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In 1989, at the Oak of his success, Arthur Lynch Williams, erstwhile high school football coach, self-made millionaire and bane of the life insurance business, published his autobiography. It was called All You Can Do Is All You Can Do, and it was a bestseller. In the book, Williams laid out a six-point success program that he claimed would work for everybody
What Williams didn't know at the time was that his program contained an inherent flaw, a dark undercurrent that would sweep him on a wild ride past wealth and adulation and unbridled power and hurl him toward a fate that is still unresolved. It was a flaw that made his fall as inevitable as his rise.
The flaw was Art Williams himself.
POINT #1. BECOME A DREAMER AGAIN.
"As a child, everyone has big dreams of what they want to become. But adults lose their ability to dream as life's realities set in."
Art William grew up with dream no bigger than a football field. The son of a high school coach in Cairo, Ga., Williams followed his father into the locker room and spent seven years building the high school football team in Columbus, Ga., into a state champion. But coaching didn't bring in much money, even for the Georgia Coach of the Year, so Williams, age 24, began supplementing his income by selling insurance part-time for ITT Financial Services.
He was a natural salesman. It didn't take long for his part-time income to outstrip his coach's salary. He also began to formulate his dream for building an empire, an empire that combined his new-found gold mine with his proven ability to inspire and motivate other people.
In 1973, Williams said good-bye to Columbus and the gridiron and moved his family to the big city. In Atlanta, he took his dream to Waddell & Reed, a Kansas-based financial services firm. Within two years he attained the position of regional vice president.
Williams began to hone the style and techniques he would take with him into his own business. They were techniques that, despite his success, would not mesh comfortably with the midwestern firm's more conservative approach.
"He was just as everyone knows him today--very energetic, missionary zeal, kind of hyper, but...