Do you know one?

I’ve worked with a few of the greatest in Radio and it’s been inspiring. Trust me, they were great before I ever met them and all I tried to do is not screw them up.

I’ve worked with many more who are good, hoping to become great.

The very best — owners, managers, air talent, creative directors — share a lot of uncommon traits.

I can see and understand what they do differently from the good owners and managers but I can’t teach those traits.

And neither can you, or anyone else for that matter.

“The principles of good management are simple, even trivial. They are not widely practiced for the same reason that Christianity is not widely practiced.”

“It is not enough to know what the principles are; you must acquire deeply ingrained habits of carrying them out, in the face of all sorts of strong urges to stray onto more comfortable and pleasant paths, to respond without inhibition to provocations, and just to goof off. “

Tom Brady could tell you every insight and secret he knows about being a quarterback, but you could never duplicate his on-the-field play.

Same for Michael Jordan and your ability to match him on a basketball court.

Closer to home, consider Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk — anyone who has created a world-changing company. Even if they could explain what they did and how they did it, you would never match their performance.

“The greats can only share all there is to teach about the subject. The problem is that’s not all there is to learn.”

“The principles of good management are simple but not easy. Mastering them will give you slightly above average performance.”

“If you want exceptional results, you need to learn things that can’t be taught…patience and extreme decisiveness.“

“Patience is one of those things that’s easy to understand and hard to practice. That’s what makes it so rare and so valuable. It’s easy to say no to bad opportunities. It’s hard to say no to average opportunities so you have room for the good ones. It’s even harder to say no to good opportunities so you have room for great ones.“

“Deciding to commit in a meaningful way is hard. While you might know all the data and have confidence in your decision, acting on it in a way that’s going to make a huge difference if you’re right isn’t something you’re taught.“

“No one can teach you when to go all in. One small way to improve your decisiveness is to start making decisions as a person, not a group. A person makes decisions. Groups provide information.” *

Greatness starts with the drive to become great and the discipline and self-assurance to admit you might not know everything: To learn!

So, what do you think? Does this description fit you?

*all quotes from Farnum Street Brain Food

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