I have
long been thinking about becoming more focused with this blog.
Previously, I had titled this blog, “On work, emotions, and
paradoxes.” Ideas I am interested in because they are so
complicated and sticky.
My
problem is that the old title was a bit too confusing. Emotions run
the gamut and do not tell the reader what to expect. And paradoxes,
while fascinating and important, are not something people generally
relate to.
Do not
get me wrong, I will still talk about emotions and paradoxes, because
they are an integral part of effectiveness and business.
However, at least for now, I do want to focus on effectiveness and
entrepreneurship.
I do not
talk about “success” because it is dependent on a very subjective
value judgment. In other words, success means different things to
different people. I do, however, talk about effectiveness because
effectiveness is about achieving your goals, whatever those goals may
be.
Also,
I talk about sales, and the profession of selling, because to be an
entrepreneur means to be a salesperson. A fair number of people
resist is this fact. To those people I quote author Dan Pink, “A world
of entrepreneurs is a world of salespeople.”
Additionally,
I am a big-time student of Tom Peters. If you do not know who Peters
is, he's a pretty big bleepin' deal. He is the author of numerous
books including In Search of Excellence and Thriving on
Chaos. Because Peters is so great I have made a quote of his the sub-headline to this blog.
As
you can see, Tom says, “All of life is sales. If you ain’t
interested in sales, you ain't interested in getting things done.
Period!” Part of what I love about that quote is how it succinctly
illustrates the inseparable nature of selling and effectiveness.
As
you may already know, a lot of my thinking, about effectiveness, is
built on the teachings of Peter Drucker. So, Drucker will continue to
feature prominently in this blog. That said, I am also a believer in
drawing on genius wherever it may be found. So, many and diverse
disciplines will be brought to bare on the beautifully deep topics of
entrepreneurship, selling, and effectiveness. As Drucker
himself said, business is a liberal art.
Thanks
for sticking around, and please let me know what you think of the new
focus.
