I was fortunate to have been mentored by an ultra-successful CEO. I wanted to give back to the organization with some of the wisdom I gained from studying him for 24 years. This article was the result. His favorite quote is "Luck is where preparation meets opportunity". These principles have dramatically made my life "luckier", and I hope that they do the same for you.

1. Take ownership of all that you can. Having an ownership mindset is similar to adding 30 IQ points (few people can spare that many). If one pretends to own the company you are working for and considers it the only asset you are going to own for your entire life, you will likely make better decisions. A good question to ask is, "how would I do this if I owned this whole company?".

2. Aim big. "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." - Steve Jobs. Bonus thought: Be a little unreasonable.

3. Learn from others' experiences. This means your employees, YouTube, a boss, coworkers, books on business, articles, reading biographies of leaders you admire, and getting a mentor (this applies to your team too). Hints: Ask your team questions, and cultivate humility: every person has at least one thing they know better than you.

4. Know that there are multiple solutions to a problem. Think in terms of the metaphorical: Lexus, Toyota, skateboard, airplane, boat, walking stick (if it helps you brainstorm). Look for the best fit for the organization. It is often different from the best fit for other companies. Present multiple options for projects/algorithms/processes.

5. Assume everything can be improved. Question the status quo. Ask "what if?", "why?" and "how can we?" questions. Processes, systems, and strategies get outdated quickly. Companies need a sense of urgency because the competition is working to make you irrelevant.

6. Solve the same problem once. One example of this is to make a checklist for important functions (or build a system). When something goes wrong, fix not only the issue in this case but the root cause. Another example: Duplicate great team member qualities and skills across the organization.

7. Aim to be a rational decision-maker. Keep your emotions in check. It is okay to take a timeout. When in conflict seek clarification and understanding over being right. Assume the best in others. Forgive quickly and do not hold grudges. They hurt you more than the other person. Do not compare yourself to others. You were made for a unique purpose, if you are being someone else who is going to be you?

8. Do not try to prove to everyone how smart you are. For example, the complexity that detracts from understanding, or using professional words/acronyms that someone might not understand. Seek to make your communication concise. Tell the main point first and quickly get to who was/is going to do what, where, when, and why. It is a sign of respect to not waste another person's time.

9. Never put down in writing what you do not want on the front page of the Wallstreet Journal. Do not send emails when upset, also do not put anything in an email that can possibly be construed as negative, better to pick up the phone, words on a page can be misconstrued.

10. Prioritize activities with the highest value using the 80/20 Rule. The 80/20 rule is that "80% of the results come from 20% of the work". To place a finer point on it, 20% of our activities lead to 80% of our success. Identify that 20% and prioritize them. Consider cutting out the low-value activities. 80% of a software's value comes from 20% of its functions. Great executives excel at focusing on the important, otherwise, they drown in all the information coming to them.

11. Hire people who are more intelligent/better than you. Always be looking to upgrade the team. People who are growing and have passion for their career and company are also good traits to look for. Hint: Look for a track record of good decision-making. Bonus: If you find people who have near-zero "personal" issues they will be able to focus on work. After all, if you hire low-maintenance people, you will have low-maintenance people. How do you motivate employees? Better to just hire motivated people.

12. Do not build a silo. Communicate more than you think is necessary. The team wants to know. Also, if you do not delegate, communicate and build up your team you are in trouble, you are in your own silo!

13. Delegate. Give your high-performing people lots of autonomy. Do not be concerned about every tiny aspect of how a team member accomplishes a task. Often it is the outcome that is important not the process. Do not spell it out in detail, you want your team to learn how to learn and learn how to grow.

14. Shun the notion that you can afford to spend a little extra on things. Typically, little compromises lead to bigger ones. This has the added detriment that others in the organization see a little unwise or luxury spending and think it is okay. Then the company has a mini-epidemic, everyone overspends a little and the company's expense ratio goes up thereby reducing profitability and by extension reducing the ability of the company to give raises.

15. Do not idolize the boss. If you are a boss, tell your team "I am not perfect, do not expect me to be and you will most likely feel better about work-life". This can be a huge breakthrough for people. My manager does not have to be a perfect manager to be a good manager. Maybe I do not have to be a perfect person to be okay too? For the perfectionist out there, this may make your life considerably better... and if not today give it a few years and then come back to it.

16. Do not be wed to your previous decisions. Your decisions (previous/current/future) should be questioned by you and others. When you do change your mind and if people give you a hard time. Say this, "When the facts change, I change my mind, what do you suggest I do?"

17. Ask good questions. Examples:
• Pretend it is 5 years from now. Look back. What could we have done differently to have a better outcome?
• If I am aiming to be the best (___________insert your job title here) what would I do differently? It is always easy to find at least one thing that is not the best.
• How do we make our company a bit more customer-friendly?

18. Make customers feel like friends. Since people will always do business with their friends first, go make friends with customers! If they are not your friend yet, treat them friendly! Here are four ideas: make their life easier, get interested in what interests them, make them feel wanted, and give fast service.

19. Maximize your salary. Resolve to add so much value to the company that they feel the out-of-proportion value gained to value given and move to increase your compensation. Hints: Make your boss's concerns your concerns, also good to "work smarter, longer, and harder". Since leaders get paid to make good decisions using the best cost/benefit relationship, look at these across your projects and your team and do the ones with the best cost/benefit (risk/reward) relationships (or come up with better projects/methods).

20. Cultivate self-development. We have all heard the saying "Give a man a fish he eats for a day, teach a man to fish and he eats for a lifetime" but here is another "Teach yourself to fish". This produces a person that can evolve using better tools that produce better outcomes over time and this person is also self-developing so no manager handholding to encourage them to improve. What you want to be and create on a team is a group that is "Teach yourself to fish" type people.

21. Be the doer, not the talker. Do not spend time on popularity, political games, or complaining. Focus on adding value. Predicting rain does not count, building arks does! If you are good, an annual tooting of your horn is okay.

22. Be healthy. Excellence transfers across disciplines therefore it is hard to be a superstar leader if you neglect your body. Therefore, sleep 8 hours, avoid junk food, instead eat vegetables, lean meats, good fats, drink water, and exercise (try to get something in daily even if it is only a 10-minute walk) building the habit is key. Think of your body metaphorically as the only car you will ever own. Will you change the oil? Will you add bad fuel? Learn self-acceptance. It is a strange balancing act, content but not satisfied.

23. Let yourself experience happiness along the journey to your goals. Many times, people only let themselves feel pleasure when they achieve a big goal but this is not ideal. Use things, love people (not the reverse). Savor the "between time", the little things, and little moments.

24. Give your direct reports a vision of themselves bigger than the ones they have for themselves. Most will grow into your vision.

25. Associate with people that inspire you. Generally, you are the average of the 5 people you hang out with the most, therefore pick the ones that cause you to "reach". 26. Live not only for this world but also for the next one.

27. Believe that you can grow and change. Believing at your core that you can improve anything is a great mindset (whether true or not). When you get to a process, a system, a team, a pricing program, a sales meeting, or a telephone conversation, you name it, you can rest assured that if you do not believe that you can improve something you will not try.

28. Grow yourself. One year of experience repeated 10 years in a row is not 10 years of experience. Make certain you have become a leader with 10 years of growing and improving.

29. Use pictures to communicate. People generally speak at 150 words per minute and a picture is worth 1,000 words. Time is money, so when communicating use pictures whenever possible.

30. Review this list periodically and apply some of the nuggets. After all, we become the habits we cultivate. Therefore, place some of the above into your daily/weekly/monthly routine. What can you change today to make you or your team better?

Now go get lucky.