To the best of my knowledge, Larry Winget was never in the Military. (However, one of his sons served in the 82nd Airborne Division) I also don’t think Larry studied martial arts, nor the texts of Asian warriors like I did. (Sun Tzu’s “Art of War” and Miyamoto Musashi’s “The Book of Five Rings (Go Rin No Sho)” are two of the most famous.) Regardless of lack of military or martial background, Larry and Wing definitely understand and live with the Warrior’s Edge.
Why am I saying this? I have read most of Larry’s books, including his most recent, “Your Kids Are Your Own Fault,” and his message is the core message of living with Warrior’s Edge. Themes of honesty, honor, integrity, and character run through Larry’s works, just in a slightly different way than I share.
I recently read one of Larry’s blog posts and he was writing about a topic he teaches often. (You could almost say it’s a concept Larry preaches, and I’d just say: amen.) Larry’s number one rule for success is a cardinal rule for living like a warrior and living with the Warrior’s Edge. As Larry preaches: “Do what you said you would, when you said you would, the way you said you would.” It’s a pretty simple rule. It is unfortunate that not everyone follows this simple rule. But of course, not everyone lives like a warrior, and not everyone is successful.
Warriors do what they say. Remember the song “Ballad of the Green Beret” written by Barry Sadler and Robin Moore and sung by Special Forces Sgt. Barry Sadler? One of the lines in that song is: “Men who mean exactly what they say, the brave men of the Green Beret.” You don’t have to wonder what a warrior’s position is, he will tell you. And the integrity of a warrior’s verbal communication is the reliability of his commitments. In other words, a warrior’s word is his bond. For a warrior, not to do what you said you would do, when you said you would, the way you said you would, would be dishonorable, and honor is essential to living as a warrior.
As a lawyer, I have many cases where people try to use loopholes to not do the things they agreed to. I have also seen many cases where people simply refuse to pay or honor their agreement until a letter from a lawyer “reminds” them of their obligation. I find these behaviors dishonorable, and there is never an excuse for dishonor.
Decide right now that you will live with Warrior’s Edge and commit to living by the highest standards and principles. The first thing you can do is commit to what I’ll call Winget’s Warrior Words of Wisdom (kinda catchy, don’t you think? I hope Larry thinks so). Those words, for the last time because they are so important: what you said you would do, when you said you would do it, the way you said you would do it.”