Foreword
by Scott DeGarmo, Editor in Chief and Publisher, Success Magazine
There is an ancient story that has enjoyed endless
variations. The one I know involves three wise but sightless
men who chance upon an elephant. The first wise man gets
hold of one of the elephant's legs and cries out, "Why, it's
a magnificent mansion with huge columns!" The next wise man,
feeling the elephant's tail, retorts derisively, "It's
nothing of the kind. This is but a very strong rope." The
last wise man, feeling one of the elephant's tusks, says
with equal certainty, "You are both wrong. What we have here
are some of the most fearsome sabers you can ever imagine."
I tell you this story because it reminds me of the
endless discussions concerning how to build a successful
company. There are those who insist that successful
organizations come out of personal effectiveness if your
people are effective, then your company will also be. Others
insist that it is simply a matter of good leadership with
the right leader, any organization will thrive. Others,
however, swear with equal fervor that the measure of a
successful company lies in the effectiveness of its
organizational structure.
Like the experiences of the three wise men, each of these
points of view is right in a limited way and wrong in its
incompleteness as a total philosophy for corporate
improvement. The truth lies in the fact that these three
views combined create the necessary vision to build a
successful organization. Here, paradox becomes paradigm!
Jim Clemmer's Pathways to Performance is the first
book I have read that successfully weaves the
high-performance rope out of the strands of organizational
improvement, leadership development, and personal
effectiveness. Here you'll find no quick fixes; Clemmer
correctly believes there are none. Rather, he demonstrates
what has taken him years of experience to learn, both as a
successful entrepreneur (as you will soon read) and as one
of the most brilliant and sought-after consultants in North
America.
This is no dry tome. Jim's understated humor permeates
every part of this book. The style is breezy and accessible.
Yet, he is dead-on accurate in pointing out some of the
amazing inanities that underlie the way we go about trying
to effect change. He may irritate you, and I know he will
challenge and perhaps even madden you. But he will make you
think!
So, keep your mind open and your ego in check. You'll be
richly rewarded!