subject: Lead Me, Follow Me Or Get Out Of My Way [print this page] Lead Me, Follow Me Or Get Out Of My Way Lead Me, Follow Me Or Get Out Of My Way
Let me quote a few more: "Never tell people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with their ingenuity." "You're never beaten until you admit it." "Always do everything you ask of those you command." "People who are not themselves are nobody." "Prepare for the unknown by studying how others in the past have coped with the unforeseeable and the unpredictable." "If a man has done his best, what else is there?" "You need to overcome the tug of people against you as you reach for high goals." "I don't measure a man's success by how high he climbs, but how high he bounces when he hits bottom." "A good plan violently executed now, is better than a perfect plan executed next week." And one of my favorites: "Take calculated risks. That is quite different from being rash. My personal belief is that if you have a 50% chance, take it!"
Can we apply these General George S. Patton philosophies to the battle fields of Retirement and Estate Planning? I would vote an enthusiastic YES! Whether a person is 19 or 92, or somewhere in between, the Patton approach applied to portfolio management may be an interesting discipline. It refers to past performance of others as an indicator of behavior in similar experiences. This might mean to study the historical decisions of Warren Buffet, the world's wealthiest investment advisor, to see how he acted and reacted during specific market cycles and environments and emulate his moves yourself.
If everyone is thinking alike and selling-off positions, perhaps it's more follow the leader instead of blazing a new trail or perhaps buying some of the positions they are selling. If I make a bad business or financial decision, I'm not beaten, just advancing in the wrong direction, which, can easily be corrected.
General Patton says, "if you have a 50% chance take it," to me this means; be an investor in the stock market not a saver, as the historical long-term performance of the stock market out-performed other asset classes better than 50% of the time! Give your money to the portfolio managers NOW to manage and give them ample time to get the job done without canceling or swapping funds chasing the highest past performance figures. This statement coincides with General Patton's sayings of, "A good plan violently executed.... and "Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way."
