“When
the student is ready, the teacher will appear.” Have you ever heard
that saying before? What do you think? Is it true? I definitely
believe that it is true. A lot of people credit Buddha with the
saying but, apparently, that isn't the case. The statement appears to
have come from The
Theosophical Society. But that's neither here nor there.
The
point of this post is to give you a couple personal examples. As you
probably imagine, I love books and I love reading. I believe it's
wise to remain a student for life. That wasn't always the case. For
years I thought I had it all figured out and it caused a lot of
problems in my life. One day I realized that I needed to learn new
stuff. I needed to go back to my student days.
Before
long I was spending lots of time in places like the library and
Barnes & Noble. In my line of work, we sell a product that is,
essentially, an insurance product. I needed to train people on what
we're doing, and I was struggling to find a good explanation. The
student in me was in full bloom. I kept wrestling with questions
about the essence of our product line. I was beginning to realize
that it was all about the power of the group. It was all about buying
power.
Individually, we have no where near the buying power that we do collectively. I was
beginning to realize that insurance is simply group-purchasing. It's
a form of Other People's Money or OPM. When we people pool their
money together, they are able to purchase services that they couldn't
have afforded on their own. And that's when the teacher appeared.
It
was a hot July day in Huntington Beach, California and I had just
walked into the Barnes & Noble on Beach Boulevard. I could smell
the velvet aroma of brewing coffee, and could hear the buzz of
capitalism, as registers opened and closed. Even more satisfying was
the relieving hum of the store's air-conditioner. Thankful for the
respite, I the walked towards the business section to post-up at my
usual diggs.
You
see, I love puzzles, they're one of the few things that can keep me
off the beach. One way to look at it is that book stores are full of
teachers. As I walked toward the shelves one book, in particular,
seemed to be staring at me. As I got closer the cover began to come
into focus. The only book that had my attention was this one: OPM
Now,
I had been at that store a million times and I had never seen that
book. It was kind of freaky. I think this is one dimension of fate or
destiny. In life, what we pay attention to largely determines how
things turn out.
A
very similar experience happened at yet another Barnes & Noble. I
had been doing some sales and marketing training and I was having a
great time with it. But one puzzle constantly surrounded me. You see,
a lot of people think that sales and marketing are basically the same
thing, or at least very similar. But Peter Drucker disagrees. He says
they are, in fact, opposites. Now, that is a rather challenging idea. Indeed, it's a puzzle.
Drucker
was ever the contrarian and I was fascinated by the counter-intuitive
nature of his statement. It made me wonder, what is selling? What
is marketing? And, are the two similar, or are they indeed opposites?
I happen to remember that this was during the winter time. The reason
I remember the season is because I had strolled into the Barnes &
Noble, in Costa Mesa, California, bundled up in a heavy jacket.
At
this particular B&N, there at Metro Pointe, the books are mostly
located on the second floor. I walked past the magazine rack and went
up the escalator. I made a U-turn and breathed deep, to take in the
finer notes of espresso, as I passed the cafe. As I got to the book
rack my eyes began a rapid scanning that would make most gamers proud. But it only took a few moments until I was transfixed on the
following book: What is Marketing?
Needless
to say, I immediately purchased the book and consumed almost all of
it in one sitting. Today, I have a pretty good understanding of OPM
and marketing. But that's not the point. I guess, in some ways, what
I'm ultimately trying to dispel is the myth of the secret. When
trying to sell (or is it market?) a book, authors often use the word
“secret” in either the title or the subtitle. To many people the
word secret is nothing less than catnip. But I don't believe there
are any secrets, there's just stuff you aren't paying attention to.
Don't get me wrong, people do keep secrets. But these are secrets
about specific actions, usually inappropriate behavior.
I've always wanted to write a book titled, “Secrets of why people are
always selling secrets.” With secrets in the title, twice, how
could it not be a best-seller? (or is it best-marketer?)
Teachers
are all around us. Of course, part of the problem is that a lot of
them are so much hooey. Deciphering which are the real teachers takes
time and practice. But I'm certain, if you remain a student and hone
your radar, the right teachers will manifest themselves.
