Effort
by Rocky Noe

"Leaders aren't born they are made. And they are made just like anything else, through hard work. And that's the price we'll have to pay to achieve that goal, or any goal." Vince lombardi



 
In an article I wrote on "Passion" I made the following statement,

"I have often wondered what makes people successful. I have studied at length the elements of success. I wanted to know what made people or organizations the best. Being good is not enough. I wanted to know what it is that people and organizations possess that make them the leaders in their chosen endeavors." In pursuing this question I have discovered many things. There is no one set of elements that make one successful. It is a combination of many things. However, There is one element that success cannot exist without. EFFORT.

I once had a discussion with my 12 year old son after his first event in his first swim meet. He came in last place in the event and was well behind the other swimmers. He was very disappointed and was saying some bad things about his ability to compete. He was calling himself a failure and was really down. I pulled him to the side and told him, "There is no failure, there is only effort" If you give the best you have to offer then there is no failure. You either give your best effort each time, or you give something less. If you give your best, then you only make yourself better for the next time. He went on to compete in 4 more events that night. He got a couple of ribbons, one for 3rd place and another for 4th. Not bad. The best part is he learned a valuable lesson about effort.

Effort can be defined in many ways. I like to define it by the following quotes: Do your best. give it your all. Never quit. Try untill you get it right. Stay with it. Keep busy. Do something everyday that brings you closer to a better tomorrow. Apply yourself. Do a little more each day than you think you can. You don't have to be great to start; you have to start to be great.

We all know when we are in the presence of those that are special. Who has not marveled at the great athletic abilities of Tiger woods or Michael Jordan. When you get the chance to watch them perform, you know you are seeing the tremendous amount of hard work blended with natuaral talent pay its dividends. It can be awesome to watch the determination and effort come to fruition. Effort is one of the common denominators that all great leaders possess, Whether that is in the athletic world or the business world.

I have been very fortunate to work with one of those very special people that have the combination of talent and supreme effort. Brian Galbraith is from Perth, Australia. I met Brian through the Rattle The Cage website. It didn't take long to recognize that Brian is one of those special people that can make things happen. He has a tremendous ability to network with people across the globe and achieve some truly remarkable things. We have learned to use the phrase "Brian Galbraith, Man of action." This is due to his unrelenting effort. Best of all, his efforts are always geared towards helping others.

 "The dictionary is the only place that success comes before work. Hard work is the price we must pay for success. I think you can accomplish anything if you're willing to pay the price." Vince Lombardi

Brian is the Chief Executive Officer of Optimise International. This is a truly remarkable organization that serves others in many different formats. The following is a brief description of some of Brians accomplishments:

Significant experience with major private and public sector organisation performance optimisation and transformation in Australia, the United States, New Zealand, India and Thailand including significant work with shareholder and State-owned utilities and other major enterprises (energy, transport, water, health, education, engineering, mining and development), communities and community organisations
 
30 years in executive and senior management roles in commerce, tertiary education and consulting.

10 years university level teaching and research in thinking, leadership and business skills; marketing and business growth; strategy development, implementation and evaluation; people development; and personal and organisational performance improvement with the Australian Graduate School of Management, University of New South Wales; Curtin University Business School; Curtin Consultancy Services and the Graduate School of Management, University of Western Australia.
 
8 years design and delivery of executive and senior management leadership development programs for the Western Australian Government (Senior Executive Development and Orientation Program (SEDOP) and Executive Development Program (EDP)) and for individual federal, state and local government departments, agencies and other organisations.
 
Demonstrated and recognised high order leadership, facilitation, process consulting, strategy and communication skills.
 
Demonstrated facility to work at all organisational levels and to translate performance optimisation and change theory into bottom line results through sustained individual, team and organisational high performance.

Significant local and international experience in performance partnering; negotiation and representation; investment and other partnerships, networks and alliances; conflict resolution; and Board, Council and Executive development and performance improvement.
 
Degree in Psychology, post-graduate studies in marketing and management.

Brian has accomplished all this and much, much more. Yet, he remains humble. His sole purpose seems to be to help others. Brian is currently heading, through his OPTIMISE INTERNATIONAL, an effort to help people in the Kimberly District of Western Australia. He calls this "Repainting the landscape." This is truly another noble effort on his part.

I feel truly blessed to know Brian Galbraith. He is an absolutely TERRIFIC PERSON. There are many reason for this, most of all for his constant and untiring effort. I found a quote by Theodore Roosevelt that I thought really fit Brian. It is as follows:

It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled, 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, who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause, who at best knows 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 nor defeat.

From a speech given in Paris at the Sorbonne in 1910.

You can find Brian galbraith at www.rattle-the-cage.com

 

 

 

    






About the Author