Why Winners Win. Pittard Gary

      Acknowledgements

      A recurring theme throughout Why Winners Win is that nobody succeeds alone. The right people in both our business and personal lives not only make the difference between success and failure, but also they greatly affect our happiness and enjoyment of life. I would like to acknowledge those who contribute, and who have contributed, to any success we enjoy.

      To my family: my wife Kerry (Kez), daughter Jasmin, son Jesse, their partners Adam King and Martine Zacka, our grandchildren Zachary, Bronte, Layla and Liam, and our unofficially adopted sons Patrick Casey and Thuso Lekwape. What is success without love of family? To me, it's failure of the worst kind. Life is lovely with you in it.

      To the Pittard team: Michael Johnston, Ninette Maddrell, Ian Eldershaw, Martyn Jeffs, Phil Lynch, Ben Harvey, Daniel Cao, Daniel Matheson, Melanie Kikoudis and Gerald Crough. I shudder to think where we would be without you.

      To the ‘extended' Pittard team: Andrew and Bev Trim, Adam Horth, Jeff Cannon, Chris Pisani, Peter Tran, Samantha Peterffy, Anthony Cordato, Michael Field, Hollie Azzopardi, Kiara Bandiera, Allen and Racheal Larkin and Gihan Perera. Thank you for your friendship and sound advice, and for all of the good things you do for us.

      To the late Bruce Clingan: you were the one who got me into Sales, after I returned from living overseas and was undecided about my career direction. Like all good salespeople, you made the decision for me, and then made a telephone call that was to put me on a path that I love, one that I have been on ever since. You were a champion.

      Thanks to Paul Jelfs for giving me an opportunity and for your guidance in the early years of my career. Your first lesson was to tell me that a salesperson who will not prospect every day for new business is nothing but an order taker – a lesson I still teach today.

      Thanks to Bill Smith and Ross Hall for all the great advice and inspiration you gave me when I first started in Sales. You taught me lessons I'll never forget, the number one being that winners care about helping others.

      To Steve Lowry and Michael Simpson, who were fledgling salespeople being led by a fledgling sales manager. We met at the beginning of our careers and I admire the men and businesspeople you have become. To George Georgiou, who joined our sales training sessions in those early days, already a winner: you took the opportunity to learn more. The three of you were the beginning of my love of leadership.

      Great leaders speak volumes by their actions and Ray Iacono was no exception. You became CEO while I was a sales manager trying to get a new department off the ground. I admired and respected you because you didn't spout platitudes about character and ethics: by your actions you demonstrated these characteristics, and more, every day. I learned a lot about leadership by being around you. You were fair, competent, loyal and true to your word; you cared for your people and were fun to be around. Your integrity was obvious, to work with you a privilege.

      Over the years, many people have presented for Pittard, either live, on Pittard TV, or in audio programs, or have contributed in an advisory capacity behind the scenes. You have generously shared your experience and wisdom and have helped our programs to continuously improve. I cannot name you all, but these people are representative of the beautiful people that have been of great assistance to us: Andrew Trim, Adam Horth, Adam McMahon, Frank Pike, Peter O'Malley, Sandy Rogers, Michael Meakin, Steve Harris, Paul Kounnas, Chris Martin, Arthur Conias, Christina Guidotti, Catherine Ongarello, Cate Killiner, Kelvin Winnie, Adam Smith, Kay Niepold, Graham Lester, Maggie Dixon-Lester, Steve Aitken, Mark McKeon, Kevin Howlett, Nathan Brett, Gihan Perera, Bob Burg, David Knox, Bill Nasby, Dr Denis Waitley, Matt Church, Catherine DeVrye, John Kralik, Dr Adam Fraser, Mandy Johnson, Richard Flint, Margaret Lomas, Wayne Bennett, Dave Tidbold, Paul Foster, Mick Flynn, Allison Mooney, Dan Collins, and the late Peter Lees and Chas Heath. We appreciate the gift of real-world feedback from the field from great leaders, businesspeople, authors, speakers and salespeople.

      When working in South-East Asia, I was privileged to meet the founders and directors of Singapore Accredited Estate Agents (SAEA): Dennis Tay, Tay Kah Poh and Peter Koh. The better I get to know you, the more I appreciate your concern for the betterment of the Singapore real estate industry. Thank you for your hospitality when I present in Singapore – the industry is lucky to have you, as am I.

      To Pittard clients – members of our Leaders Circle and Winners Circle. You continue to make me proud of the results you achieve and the service you offer your clients. Our company wouldn't exist without you. Thank you for being a major part of our lives.

      To my friend the late Bede Donovan and all friends of Bill Wilson. You know who you are and what your fellowship has done for me, and for my family. Keep coming back.

      And finally, to my friend Dr Denis Waitley. Thank you for the generous words in your foreword, but more for the lessons you have taught me over the years. Yours was one of the first books on leadership that I ever read and we were honoured to have you present a Leadership Conference for our company. You walk your talk.

      Foreword by Dr Denis Waitley

      Having devoted my life's work to studying winners in every walk of life, from Apollo astronauts to world-class athletes, from top executives of multinational corporations, to youth groups and young entrepreneurs, I consider it a privilege to offer a few opening comments about Gary Pittard's new book, Why Winners Win.

      It has been said, with timeless wisdom, ‘The greatest teachers are themselves the greatest students,' and I can say emphatically that Gary Pittard has studied ‘winners' all his adult life. He is just as curious, inspired and eager to continue growing as a student of life-management attitudes and habits today as he was when he first began his upward journey to enlightenment. As with each of us, Gary was not necessarily born to win. He was born with the equal right to invest in his potential to become a winner by choice, rather than by chance. If winning in life was based on luck, Las Vegas and Macao would be ghost towns. Winning, other than the lottery, is based on universal principles that time, technology and circumstance cannot alter.

      There are several major differences that make this book so relevant and special. First, although it deals with