Aug 12 2013

SUCCESS IS THE JOURNEY.

 SUCCESS IS THE JOURNEY

. . . NOT THE DESTINATION. 

 It’s entrepreneurial leadership, not the goal!

 

Losers lack it. Winners exude it. Ask the successful people you know. They will tell you that the most sensible route to organizational success is one that engages and focuses on the passionate pursuit of “here and now” present-moment thinking, instead of dwelling on the past or worrying about the future. VOILA! “Entrepreneurial Leadership.”

Do you sometimes wonder what Barnes & Noble is thinking on it’s way to the Borders graveyard by insisting on following an archaic business model that is completely out of touch with today’s technology and marketplace? Do you wonder why the Post Office’s solution to high expenses is to close on Saturdays, lay off employees and pull in pick-up boxes off the sidewalks?

And why does a nonprofit charity mail out fundraiser letters with “2013 Supporter” car magnets that literally fade to invisibility after a day in the sun? What makes the rampant “GOTCHA” greed of so many cable TV, insurance and telephone service providers completely override the wishes and best interests of the customers they serve?

The answer to these –and any other examples you may be prompted to think about– is the same. It is wrapped around societal acceptance of the need to pursue “the end result” at all costs. It is mired deep in the thinking that popularizes “analysis paralysis” as a characterization. It is the antithesis of innovation, and of entrepreneurial thinking and leadership.

“But winning is the American way!,” you may say. Indeed it is. But just because it’s the most desirable mantra for sports and military performances, doesn’t mean it’s the right way for business or life. If anything, it’s probably as far off base as any guideline could be. No business or life flourishes when it is completely devoted to reaching the goal line. None.

Think about it. When you’re running a race and concentrating on the finish line, you stop paying attention to what’s happening at the present moment right in front of you, right under your feet, and -SMASH!- you trip and fall on your face.  Competitors of course will hop over and around you. Winners pay attention to each step AS they take each step.

Entrepreneurial leaders nurture and thrive on the present moment. Something doesn’t work? They don’t analyze the malfunction to death. They simply adjust it and keep moving forward, and adjust it again and again in the process of constantly moving forward (vs. analyzing instant and slow motion replays again and again and going nowhere)!

Entrepreneurial leaders don’t worry about goals. They have goals, but they simply pursue them by staying tuned in to where they are, each step of the way. Like any malfunction, if the goal isn’t being reached as planned or hoped for, they adjust it. Inflexible or unrealistic, or nonspecific goals are as totally meaningless as wishes.

It’s HOW you do what you do each day that determines success. HOW do you handle staying on top of the process and the interactions? Isn’t that hard? Of course it is. The challenge is to be forever on the alert to opportunities, and that’s impossible for those who are thinking or worrying too much about where they’re headed, and for those lost in the clouds of constantly re-hashing where things have been.

Successful entrepreneurial leaders are also HAPPY leaders because they function as much of the time as possible in the present, here-and-now moment. And, like success, happiness is also “The Journey”! Do you make an effort to function each day in the here-and-now present moment as much as possible? Try it. You’ll like it.

 

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Hal@TheWriterWorks.com or comment below.

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals!

Make today a GREAT Day for someone!

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Jun 14 2011

Who’s in your pocket?

Itttttttt’s a wrap!

                                                                                                          

Waitaminute! What makes you so sure?

You’ve been working at this deal for awhile now. It finally looks like things have fallen into place. You are almost ready to count your chickens before they’re hatched. You’re 99% sure that the long-sought-after customer/client is, at last, in your pocket.

You’ve started paying attention to champagne ads, and checking booking schedules for that dream cruise.

Winning with the who who’s in your pocket all depends on how much you learn from past mistakes. Yes, most of us have been there at least once. It’s called:

Presumptuousness

                                                                                  

Presumptuousness is cornerstoned by assumptions. Not a lot of architectural integrity there. In case you haven’t given it much thought lately, assumptions can be dangerous. A necessary evil, so to speak, that can often be the result of a series of correct hunches, and still be wrong.

In business, politics, and life, not many attitudes can be more foreboding.

In other words, anytime you decide that you think you know it all, you can be sure someone or some circumstance will come along and prove you wrong. It’s something like a distant cousin to Murphy’s Law.

When that dark shadow crosses your mind, stop what you’re doing. Take a deep breath. Stretch.

Ask yourself if what you believe about the outcome of that big deal looming over your checkbook’s future –or about the genuineness of the partner(s) or principal(s) involved– is based on fact or opinion.

Go back to your drawing board long enough to make sure you have some contingency plan in place to offset any pending disaster. (What’s worse than looking for a job when you have no job, or having the boat motor die miles from shore with no oars, or hosting a BBQ party and running out of fuel half-way through the steaks?)

I once hosted a huge New Year’s party that ended with guests in winter coats, hats and gloves at the punchbowl when the heating plant died in 20-degree weather. Ah,the lessons of life live and learn.)

It never hurts to follow the Boy Scout motto:

“Be Prepared!”

Or Henry David Thoreau:

“Be forever on the alert!”

                                                            

Business owners make assumptions every day, sometimes every hour. It’s part of the game of business.

We need to project income and expenses, often for 3-5 years out,to satisfy prospective investors and lenders with business plan financials. We need to devise marketing and operational plan budgets farther in advance than most entrepreneurial comfort zones tolerate.

One of the reasons older entrepreneurs are typically more successful than younger counterparts is simply experience. Most business success seems to me to be able to be reduced to making effective educated guesses.

“All we ever have is limited knowledge” 

. . . that one was Einstein

So next time, you think you know who’s in your pocket, think again!

Even Presidents have learned this the hard way, presuming voter support that never materializes.

                                                                                                       

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Hal@Businessworks.US or 931.854.0474

“The price of freedom is eternal vigilance!” [Thomas Jefferson]

Thanks for visiting. Go for your goals. God Bless You.

Make today a GREAT day for someone! 

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Feb 21 2009

ECONOMY STRATEGY: Friends and Family Help Friends and Family Get Business!

Are you talking up

                                            

your business enough? 

                                                                                     

     Do you carry business cards with you everywhere you go?  Two of the most successful businesspeople I know carry laminated business cards in bathing suit pockets and workout gear bags for the one time in a million it’s worth having them.  One, an active sportsman, keeps a couple inside his baseball cap. 

     Do you include mention of your website and blog as part of the signature area of every email you send?  Do you HAVE a website and blog?  I just read that 44% of new businesses do not have a website!  That statistic is beyond comprehension in this day and age.  If you’re in that 44%, stop making excuses; do it!

     Okay, sorry, so you DO have a website.  Do you have a BLOG?  Did you know that most blogs are FREE and many are packaged into websites and only require activation?  Do you have a professional blog writer so that you are not wasting valuable sales time trying to do something you’re not trained to do? 

     In most situations, a blog writer’s time is the only blog expense, and it’s an investment in the bottom line performance of your website!  (If you have questions about this, call me: 302.933.0116)  

     Did you know that blogs are the primary movers and shakers of website rankings?  (Because search engine spiders are out there 24/7 bumping the most active websites up in the search engine rankings, and it’s blogs that generally account for the most frequent activity.) 

     Have you sat down with brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, neighbors, friends, and told them about your business?  Have you brought them up to date lately?  Have you given them your cards to pass along to their associates and friends and neighbors? 

     Are you –as Thoreau once urged– “Forever on the alert”?  Do you make the most of social occasions to quietly suggest business contacts in the following week?  Do you think and act sales all of the time instead of part of the time or just 9-5? 

     If you dismiss these questions with excuses that you are above it all or you are not a salesperson or you think it’s not appropriate (because you run a “professional practice,” perhaps?), then you are missing the reality boat and you stand a good chance of this economy smothering you!   halalpiar   

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