ = household, and ‘nem’ = administer or organize. Xenophon writes that ‘oikonomikos’ describes a gentleman landowner who understands the proper use of wealth.  The ‘Financial Fitness Pack' will provide a major breakthrough for those wishing to take greater control of their finances by providing what I feel will be the highest quality information for the least amount of cost ever before in the modern world or even the ancient world. Here is a summary of just a few areas you will learn from the Financial Fitness Pack:

The offense of ‘Financial Fitness’ will describe:

-       The mind set and moneyview of the financially fit.

-       Why you need to have long - term vision.

-       The advantages of putting multipliers on you wealth.

-       Harnessing the power of compounding to work for you.

The defense of ‘Financial Fitness’ will describe:

-       The habits of saving and budgeting.

-       The benefits of practicing delayed gratification.

-       A strategic plan to get out of debt.

The playing field of ‘Financial Fitness’ will describe:

-       Command vs. market economies and why it matters in history.

-       The history of money.

-       How inflation works.

-       The role and significance of entrepreneurs.

-       Predicting and preparing for economic downturns.

The workbook will provide examples and worksheets of an actual Financial Action Plan. This will come with an 8 CD pack to support your overall financial learning experience.

The famous inventor and educator Buckminster Fuller said that this type of preparation was to “help with the forward days of our lives.” He described wealth as the “progressive mastery of matter by the mind.” This meant that wealth, or value, is produced not by matter but the ideas that transform it. It’s not always work that produces wealth but working under the right principles. We now live in the information age and it’s critical that we get the right information. Just listen to those who have been surprised by unexpected changes in the economy. Crisis does not have to be the reason we learn. The LIFE business is committed to providing cutting edge quality information that is cost effective. By learning timeless principles we can prepare ourselves for the inevitable changes we know will come, but on the other hand we can influence the future, if we know where we want to go and what we want it to be. God Bless, George Guzzardo

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 3:21 PM EDT

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Orrin Woodward's life has gone from peak to peak in various fields. First, he had four patents and won a national benchmarking award as a top systems engineer. In addition, he was half-way through his MBA from the #2 business school at the time - U of M in Ann Arbor.

However, the entrepreneurial bug hit him and he started his leadership engine and launched in the second phase of his life. He built his community to over 20,000 people at events, but when his supplier changed the contract on him, he announced his resignation.

After several years of lawsuits, attempting to free himself from his former supplier, Orrin and the other LIFE Founders finally launched LIFE Leadership. The rest, as they say, is history in the making. Orrin is a modern-day reformer who refuses to sell out his convictions for convenience. 

Orrin Woodward is now a two-time NY Times bestselling author with Launching a Leadership Revolution and LeaderShift and his first solo book RESOLVED: 13 Resolutions for LIFE made the all-time top 100 leadership book list. Evidently, his convictions were worth fighting for. 

In each generation, there are a few men and women who refuse to follow the herd, willing to forge their own trails through life. Below is an article from Orrin's blog on Julius Caesar from historian James Froude. Caesar certainly blazed his own trail. The article is attached.

In my ongoing reading of the classics and the leaders of Greece and Rome, I stumbled across a gem of a book by James Froude on Caesar. I had read much on Caesar, but the interpretations of Froude’s works left me with a much better appreciation of the challenges Caesar faced and what he attempted to do to reform the faltering Roman Republic. Caesar, like everyone else, certainly wasn’t perfect, but his mission was solid and his results were amazing given the constraints he was placed under. Caesar in his day, and in his way, attempted to expand the benefits of the Roman Empire to all provinces and end the Five Laws of Decline working upon the Roman Senate. Successful in politics, war, and leadership, he was assassinated by the threatened Senate. However, his reforms were still implemented, albeit belatedly, delayed by another round of civil wars before Augustus assumed leadership.

Interestingly, Caesar attempted to restore civil peace and was killed and, at nearly the same time, Jesus was restoring spiritual peace and was killed. Evidently, reformers, who threaten the status quo beneficiaries of the Five Laws of Decline, are rarely welcomed by the threatened groups. Even so, right is right, justice is justice, and peace is peace. As Teddy Roosevelt said, “There is no peace without justice.” Accordingly, each citizen ought to strive to check the FLD in his life and community, promoting peace with justice for posterity’s sake. The LeaderShift will demand nothing less than our personal best in this area.

Here is a portion of James Froude’s summary.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Caesar’s Assassination

“We have killed the king,” exclaimed Cicero in the bitterness of his disenchantment, ” but the kingdom is with us still;” “we have taken away the tyrant; the tyranny survives.” Caesar had not overthrown the oligarchy; their own incapacity, their own selfishness, their own baseness, had overthrown them. Caesar had  been  but the reluctant instrument of the power which metes out to men the inevitable penalties of their own misdeeds. They  had dreamt that the constitution was a living force which would revive of itself as soon as its enemy was gone. They did not know that it was dead already, and that they had themselves destroyed it.

The constitution was but an agreement by which the Roman people had consented to abide for  their common good. It had ceased to be for the common good. The experience of fifty miserable years had proved that it meant the supremacy of the rich, maintained by the bought votes of demoralized electors. The soil of Italy, the industry and happiness of tens of millions of mankind, from the Rhine to the Euphrates, had been the spoil of five hundred families and their relatives and dependents, of men whose occupation was luxury, and whose appetites were for monstrous pleasures.

The self-respect of  reasonable men could no longer tolerate such a rule in Italy or out of it. In killing Caesar the Optimates had been as foolish as they were treacherous; for Caesar’s efforts had been to reform the constitution, not to abolish it. The Civil War had risen from their dread of his second consulship, which they had feared would make an end of their corruptions; and that the constitution should be purged of  the poison in its veins was the sole condition on which its continuance was possible. The obstinacy, the ferocity, the treachery of the aristocracy, had compelled Caesar to crush them; and the more desperate their struggles the more absolute the necessity became. But he alone could have restored as much of popular liberty as was consistent with the responsibilities of such a government as the Empire required.

In Caesar alone were combined the intellect and the power necessary for such a work; and they had killed him, and in doing so had passed final sentence on themselves. Not as realities any more, but as harmless phantoms, the forms of the old Republic were henceforth to persist. In the army only remained the imperial consciousness of the honour and duty of Roman citizens. To the army, therefore, the rule was transferred. The Roman nation had grown as the oak grows, self-developed in severe morality, each citizen a law to himself, and therefore capable of political freedom in an unexampled degree. All organizations destined to endure spring from forces inherent in themselves, and must grow freely, or they will not grow at all. When the tree reaches maturity, decay sets in; if it be left standing, the disintegration of the fibre goes swiftly forward; if the stem is severed from the root, the destroying power is arrested, and the timber will endure a thousand years. . .

In ages less visionary which are given to ease and enjoyment the tendency is to bring a great man down to the common level, and to discover or invent faults which shall show that he is or was but a little man after all. Our vanity is soothed by evidence that those who have eclipsed us in the race of life are no better than ourselves, or in some respects are worse than ourselves; and if to these general impulses be added political or personal animosity, accusations of depravity are circulated as surely about such men, and are credited as readily, as under other influences are the marvellous achievements of a Cid or a St. Francis.

But enough and too much on this miserable subject. Men will continue to form their opinions about it, not upon the evidence, but according to their preconceived notions of what is probable or improbable. Ages of progress and equality are as credulous of evil as ages of faith are credulous of good, and reason will not modify convictions which do not originate in reason. . .

He fought his battles to establish some tolerable degree of justice in the government of this world; and he succeeded, though he was murdered for doing it. Strange and startling resemblance between the fate of the founder of the kingdom of this world and of the Founder of the kingdom not of this world, for which the first was a preparation. Each was denounced for making himself a king. Each was maligned as the friend of publicans and sinners; each was betrayed by those whom he had loved and cared for; each was put to death; and Caesar also was believed to have risen again and ascended into heaven and become a divine being.

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 7:42 AM EDT

Updated: Thursday, May 16, 2013 7:54 AM EDT

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Orrin Woodward, now a two-time NY Times and Wall Street Journal bestselling author, wrote this article to thank his amazing fans that attended the first round of book signings. Two NY Times bestsellers is extremely rare and only a handful of authors in the leadership field have achieved this coveted standard. 

LeaderShift is a smash hit across North America and the Five Laws of Decline are becoming a topic for mainstream discussion. Rumor has it that Orrin Woodward is doing a second round of book signings in Houston, Dallas, Wichita, and St. Louis in early June. Life is good for those who sieze the day!

LeaderShift by Orrin Woodward & Oliver DeMille

The LeaderShift Book Tour is just one location away from wrapping up and I wanted to take a moment to thank all the amazing people who came out and supported the book signings and meetings afterward. We had several locations with over 1,000 people showing up for the book signing! Oliver DeMille and I are truly am blown away by the encouragement, hunger, and attitudes of the communities across America and Canada that we visited.

Western Society is at the crossroads between chaos on one side and coercion on the other. What we do as citizens is crucial to the future of freedom in North America. LeaderShift was written to launch a shift in the dialogue taking place. No longer can North America afford party splits that paralyze real change. For instance, in America the labels Republican, Democrat, and Libertarian must be replaced by a new label like: Concerned Leaders of America.

We are concerned because any leader, taking a cursory look at the facts, can recognize the drift towards more coercive government within society. Sadly, however, as government increases, the need for leadership influence decreases. Consequently, leaders and entrepreneurs check out of political society, leaving liberty, the lifeblood of Western Civilization’s greatness, suffering from the debilitating effects of neglect.

I love America; I love Western Civilization; and I love liberty. Oliver and I met thousands of people who feel the same way on our travels across North America. Thank you for purchasing the book and reading it. But I have another question. Will you help us launch the LeadersShift? Let’s change the dialogue going on in North America by having the leaders, at all levels within society, read the book and wrestle with its implications. Leaders must initiate the crucial conversations needed to shift the Power Pendulum back into concord. If not us, who? If not now, when?

Society matters; liberty matters, you matter. Fifty years from now, history will record what we did when our country was sick and in need of help. Let us choose wisely.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Lansing Center LeaderShift Launch

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 7:34 AM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, May 14, 2013 7:42 AM EDT

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 This is a funny blog post by Orrin Woodward on a humorous Christianity Today article. Leadership is a given in life; whether it's effective or ineffective is the question. 

While doing some research, I ran across this article from Christianity Today on the “Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Leadership.” The list was so good that I had to post it here and share a few thoughts. For instance, everyone can read this list and realize the futility of attempting to lead when violating these principles; however, understanding and applying are not one and the same thing. One of the key objectives of the LIFE business is to break through from mental assent to physical application of the top leadership principles. Associating with other leaders who are applying the proper principles makes it easier for others to do the same. Imagine if a whole community were to apply leadership to the 8Fs of life. I believe it would start a LeaderShift to change our localities, states, provinces, nations, and eventually the world. If it’s possible to do this, then leaders ought to plan, unite, and aim to do it! In any case, all leadership change begins on the inside. Read the seven ineffective traits and ensure this list isn’t true of you.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

1 – Don’t plan ahead

Don’t fall into the trap of writing down your goals and objectives, or even worse, handcuffing yourself to specific times when you’re supposed to feel obligated to do them. Instead, respond to things as they come up. Put off big projects until you have large chunks of uninterrupted time to accomplish them, or when you feel inspired. Then try to complete the task with one herculean effort.

2 – Go it alone

If you need to have someone checking up on you, it’s a sure sign of your incompetence and lack of self-control. Independent-minded people make the most progress when they bypass the team and do their own thing. Accountability is overrated.

3 – Aim low

Only arrogant people set lofty goals. Those who dream big often end up flat on their face. At the end of the day, it’s much better to aim for mediocrity and reach your goal rather than trying to do something extraordinary, and becoming frustrated when you can’t quite accomplish it. Better safe than sorry. Those who risk the most never experience the security of living in the status quo.

4 – Point out the mistakes of others

People need to be aware of their failures or they’ll never be able to change. So, keep an eye out for others’ missteps or mishaps and then leak the word to the rest of your employees or volunteers. Be specific and stern. Don’t give the person a chance to explain his actions since that’s usually just a way of denial or shirking responsibility. It’s even more beneficial to make the shortcomings of others public, so that other people in the organization can keep them in line.

5 – Mentally relive old failures

If you lost a job or got a demotion or didn’t get the position you were vying for, brood over it. Dwelling on past mistakes, unresolved conflict, and ongoing disagreements will help give you perspective on your current situation. Obsessing over negative experiences helps you avoid them in the future.

Get into the habit of thinking about hurtful conversations you’ve had and coming up with things you wish you’d said, or clever comebacks that might’ve ended things right then and there. It’ll give you that fire and motivation to speak up more authoritatively next time around.

6 – Wait until the last minute

You never know what the future holds so why waste your time doing things that might not even end up being necessary? Who knows, you might get fired, quit, or die and you’d just have wasted all of that time on that project. It’s much more beneficial if you just put off working on something until the consequences of not doing it outweigh the effort it takes to do it. If other people hassle you about this, it just shows that they’re not as good at working under pressure as you are.

7 – Take things personally

If people criticize your work, they are, in essence, attacking you. Criticism of a project you’ve worked on is a direct assault on your intelligence, personality, and character. As a matter of self-respect, it’s important that you don’t let them get away with that. If you don’t stand up for yourself, you might come across as a pushover.

So, show your strength and conviction by defending every idea you have. Rather than “choosing your battles,” remember that if someone criticizes your decisions, actions, or suggestions, they’ve already chosen to attack your personal self-worth. Don’t let them get away with that.

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 7:48 AM EDT

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The following is a wonderful example of having the time, money, and lifestyle to travel with family. Orrin Woodward and his family took a six day hiatus to Barcelona to see a championship league game between Barcelona and AC Milan. This is a perfect example of Chris Brady's A Month in Italy, where he describes sometimes you have to go slow to go fast. Orrin Woodward, although a high-achiever, having recently achieved an extremely rare feat for an author of having two of his book reach the NY Times bestseller list, still understands the importance of family and fun. Indeed, this is what LIFE and LeaderShift are all about.  

My son Jeremy loves soccer. No, on second thought, he is a soccer fanatic! In fact, his passion for the players and the game has made me a fan from his sheer enthusiasm. Consequently, when the Woodward family was discussing potential vacation spots, Barcelona was always Jeremy’s request. His perseverance paid off and we planned a vacation to Barcelona to watch a live “football” game. Looking at the schedule, we realized the best game to watch would be Barcelona against AC Milan the week before our kids scheduled spring break. However, since our teenagers are all doing great in school, we talked with the school and were off to Europe.

Shortly after checking into our hotel, we were notified that the Barcelona team would be staying at the same hotel! Jeremy, with his jerseys in hand, parked himself in the lobby, along with his siblings and Laurie, for nearly eight hours to see the players up close. Thankfully, the team did enter the hotel and a couple of players signed Jeremy’s jersey. Proudly displaying his signatures, Jeremy stated that signing this jersey would certainly help the players on game-day. I wasn’t sure how he thought that, but didn’t say anything at the time.

Tuesday could not arrive fast enough as Jeremy was up, showered, and dressed by 7:30 am to get breakfast, hoping to see more players downstairs. (This soccer stuff is cutting into my vacation sleep! ) When we left for the Camp Nou stadium, Jeremy, and the other kids, were on cloud 9. The mass of humanity and the intensity at the football game were beyond my wildest expectations. I have never seen so many fanatics (I say that with all respect) in one place at one time. The fans had songs, cheers, and taunts, that erupted intermittently during the game as if on queue, even though there was no monitor telling them when or what to cheer.

Barcelona vs AC Milan

Barcelona had lost to AC Milan several weeks back and needed to not only win, but win by at least two in order to advance. The pressure was on, but the best teams and best leaders always respond well to pressure. Barcelona did not disappoint. Within the first seven minutes Messi made a spectacular give and go pass and break to the net, sending a rocket through the outstretched arms of the goalie to score. The crowd (over 94,000 strong) exploded and the Woodward family vacation was shaping up nicely. Later, another goal from Messi and Barcelona never looked back, winning 4-0 before the rowdiest crowd at a sporting event ever.

Interestingly, Jordi Alba, one of the players that signed Jeremy’s jersey, scored a goal just as Jeremy had predicted. One of the Biblical principles taught to our kids over the years is that you reap what you sow in life. Jordi sowed an act of kindness when he signed Jeremy’s jersey and he reaped a reward the next day. (No one can guarantee the reap and reward process will occur so quickly, we hope, however, that you will sow acts of kindness anyway since it is the right thing to do. ) At any rate, Jordi’s kind actions made a young man’s dream come true and for that I am thankful to our God above lining up all the pieces and to Jordi for sowing good seeds.

Well, enough writing for now, I have to get ready to go to the City Museum and see one of the best-kept ancient Roman cities unearthed under modern Barcelona. The LIFE Business is allowing so many people to chase and capture their dreams. I hope everyone is planting good seeds into others people’s lives on faith that over time people reap what they sow.

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Alves and Alba Celebrate Signing Jeremy’s Jersey

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 6:52 AM EDT

Updated: Wednesday, May 1, 2013 6:56 AM EDT

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Here is a spectacular article from Orrin Woodward on the importance of motivating and engaging others to build teams. Orrin is a two-time NY Times and Wall Street Journal Bestselling with the recent release of LeaderShift. He, and his co-author Oliver DeMille are creating a LeaderShift within society.

Leadership Soft Skill: Motivating & Engaging Others

Leadership Motivation

The seventh leadership soft skill, according to the Center for Creative Leadership, is motivating and engaging others. This is the crux of leadership. For if a person cannot inspire others to achieve more, he is not truly leading.

Before leaders can inspire others, they must be inspired themselves. Reading, listening, and associating is essential for any leader because, as Ronald Reagan once said, “I am not a great man; I’m just committed to great ideas.” In essence, when a person swims in great ideas, the world-view, mindset, and attitude soak into him.

Unfortunately, few people understand this. Most run from business to business, seeking the shortcut to success. When actually, success is a matter of immersion into the greatest thoughts and leaders one can find. Why I love the LIFE community is that it provides the association necessary to learn the great ideas from great leaders so that people can do great things. The testimonies of the changed lives in LIFE is amazing even though I have been witnessing this first hand for years.

There is an old saying that expresses a candle must be lit before it can light another one. In the same way, a person must set himself on fire with great ideas and then light others on fire by his passion, belief, and vision. The greatest leaders, in other words, were first great followers. In fact, I have said for years that if you are too big to follow then you are too small to lead.

The world needs a leadershift. It won’t happen until enough people immerse themselves into the greatest ideas on leadership available today. Each generation has its own challenges that require responses. The founding generation responded by creating a company. The civil war generation responded by ending slavery. The WWII generation responded by winning a global conflict. Today’s generation must respond by launching the leadershift!

Sincerely,

Orrin Woodward

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 10:53 AM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, April 30, 2013 10:55 AM EDT

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Orrin Woodward and Oliver Demille wrote LeaderShift and Business Plus, a division of Hachette Book Group, released it on April 16th. LeaderShift made the NY Times bestseller list its first week. Here is a blog post describing the details.

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 9:10 AM EDT

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“A lot of people are starting to realize something really important,” said the New York Times bestselling leadership author, Orrin Woodward. “They’re figuring out that Washington isn’t going to fix its problems anytime soon, that things are probably going to get worse in our politics and the economy until real leadership is found outside of government.”

Orrin Woodward and Oliver DeMille have written a new book that literally takes on the project of fixing America. The book is LeaderShift: A Call for Americans to Finally Stand Up and Lead. “Politicians just aren’t going to fix our problems,” DeMille said, “not in Washington, Ottawa, London, Sacramento, Albany or anywhere else. If things are going to get fixed, the leadership will almost certainly come from business. And network businesses are among the most important source of building leaders in our current society.”

According to their book, a LeaderShift is coming. But just what is a LeaderShift? As Woodward and DeMille put it, “Every once in a while in history, a LeaderShift occurs. It usually comes unexpectedly, and it transforms the world for at least a generation.” Past LeaderShifts include:

The historical switch from kings and chiefs as the top leaders to community fathers such as doctors, lawyers and town merchants

The 1880-1920’s transition from city fathers as the main leaders to titans of industry, like Carnegie, Morgan and Rockefeller

The 1940-1970’s shift from business tycoons as the top leaders to managers, spurred by the work of Edward Deming and innovators from Jack Welch to Sam Walton

The 1980-1990’s transition from managers to leaders, influenced by sages like Buckminster Fuller, Earl Nightingale and Stephen Covey

The authors argue that today we are in the early stages of another great transition, this time from political leaders as the top leaders to successful business leaders standing up and making their influence and leadership talents felt in leading society.

But this isn’t a partisan book. Woodward and DeMille say that political parties are at the center of the problem, that what is needed to really get our nations back on track is for business leaders to start making a bigger difference. “There is so much wisdom in our business books and business leaders,” Woodward said, “but most of it is ignored in Washington.”

The book hinges on Five Laws of Decline, each of which is currently chipping away at the strength of many institutions, including business organizations. Executives and entrepreneurs who don’t understand these Five Laws, and how they cause government to hurt business profitability and growth, won’t know how to overcome them. And until the business community learns and responds to the Five Laws of Decline, the authors say, the economy will continue to face overregulation, over-taxation and growth-killing uncertainty.

LeaderShift is written as a business fable, where the lead character is a successful business leader who realizes that politicians aren’t likely to fix our economy any time soon and sets out to find a solution to America’s decline. In the process, he applies the wisdom learned from years in business and from many of the greatest business books, puts together a team of business people to deal with our national problems, and creates a plan of how to really fix America.

When the team gets help from a surprising source, what happens next is a story you’ll want tell and retell. And the solutions in the book are a unique approach that really might work. Most importantly, every business leader—large or small—will want to understand the Five Laws of Decline and take action to deal with them effectively in your own business.

This book is a fun read, an enjoyable story, and it just might be the wake-up call our generation needs to finally stand up and lead. In short, if our politics and politicians aren’t going to lead, it might just be up to business leaders to turn things around.

This book will make you think, and you’ll want to pass it on to everyone you do business with. No business leader right now can afford to be without the knowledge of the Five Laws of Decline, and the book teaches a number of other important ideas that will help business people of all stripes be better leaders.
 

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 7:16 AM EDT

Updated: Thursday, April 11, 2013 7:20 AM EDT

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Steve Morgan ask what is holding you back from the life you've always wanted in this article. Many times, it is limiting beliefs that hold a person back from his destiny. Orrin Woodward says you don't get what you want out of life. You don't get what you deserve out of life, but you always get what you expect. The LIFE Business is building people's expectations on what is possible and providing a vehicle to make dreams a reality. What are you expecting?

I think many people are alike, they have limiting beliefs.  I know that growing up I developed limited thinking.  The way that I overcame this personally was through the information in the LIFE business.  We have worked with Best selling authors Orrin Woodward and Chris Brady for a decade of our lives now.  It made all the difference.  They say that over the next 5 years you will be the same person except for the books you read and the people you meet.  I have asked people for years, “if we recorded you talking to yourself would you be embarrassed if we played it for others to hear?” They always say yes.  I can’t believe that we talk so negative to ourselves, but we do.  What I have found by reading the right books, is that you can do anything you put your mind to.

I put this picture of this horse on here to show a visual example of what most peoples obstacles look like.  Most of the time they have just learned to submit to them.  I say we break our limitations and run for the things we really want to accomplish.  Henry Ford said ” either you think you can or you think you can’t, but either way your right.”

One of the best books that I have ever read to help with this kind of thinking was The Magic of Thinking Big.  If you have never read this book I highly recommend it.

If you are tired of the same old results you should get involved in an audio education, listening to people that have had success in areas you want to win.  What you find is that you spent a lot of time comparing your weaknesses to their strengths and you hurt the way you see yourself.

My mentor Bill Lewis has one of the best stories that I have ever heard.  He grew up in a rough area in Saginaw Michigan and through getting different information and plugging into new association, is now hugely successful.  Not only is he successful in business but also in his personal life.  Thanks Bill for showing us all whats possible.  Another American success story. You could be the next.

Thanks for reading,

Steve Morgan

Posted by OrrinWoodward at 7:28 AM EDT

Updated: Tuesday, March 19, 2013 7:29 AM EDT

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