Subscribe to FeedPersonality Unleashed: If you’re the boss, be Teddy Roosevelt
by Jeff RosenbergEvery once in a while, young whippersnapper entrepreneurs ask me, an old grizzled entrepreneur, for advice. Of course, I’m always happy to oblige. Here’s my newest: be Teddy Roosevelt, let your personality be what it will be.
Teddy Roosevelt was hyperactive. He could be downright childlike in his enthusiasm for life — more than one contemporary referred to him as a child, though a brilliant one. When he was nominated McKinley’s vice president, the head of the Republican party was aghast — “Don’t any of you realize there’s only one life between this madman and the Presidency?” McKinley, of course, was killed by an assassin within a matter of months and Roosevelt the “madman” became President. Washington society was befuddled, to say the least, by Roosevelt. He could be seen hanging from a rope over the Potomac — Roosevelt was an avid weightlifter so, it’s supposed, this was exercise. He would gallop his horse through Rock Creek Park, shooting his pistol at squirrels. At times, he could be seen in his office lying on the couch, laughing and joyously kicking his feet up in the air. In short, he was a bit of a nut. He was also a great leader with a passion for fairness and justice, and a belief in America that reshaped our world.
The lesson? Let your personality go. Years ago, I used to worry about “acting professional.” Now, I just worry about being productive, about winning at the game of being an entrepreneur. I’m hyperactive. I’ve got an odd sense of humor. I’m obsessive. I can get overly anxious. I don’t try to suppress these traits anymore. I revel in who I am. Do the people I work with always enjoy these aspects of my personality? Highly doubtful. Do they get 100% of me, unfiltered in my commitment to my business and their personal and professional development? Absolutely. Because I’ve embraced my inner Teddy Roosevelt.
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I work with CleanSlate in the Los Angeles area; we hope to see you in about two weeks. Teddy Roosevelt is a fascinating personality. The following quotation is attributed to him: “It’s not the critic who counts…It’s not the man who points out how the strong man stumbled…Credit belongs to the man who really was in the arena, his face marred by dust, sweat and blood, who strives valiantly, who errs to come short and short again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming. It is the man who actually strives to do the deeds, who knows the great enthusiasm and knows the greata devotion, who spends himself on a worthy cause, who, at best, knows in the end the triumph of great achievement. And who, at worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and cruel souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Comment by Keith McCarthy — June 25, 2008 @ 3:48 pm