Isaac Asimov woke up at 6 A.M. everyday. By 7:30 A.M. he’d be at his typewriter. He wouldn’t leave it until 10 P.M.. According to Harlan Ellison, Asimov “Had writers block once. It was the worst ten minutes of his life.”
Asimov was prolific, but it was largely due to his hard working nature. He wrote in his autobiography, “It is a point of pride with me that though I have an alarm clock, I never set it, but get up at 6 A.M. anyway.”
Asimov figured he worked so hard because his father expected him to help out at his Brooklyn based candy store long before and long after school hours. “I am still showing my father” Asimov has explained, “[that]I’m not a folyack.”
Asimov can teach us a great deal about leadership, initiative, work-ethic, and learning from failures.
Following are some of the leadership lessons Asimov would have taught were he given the chance:
