There’s nothing worse than a little bit of success. This is when you think you’ve got it all together and don’t need more help. You move from humble, desperate and teachable – all the way to stubborn, pig-headed and unsuccessfully directing others to do what even you don’t know how to do.

The best lesson Dani says she ever learned about success is this:

I had a little bit of success, which earned me an invitation into a board meeting with a man making a half-million dollars a month. I was the only woman in the room, and all the other participants were within 5 years of my age.

Everyone was chiming in and talking when I spoke up and said, “You know, I have a great idea!”

The millionaire slams his hand on the desk and humiliates me by saying, “You are so stupid!”

Steam came out of my ears, and I know I turned a bright red.

He asked, “How much money do you make?”

“Well, I’m just getting started.”

“Well, how much money do I make?”

“A half-million dollars a month!”

“You know what’s wrong with you 97-percenters?” he asked. “You’re so busy sizing yourself up to people like me in order to prove to yourself that you know something. But you’re so stupid. If I listened to your ideas, I’d go broke just like you. Your ideas are worth ‘broke.’ My ideas are worth half-a-million dollars a month. Sit down, shut up and pay attention. Once your stack is as big as mine, then you can talk to me.”

Was that a mean, cruel, humiliating and wrong statement for a leader to share with a young person? Would you have been totally offended?

For Dani, that was the best day of her business career because she learned that if she wanted to succeed, she had to learn from successful people. Today, she knows not to size herself up to prove that others don’t know squat, or that she knows more.

Using this lesson, Dani became a millionaire. And so can you.

Dani Johnson was the featured guest millionaire on ABC’s second season premiere of “Secret Millionaire,” and has recently made guest appearances on “The Oprah Winfrey Show,” “The View” and “Good Morning America.” And Dani knows what she speaks of: Raised on welfare, pregnant at 17 and homeless at 21, Dani became a millionaire at 23 – and knows what it is to start from the bottom, overcome adversity and rise to the top. So set aside a little time, and plug into her teachings – they’re a prime opportunity for you and your team to learn how to duplicate her success in your life.