$1,000,000 Guru Tip Found Here...

I’ll get back to the opening statement in a moment for first let me tell you this post deals with an American from the 1860’s…the American Civil War. But don’t quit reading just yet because I think anyone can benefit from the knowledge this old-time ‘guru’ possessed.

John Buford was a general for the Union Army, he was a commander in the cavalry arm. If anyone has seen the terrific movie “Gettysburg”, John Buford was played (very accurately by most accounts) by Sam Elliot.

John Buford was unusual. He was an able and much respected commander during the early part of the war in which the Union cavalry was pretty much disrespected by both friend and foe alike. The question becomes why was John Buford regarded so well when so many of his contemporaries were considered ‘average’ at best?

John Buford had a firm grip of reality. It’s that simple. He was able to see the situation for what it really was and react accordingly. Buford always seemed to ‘view’ the battle at the right distance. He was never so close that all he could see was his immediate surroundings but he was never so far away that all the details became so unfocused that he couldn’t react.

A week or so ago I posted a link and a few comments from author Robert Fritz on viewing your life from the right distance. Mr. Fritz suggested that we have 3 distances in which to view things. Too close and we see details but not the most important details (remember the saying “Can’t see the forest through the trees”?). Too far and everything becomes too blurred to be seen accurately. But ah, the middle distance—just right!

John Buford seen things from the middle distance. When he had superior positioning and a superior force…he attacked. When out-numbered or out positioned he withdrew. Buford was neither over-aggressive nor overly meek. He simply took what was given him. He was able to do this because he was at the right viewing distance and didn’t let emotion replace common sense and reason.

Now contrast this with many of the people you know. I help people start businesses within my county. Many have grandiose plans for opening another pizza shop or becoming a big-time player in Multi-Level-Marketing schemes. They aren’t taking what the market is giving them. While good, money-making niches exist, they instead use emotion to convince themselves the direction they are going is a good one.

Same thing with many of the Internet projects I hear about…why are these folks going after over-saturated markets instead of pursing more opportune projects? Easy, they aren’t at a good viewing distance and they are using emotion instead of common sense. And remember John Buford was dealing in the most precious of resources—human life. While we as business folk make decisions concerning resources much less valuable and are much more replaceable. You would think our ability to make good decisions should be better.

Here is a quote for a civil war magazine on John Buford:

“Buford maintained his as one of the best, if not the best, Federal cavalry commander with the Army of the Potomac. His field management was superb, his tactical decisions crisp. His men fought with grim determination that would have been unheard of a year before. One reason is obvious: Buford continuously put his men into position to do good work.”

Do you put your projects into position to “Do good work”?