CRUISING ALTITUDE
FINANCE
THE
BLAME
GAME
IT’S PLAYED BY LOSERS,
NOT LEADERS
PART ONE OF A TWO-PART SERIES
BY ROBERT KIYOSAKI
WITH RICH DAD ADVISOR BLAIR SINGER
uring the U.S. government shutdown,
every time I saw President Obama,
Senate Leader Harry Reid or Speaker of
the House John Boehner on television,
I turned it off. All they were doing, day after day,
was blaming the other guy for their inability to
lead. When I think about the word blame . . . I see
it as the shortened form of two words: be lame. In
my opinion, we have some pretty lame leaders.
D
Those of you fortunate enough to be flying on private jets know
that being lame did not get you into that world. If someone has set
their sights on being a strong leader who can start or grow a company
or affect global change, there isn’t much room for blame or being lame.
Playing the blame game is for losers.
One advantage I have in business is that I had four years of military
school and six years as a Marine officer and pilot with a year’s tour in
Vietnam. Our job as Marine Corps Officers was to lead our men into
some of the most hostile environments in the world — and do our best
to bring them home alive. Although I went down three times while in
Vietnam, losing three aircraft, I am proud to say that I went over there
with 16 men and all 16 came home alive and whole.
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“My point to all this “war talk” is we have a nation of
leaders who are incompetent, fearful and panicked.”
- Robert Kiyosaki
A friend and fellow pilot was not so fortunate. On one
I saw this friend, this pilot who lost his aircraft in addition to
for his incompetence, fear, panic . . . and the casualties that
the air — a perfect target. Suddenly, a streak of white smoke twisted
the Vietcong.
the Vietcong were now armed with this new technology, but this
who are incompetent, fearful and panicked. When I turn on the
television and watch them speak, I wish they would be less lame
and more forthright. I’d rather hear them say: “This problem
exists because we cannot solve our problems. We as a nation are
in serious trouble. Our national debt is beyond our abilities to
This new technology gave the Vietcong a huge advantage.
not have to go through four years of college then three years of
pin, point in the general direction of the target aircraft and pull the
trigger. The rocket did the rest.
aircraft lost their lives when the giant helicopter crashed and
burned. The U.S. Marine pilots and gunners survived the crash and
were rescued immediately.
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To me, that would be leadership.
In the sidebar article here, my dear friend and advisor, Blair
Singer, writes about the examples of leadership he witnessed
while climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with his son. It is an inspiring
story and example of how even in the most remote places on earth,
inspirational leadership is necessary — and found. He has titled
his sidebar to this article Leadership at 19,340 Feet.
Leadership
at 19,340 Feet
BY BLAIR SINGER
I
n a previous issue of Jetset
lessons on that mountain, I’ve chosen to write about something
I learned on that trip that may be invisible to most. It is a lesson
about leadership.
Taking average folks from the comfort of their homes in
Scottsdale to the outstretched arms and spirits of children in need
standing mountain in the world) is the work of incredible leaders.
Leaders who, by the way, are unsung in the world of business, media
and social circles.
The leaders of K2 Summit Productions did what I talk about in all
my training programs — and did it in a way that I have seen few other
do it. They created a context, or environment, without workshops,
without preaching, without catchy slogans, without books, podcasts,
seminars, titles, broadcasts, or endorsements. And what they
accomplished not only transformed all of us on the expedition, but
has become instrumental in transforming a country.
of their quest to support disabled and disenfranchised children and
families around the world by providing healthcare and education
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from the proceeds of their expeditions and charitable fundraising.
I could spend days — and thousands of words — talking about
the immense heart and spirit that they and their team exhibit
supporting kids that the world has given up on and left behind. They
You come to see that each mountain that they climb represents
the even bigger mountains, mountains that these challenged kids
have to climb every day to either stay alive or have a life . . . mountains
of disease, abandonment, blindness, poverty, lack of education. As a
student of great leaders and someone who is committed to helping
teams, I took note of what they did to get others to step up — literally
— to such great heights.
In the next issue of Jetset, I’ll share K2 leadership’s ten secrets.
. . . but with creating a context — an environment — that creates
extraordinary results.
There is a reason that I chose the topic of leadership for my
contribution to Jetset. My message today is that we need more
of impacting us all.
I look forward to coming full circle on this topic in the next
issue of Jetset, and that article will include more from Blair on K2’s
leadership and their formula for success that has played such an
important role in the work they do around the world.
In closing, I’ll leave you with a thought, a thread, that I will pick
up next issue . . . a quote from Robert Kennedy . . .
TUCSON, ARIZONA
“To those whom much is given, much
is expected.”
Robert Kiyosaki is an entrepreneur, educator, investor, author of the international
bestseller
... and a regular
contributor to Jetset. Andy Tanner is a Rich Dad Advisor, educator in the arena of
paper assets and the author of Stock Market Cash Flow and 401(k)aos.
“A Code of Honor is the cornerstone of the culture of any
organization because it is the physical manifestation of its
thoughts, ideals, and philosophies.”
- Blair Singer
Y OU
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JetsetMag.com
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CRUISING ALTITUDE
FINANCE
THE BLAME
GAME
Leaders Needed — Are You Ready?
PART TWO OF A TWO-PART SERIES
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BY ROBERT KIYOSAKI
& BLAIR SINGER, RICH DAD ADVISOR
“The blame game affects us all
and diminishes our power to affect
change and impact the future.”
n my article in the last issue of Jetset, I wrote about leadership . . . and how the
blame game affects us all and diminishes our power to affect change and impact
the future.
As promised, my good friend and Rich Dad Advisor Blair Singer, an
internationally-recognized expert on team building and sales training, will share
more of the lessons he learned climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro.
In my last article, I wrote about my experiences in the Vietnam War and a
friend and fellow helicopter pilot’s disastrous mistake. It was the result of fear and
panic — and it cost lives. My reason for recounting that story was not only about
that tragic casualty of war, but about the aftermath. How we deal with challenges,
problems and disasters. How we take responsibility and shoulder blame, if
necessary, to be the leaders that today’s leadership roles demand.
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y point, in Part One of this article, is this: Today we have
a nation of leaders who are incompetent, fearful and
panicked. When I turn on the television and watch them
speak, I simply wish they would be less lame and more
forthright. No one person has all the answers and the challenges
that the future presents — related to debt and entitlements. It’s
time to demand that leaders step up to the challenge and to the
responsibilities of leadership.
I see the U.S. economy today as a situation much like my friend’s
In my opinion, this isn’t a time for me to step backwards. It’s
not a time for me to ratchet down my commitment to being an agent
of change. Rather than retire — play golf, be lame and blame our
leaders for our problems — I believe it’s time for me to do more.
In 2014, my company, the Rich Dad Company, will launch
problem is, our current leaders are being lame — just like many
solve a global problem.
My message to all of you is we need more leaders like you to
step forward like Kevin and Kristen of K2Leadership have . . . like
so many of you already have. In Part One of this article, Blair Singer
contributed the story of his experience with K2Leadership. Here
are his insights into that company’s leadership secrets.
M
again. The problem is that the road is coming to an end.
As I see it, we as a nation and a world are faced with three
options. They are:
1. Pay off the debt
2. Default on our obligations
3. Print more money
should be taught in schools to anyone who wants to learn. One
entrepreneurship and investing. The second is a grassroots approach
of teaching those same subjects via clubs in cities throughout the
world. You may have noticed that I apply my military school training
“To be fair, our current leaders did not
If we pay off the debt, the U.S. economy would collapse. If the
United States defaults on its debts, the world economy collapses. If
These are not very exciting or appealing options.
Personally, I (as many of you) have enough money and am old
know, the entitlement programs are in dire straits and Social Security
Robert Kiyosaki is an entrepreneur, educator, investor, author of the international
bestseller
... and a regular
contributor to Jetset.
10 Secrets
to Leadership
at 19,340 Feet
BY BLAIR SINGER, RICH DAD ADVISOR
I
n the last issue of Jetset, I had the opportunity to contribute to Robert’s
article on leadership . . . and responsibility. And, as promised, I’m
including K2Leadership’s 10 secrets below.
words . . . but with creating a context — an environment — that creates
extraordinary results.
1. Create and identify narrow time boundaries.
Kevin and Kristen were always very clear in telling us to never
ask about what was going to happen tomorrow or the next day.
We were only allowed to ask about today. We were told how many
hours we would be climbing and what to expect, but nothing more.
Everything was compartmentalized into understandable and
narrow, limited time frames. Wake-up to breakfast, hiking to lunch,
hiking to camp, unpacking and rest, afternoon tea and dinner . . .
then sleep. I always say that most people cannot plan past lunch.
you have to shrink the space.
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2. Eliminate uncertainty through preparation and frequency
of contact.
Lots of mental stress comes from not knowing how to prepare for
the unknown. Every night at dinner we were told what the next day
would look like, what to pack and how to pack it. How many times
meetings, team hikes and team packing parties. We learned to be
comfortable with our gear, our bodies and our tasks. It eliminated a
whole chunk of potential anxiety and worry about what will happen
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4. Lots of humor. Everyone on the team got a nickname. My son was
higher altitudes, he would crash at 7:30 in the evening and sleep
like a rock until 6:30 the next morning. It made for lots of laughs.
use a pee bottle in my tent at night rather than getting dressed and
freezing nights. Laughter breaks the tension, reminds you that you
are human, and that nothing is so big that you cannot enjoy and
laugh . . . at and with each other.
5. Forced focus and presence. We were continually told to focus
on our feet, one step at a time. Only inches at a time. It forced your
whole perception to narrow to a very small space at your feet. We
became a kind of mantra that created both a rhythm and a focus
6. Removal of distractions that would cause stress to the team.
There were three porters for every one of us on the climbing team.
They carried the food, tents, supplies and most of our mountain gear.
They were at our tents at 6:30 every morning with coffee and tea,
cooked delicious meals, cleaned up, broke camp and set it up again the
next day. All we had to worry about was ourselves, getting rest, eating
a lot and hiking. As a leader, you need to eliminate the distractions that
cause your team to wander, lose focus and stress out. Your goal is to
keep them focused on what they are setting out to achieve. It’s good to
7. Being tireless students of their own trade. Kevin and Kristen
the local culture and the details of conditioning and training. Do you
Robert Kiyosaki continued...
My point for choosing the subject of leadership for Jetset magazine
is because the readers of Jetset represent the upper one-tenth of
one percent of the U.S. population. Life has been good to you, to us.
The world needs our help. It is no longer enough to simply be lame
and blame our leaders for the mess we are all in. We can all do
something more.
your success.
8. No smoke but tons of encouragement. They rarely told us...
our team hiking column, periodically saying, “Great job... keep
moments to feed depleted lungs and tired muscles with the right
amount of energy.
9. Continually watching the team. Kevin and Kristen seemed to
know exactly when the team was waning a bit. They watched us all
day like hawks, coming up to us individually and asking how we
were doing, how we were feeling, and — just as you thought you
were fading — they would magically call a break for rest, food and
water. It always seemed like it came at the perfect time. It triggered
this question to myself: Are you focused only on the objective or are
10. Incredible graciousness. Their treatment of the porters, guides,
the whole reason for the expedition was to support the kids in the
school and orphanage . . . the story I shared in the previous issue of
Jetset. Serving others who serve you is the stuff of great leaders. The
friendship, trust, camaraderie and caring between K2 and those who
supported our expedition creates a context in which K2 is always
welcomed back, always watched out for and always appreciated.
At 19,340 feet it seems to come together, but do you know
environment that is safe, certain, gracious, fun and rigorous takes
work. What I can tell you is that their work changes lives. And
they’ve given me lessons in leadership that are inspiring and that I
can share with those I teach.
Thank you, Kevin and Kristen, for giving so much by being
the awesome leaders that you are. Thanks, too, to Robert for the
invitation to collaborate on this article... and to Jetset for this
awesome, world-class forum.
Blair Singer is a facilitator of personal and organizational change, a trainer and a
dynamic public speaker, and author of
I’ll close, again, with the words of Robert Kennedy:
In this new year, we have the opportunity to commit, anew, to
taking responsibility for the future.
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3. Tight rules.
on the trail, stay together, be on time, drink lots of water, etc. These
tight rules brought the team closer together. You felt safe because,
even though you were way outside your normal comfort zone, you
were safe inside a bandwidth that you knew you could trust and did
not have to think about. Once at the summit, our orders were clear:
Take your pictures and start your descent right away. Those who
were showing signs of altitude sickness headed down immediately.
Even in moments of victory, close vigilance was maintained. Many
times, when we celebrate, that’s when we take our eyes off the
game. Lives depended on it.
Passion cannot be bought,
B U T I T C A N B E K I N D L E D.
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