Whatever your career, there is a game afoot: if you want to make lots of money, you will want to play this game. This game includes meeting the right people, knowing how to navigate the political landscape and mastering the dog-and-pony-show. If you want to generate massive amounts of cash you must go to where the cash is flowing and it is flowing within this game. To the degree you refuse to engage in this game, to that degree you restrict your ability to create wealth.

How many people do you know who have superior skills, good character and a great work ethic but who never seem to be able to acquire any wealth? I will wager that if you familiarize yourself with their world you will discover that they simply do not know the "right people." Or, if they do, they do not know how to ingratiate themselves to these people so as to gain entrance into game.

Do you remember in High School, thinking how life was a popularity contest and, for some of you, how you couldn't wait to join the "real world" where people were evaluated by their intelligence, abilities and character? Well, life really is like High School. (I read this particular analogy in one of Tom Peter's books.) This is not to say that intelligence and skill are unimportant. My point is that you must get into the game and sell yourself to the right people. Who are these people? The power brokers, the gate keepers and the keepers of the keys: anyone who can open the right doors, get you safe passage into the presence of the captains of your industry and show you where the cash is really flowing.

Politics is part of life. If you are in an office or job where there is more than one person, you will need to master the art of navigating the political system. You can have the greatest ideas and create superb projects but if the Powers That Be do not know you or, worse, do not like you, you are going nowhere. If you want to move into the part of the game where wealth is being generated, then you must learn to package yourself and your ideas in ways that are attractive to these people. Subjugate your ego so as to gain your desired outcomes.

I started my college education majoring in music. More often than not, the students that received the highest grades and those who actually went out and made a name for their selves were not the same people. Those musicians who went on to a successful career understood that technical accuracy was not enough: they had to dazzle and entertain with their expertise, as well as with their personalities. It was a show and they were the stars.

Is this how you package your ideas or your projects when you seek to "sell" them? Are you aware of what will cause you and your projects to stand out above the others? Are you mastering the dog-and-pony-show? If you are, then stand back: a flood of cash is rolling your way.