To be leader you must first follow

I have always had an entrepreneurial spirit, but I did not begin to truly strike out on my own until later in life. Through my formative years (which never end in my opinion), I focused on sports. As I aged, my focus was non-productive i.e. women, partying, and all out debauchery. What I came to realize is that your clearest thinking will continually pervade you when clouded in non-productive behaviors. So when the smoke cleared, I had an immense desire to create something viable, but no real plan. So I sought out those who walked before me, a mentor. I followed this man and attempted to absorb as much as possible about life, business, and politics. I came to realize that I have always found someone to emulate and always will. Some of you might think that will always make me a follower, but you would be naive to think you arrived on your own accord. We are all an accumulation of many different people, whether negative or positive. As we grow older, this continues. The difference being we are better able to choose who we emulate and for what purpose. It is not following, its borrowing and making it your own. It is the only shortcut that won't compromise all that a person has worked for, so choose wisely.

The Start

Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power, and magic in it. Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

The idea for Maxwell Christian & Co. came to me in Feb. 2007. At the time I only had visions of making some clothes that would fit. That eventually morphed into the idea of an apparel company that serviced various areas of the Big and Tall market. Today, I am preparing to launch my first clothing line, a brand of tee shirts. It has taken more than 2 years to get to this point, but had I not started this would be a different story. Many of us have had "the great idea", whether social, financial, political, or a combination thereof. The majority of these ideas never leave the drawing board; some feel things have to be perfect to start, some over-analyze, and others are afraid of failure. Do you know what I fear? Not trying, to look back and see missed opportunities and regrets is what I fear. To be an old gray-haired man whose life was a safe bet from beginning to end, No Thank You! Failure is a part of life, but before failure you will come across numerous opportunities for a solution. How far are you willing to go to succeed?

Twitter inductee

Just recently joined Twitter and have no idea what I am doing. It is comparable to attending a formal dinner and not knowing what fork to use first, but way less stuffy. Fortunately, there seems to be plenty of guidance on the net and I have come across some helpful Twitterers. I am pretty excited about the possibilities of being social in the moment as opposed to more stagnant social networks. Though a bit apprehensive at the amount of time Twitter could consume, not sure if there are enough hours in the day. Are you on Twitter? How do you manage?