[April 10, 2022] Ask someone to do you a favor so that you can return it. You cannot change the world, but you can make a significant impact. This cannot be done alone, without people standing with you. Asking someone for a favor is the beginning of building trust. Nurture this trust by building a network of friends and acquaintances that you can rely on. Only with others can we do anything of significance. Find someone to help you.
There’s a U.S. Navy saying that when you get a mission, “find someone to help you paddle.” You need others to complete the task or fulfill your mission! While this may seem old-fashioned as an idea, humans discovered long ago that going it alone usually does not work. Old western movies show the “lone cowboy” who chases off the bad guys, saves the damsel in distress and returns the stolen stagecoach gold. That’s not the way the world works.
There is a universal truth that you cannot change yourself without help. Find someone who has your interests at heart and ask them to assist you. It takes friends, colleagues, and sometimes strangers to guide you to the right destination.
Be part of the team. Whether in the workplace, at home, on a sports team, or just having fun, achieving the team’s goals requires working together cooperatively. This means understanding your role on the team, listening to what other team members have to say and holding yourself accountable for your mistakes. It’s incredible how easy it is to be a team player, but it does require commitment and staying power.
Hey coach, put me in the game with my teammates.
Imagine, if you will, what you would like your life to be like a few years from now. Picture what you could have, reasonably, and what you could do to get there in your mind. Then ask what are the conditions and the requirements for it to be so. Ask what the conditions of success are.
Some folks are reluctant to look ahead to their future, and by failing to look ahead, they are less likely to succeed. They have no way of measuring if they are on the right track because they don’t even know their end goal. Figure out what you would like to be. Then aim for it carefully and single-mindedly. And ask for help. If you do this, you will succeed; that success may not be straightforward or immediate, but it will happen.
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Please read my new book, “Our Longest Year in Iraq,” on Amazon (link here).
My navy friend living next door got a big laugh out of today’s article. Rarely, he says, do you write about Navy ideas but this one was a great exception. Yes, find someone to help you paddle. This is at the heart of teamwork. You can do more with help from others. I know that men don’t like to ask for help, but in most cases they should.
This is why I love the military so much. They learn quickly that you stand with your brothers and sisters (who are part of your military team). Run away and you are a coward. Stay and you are the best, the strongest, and can be proud of what you do. Remember, just like Gen. Satterfield said, Cowards Die a Thousand Times.
https://www.theleadermaker.com/cowards-die-a-thousand-times/
👍 Exactly!
Yes, cowards do die a thousand times. And, I just like to watch them because they ignore the basic life lessons that Gen. Satterfield teaches us every day.
A lot could be said about today’s article so I will note that I think that Gen. Satterfield is on target with his analysis. Humans are social creatures. We are set up to work with others to achieve our goals. Those goals can be personal, team based, or community level. Operating a soup kitchen is an example of a community team working to feeding the poor. Get involved. Be part of a team. Yes, you have to follow the rules but only by knowing and following the rules can you be free and feel more satsified with your life.
So true Wendy. Yet I find that our younger generation is LESS likely to get involved and are more bent on showing off their latest haircut or new iPhone than actually doing something constructive for their community. They would rather learn sign language and virtue signal that do anything concrete to help their local community.
Right, you won’t find a college snowflake volunteering to work in a soup kitchen. Go find one and see who is there.
They complain a lot but don’t DO anything. Whining is what they are good at. People in the older generations are more interested in getting things accomplished. Snowflakes are more interested in looking at their feet.
True, but let’s not get too talkable about a generation of spoiled brats. Let them find the world harsh and when they fold like the shocked children they are and get depressed and hateful, then tough sh##. Let them fall on their collective faces.
i like todays article sir. much appreciated.
Good to see you back on this leadership blog, Jerome. Thank you for your service.
Have a life’s goal and ask for help. That is the secret that Gen. Satterfield is telling us. Great work here. Mucho Gracias!
As a US Navy veteran, I agree. Ha Ha Ha….. the Navy is the best!
88 Inspirational Navy Sayings | Navy Quotes
https://sayingspoint.com/navy-sayings/
The message here is that the world is made up of many many teams. We each belong to many teams. Our future depends upon us each supporting that team to ensure its survival (at a minimum) or winning (at the best). Our family is a team. Etc.
The very thing that college snowflakes over look. 👍
Don’t get me started on those whinners. Such a bunch of nubs. I will be glad one day when this PC fad ends. Then we can look back over the destruction and name names, calling out those snowflakes who helped destroy lives, families, and communities. Remember its the snowflakes that cheered BLM and antifa to murder, burn, loot, and create chaos. They owe the damage. Shame them.
“Hey coach, put me in the game with my teammates.” Nuff said!
Another fine article to go with yesterday’s great article. Well done! Keep up the great work and publishing useful and entertaining blog posts. 😊
Janna, correct. You and I have been long time readers of this leadership blog by Gen. Satterfield and are regular commentators to this forum. What I like about the forum is hearing from folks like you and others but also reading Sadako Red, Army Vet, and so many other great guest writers. I hope that Gen. S. comes out with his new book very soon.
Dale, right on! Be sure to buy his current book. That is the best way to support Gen. Satterfield and this website. Unlike other sites, he does not solicit money. good!!!!