BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT & PERSONAL GROWTH

8 Lessons in Military Leadership for Entrepreneurs — My takeaways

The picture was taken from the internet

Another masterpiece from R. Kiyosaki shared the benefits of the military service for an entrepreneur, his thoughts on school education vs military training, and his definition of a great leader.

The Three Critical Ideas from the book (IMHO)

1. Schools vs Military training. Schools teach students to compete with each other and punish them for making mistakes. The schools engage mental intelligence, and in Kiyosaki's opinion, prepare good employees from the students. Military training, teach cooperation and teamwork. It's practical learning through simulating real experience, where students learn from mistakes. It's more than mental intelligence. It's also physical, emotional and spiritual intelligence.
2. The Leader's qualities. A good leader should be a role model and lead by example. If a Leader is weak, the entire company/team is weak. Great leaders inspire others to feel a part of something bigger than themself. Good leaders tend to ask questions rather than give orders and threaten to listen to them.
3. ESBI. Stands for Employed, Self-Employed (or a specialist/independent contractor), Big Business and Investor. Robert explains the different levels of the cash flow and how to identify your level as well as how to jump to the next level.

• Employed. Employment provides security but limits your independence and earnings. The time you spend at work is your money. You don't work — you don't get paid.
• Self-employed. These people create their own jobs. They value independence and relative freedom. They tend to do all work by themself, and usually are perfectionists. That's why Robert calls this level 'specialist'.
• Business Owners. People on this level ask questions, "who can I pay to do the job for me?" Financial freedom is the priority for these people.
• Investors. These people already have capital/deposits and constantly seek to put these many into to make more money.

Discipline

I want to put a separate paragraph for 'Disciplie' because I believe discipline is the key to success.

Robert says that many people are trapped between their problems and their dreams. But one day, they become comfortable with their problems and keep living as is. Discipline means doing what must be done when it must be done and even if you may not want to do it.

There are two types of discipline — external (when someone else tells you what to do) and internal (when you choose to do something). And the word is constantly disciplining us by punishing us for our laziness, procrastination and not well-considered decisions.

Afterwords

Another time I was reminded that teamwork is something I need to aim to level up. I have to stop trying to do everything by myself and start growing the team.

Definitely, a book to apply the ideas from and re-read it again in a year.