Here's another quote, taken from Dirk Schlimm's book - 

“The terms balance and restraint rarely come up as descriptors of powerful people or are cited as reasons for their success.” 

This quote goes right to the heart of a major opportunity in business [and, in life]. To excel in business [and, in life] we must accept some bad things in order to obtain some good things. We all know this. We have known it since we were children and we heard [powerful] older folks talking about making sure they didn't throw babies out with bathwater. 

Now, as we are doing our business work, we encounter people who hold powerful positions yet appear to us to lack focus, go off on new-idea tangents, and change their minds in most-annoying ways. As we encounter these powerful people, some of us take a cynical stance. Some of us mutter about the powerful people being lucky rather than skilled, dysfunctional rather than talented, way over their heads, etc. 

Dirk recommends a more productive approach.  When I read his advice, I think about seeking the strengths in powerful people. We should complement and emulate those strengths. Sure, we should also be aware of powerful people's weaknesses. We should use our personal strengths to fill the gaps that exist because of powerful people's weaknesses.

We should help our businesses gain advantage by drawing out the value embedded in differences. 

Learning from powerful people, filling the gaps they create, and communicating effectively with them: Dirk teaches us how we can do these things.

Dirk Schlimm wrote:

“The tremendous energy of powerful people is sustained by a deep-rooted drive to succeed, especially against the odds and in the face of real or perceived obstacles.”

Energy – what an essential ingredient for success!

A couple of years ago, I wrote:

Willpower consumes energy. Energy is scarce. Use willpower wisely.

Willpower must be one of the human body's most energy-intensive processes.

We must exercise willpower or it becomes weak.

We must rest willpower so it re-energizes.

Exercising it wisely and resting it: these are the keys to building willpower and growing success.

Now, as Dirk confirms, a deep-rooted drive to succeed somehow ignites and sustains people's energy. And, powerful people have a deep-rooted drive to succeed. Powerful people clearly understand their goals and the effort they must sustain in order to achieve those goals. With efforts and energy focused toward achieving goals, decisions become easier and exercising willpower can more-easily become a habit. 

This week’s Dirk Schlimm quote:

“The fact is that many powerful people successfully overcome conventional wisdom and have the resources to keep their initiatives alive. Most important, one must accept as fact that outright dismissal of the genius is rarely an effective strategy for dealing with their ideas.”

Why?

Why can many powerful people overcome conventional wisdom, keep their initiatives alive, maintain concentration and focus, muster enough energy and ultimately succeed in achieving their lofty goals?

There is no quick, easy & simple answer to this question. However, given enough time most intelligent people can obtain the knowledge required to identify many of the components of the answer. And, if people read Dirk’s book then they will save themselves a lot of research and thinking as they come up with those components of business-leadership success.

Here are a few examples of the components:

Persistence/Perseverance: here’s a thought post on this topic

The Eighth Step Toward Riches - or - The First Mental Trap?

Energy/Drive: here’s a thought tweet on this topic

Energy is primal. Your energy is your gift. How are you making the best use of it? 

Goal/Achievement Orientation: here’s a thought post on this topic

5 Thoughts About Achievers & Achievements

Pleasing [enough] Personality: here’s a thought post on this topic 

Prevailing Moods & Gauging Character

Technical Competence: here’s a thought tweet on this topic

There's a reason the words confidence and competence have a similar ring to them.