Tom Mathews, Senior Executive Vice Chairman and Co-Founder of World Financial Group (WFG) has written a great little book titled, Aim For The Heart: Leading To Build Great Teams. WFG is a financial services marketing company with offices worldwide. Tom has almost a quarter century of experience building teams and developing leaders in one of the largest industries in the world.
Tom’s organization is known for their professionalism as well as their consistent growth. Tom spends his time speaking, training, inspiring and leading his team to success.
The introduction from Aim For The Heart is as follows:
“You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.”
These words were spoken by the great industrialist, Andrew Carnegie, and I couldn’t agree more. When I think back on the people who have motivated and inspired me in my business career, they were people who cared about me as a human being first and foremost. They cared about my family, my goals, my dream; and, as my leader, they helped show me how I could make my dreams come true. They “aimed for my heart,” and I never forgot. I promised myself that if I ever had the opportunity to lead others, the heart would always come first, and that good things would follow.
When Andrew Carnegie was asked what he would do if he had to start over, he quickly replied, “Take away all my factories and money…just leave me with my good men and I’ll get back in no time.” I, like Carnegie, know that I can always replace material possessions, but my most precious assets are the members of our great team. The passion of Bill Mitchell, the relationship savvy of Greg Sorenson, the people skills of Marcy Blochowiak, and the contributions of every senior leader on our team make our business family all it can be.
The leadership principals that I share in this book are the result of observing great leaders in action; and, of course, what I’ve learned in hiring, training and inspiring our team during the past 20 years. If you’re an entrepreneur, or a manager, it is my hope that this book will become a place you can go when you’ve had a tough day and need a shot of inspiration. I also hope it can become a practical tool to help you:
- Build relationships of trust
- Lead from the front
- Manage your attitude
- Know the power of stories
- Show sincere appreciation
- Make your team’s goals exciting
- Sell your vision!
When I was just getting started in business, I was worried about making it. Now, I worry more about making a difference. I sincerely hope that this book, in some small way, will make a difference in your life as a leader and a person.
I recommend this book. Inexpensive, engaging, beautifully designed, easy to read, refreshing, inspirational and right on target! You will probably want to share copies with your team. For more information, you can visit www.tommathews.com or http://www.simpletruths.com/.
Aim For The Heart… Leading To Build Great Teams… excellent advice for any and all leaders!
