No matter what you do for a living today, if you want to be first in your field you’ll have to constantly live in the white-hot light of publicity. And whether this leadership comes in the form of a person or a product, imitation and envy will always be at work, and the reward and punishment will always remain the same. The reward for going to great lengths for your clientele is widespread recognition; the punishment is always fierce denial and criticism from one’s competitors.

When a person’s work becomes a standard for the industry, it also becomes a target for the shafts of the envious few. If my work is simply mediocre, I will be left to starve alongside the road to success — if my work is masterful, the referrals will come pouring in. Think about it for a minute — why in the world would anybody be jealous of someone who does a so-so job? Why should anyone even care what you write or paint or sing or build? Why would anybody bother to try to surpass you, or even to slander you, unless your work were stamped with the seal of superiority?

Long after great work has been done, those who are disappointed or envious continue to cry out that it could not have been done, that there must have been some trick involved. I wonder how many sail boat captains were angry with Robert Fulton for inventing the steamboat? And I wonder how many buggy whip manufacturers were angry with Henry Ford for streamlining the automobile assembly process?

The fact of the matter is this: the leader is attacked because he’s leading — and all the efforts to discredit him are just further proof of that leadership. When they fail to either equal or to excel, followers then seek to either depreciate or to destroy those ahead of them.

There is nothing new in this. It’s the story of the world, the story of human passions. Whether you’re driven by envy, or fear, or greed, or ambition, none of it will get you anywhere! If a leader truly leads, he will remain – the leader! Because anyone or anything which is great makes itself known, no matter how loudly the opposition complains, because that which deserves to live–lives!

( adapted from an advertisement for Cadillac automobiles, circa 1915)

Valerie Tannenbaum

Maverick Locksmith, and President

A2Z Locksmith, Inc.

“Because sometimes the best man for the job is a woman.”