Massive Action

If you are an entrepreneur, or if you are in sales, undoubtedly you have heard about the importance of massive action. Massive action is good and it is important.

Sales trainer, Grant Cardone, has written an entire book on the concept of massive action. If you do not already know, the book is titled The 10X Rule. And, I believe, we should all read the book because a lot of people seem to take pride in the fact that they work smart and not hard. A ridiculous concept I wrote about in this post.

The idea that you can work smart, and not hard, is stupid. As you can see, in that post, it was an idea used to promote the importance of secondary education. So, please take it for what it is, propaganda.

The reality is, effectiveness requires massive action. Our job, each one of us, is to decide what is important and what is not. To identify what is important, you might want to read this post, and this one, as well as this one.

Once you have defined what is important, you will be able to define the task. It is then, after the task has been clarified, that we must take massive action. When something is important we must always remember to err on the side of doing too much.

First let's consider a non-business example. Let's say it is important to you to be married. And to have that marriage be healthy and loving. Fantastic! Your mission is to maintain a healthy, loving marriage. Now, I am anything but a marriage counselor. So, in no way do I intend to give martial advice.

That said, I think we can all agree that one of the pillars of a healthy relationship is communication. For this reason, I think it is obvious that communicating is one of the tasks in a relationship. In turn, we should err on the side of too much, rather than not enough, communication.

Even in the case of marriage, I believe it is wise to remember the importance of massive action.

In the case of entrepreneurship, and selling, Grant Cardone would tell you the most important thing is to get attention. In a more technical way, entrepreneurs are salespeople. And salespeople have three main tasks: prospecting, presenting, and closing.

Prospecting is, arguably, the most important task for the professional salesperson. And, getting attention is simply Cardone's characterization of prospecting.

Lest you think this is so much hot air, let's talk quickly about hot air balloons. If you think entrepreneurs do not need to be salespeople, allow me to submit Exhibit A: Richard Branson.

Branson is one of the world's greatest entrepreneurs. And, one thing Branson is absolutely outstanding at is getting attention. One minute he is dressing up in drag, and the next minute he is attempting to circumnavigate the earth in a hot air balloon. All to get attention for himself and for the Virgin brand. Branson understands that getting attention is a core competency for the entrepreneur.

What are we saying here? First you need to clarify what is important to you. Next, you need to define your mission. Then, you need to identify the key tasks which will allow you to accomplish your mission. Finally, you must take massive action in the execution of said key tasks.

This is a blog post, and for that reason, mine is a simplistic model. But, it is still rather powerful. If you want to succeed as an entrepreneur, you need to be an effective salesperson. And, rule number one of selling is getting attention.

Just because Richard Branson loves to have lots of fun, do not think for a second that he is not aware of what he is doing. Fun is an integral part of the Virgin brand. This is why the brand can be extended to everything from music album to soda, and airplanes to intergalactic travel.

Branson is an absolutely masterful salesman. Which means he understands how imperative it is to get attention. And, Cardone does a pretty good job of expounding on the topic. Like Grant says, "I'm in yo face!"

Happy Anniversary

This week is a pretty big anniversary and most people do not even know it. So, let's talk about this week's potential celebration.

It was 105 years ago, this week, when Theodore Roosevelt gave his “Citizenship in a Republic” speech. The speech was delivered on April 23, 1910 at the Sorbonne in Paris, France. The speech is sometimes referred to as “The Man in the Arena.”

Here is the now-famous quote from Teddy's speech:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes up short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

As I was typing out Roosevelt's words it got me to thinking about Sam Walton. You know Walton of course. He is the man who created Walmart, the largest retailer in the world.

Some time ago I was reading Walton's autobiography, written as Sam was dying of cancer. Walton had lived a life of action. He is proud of the fact that everyday he got after it, and stayed after it.

However, in the last chapter of the book, Walton writes, “I guess when you get older, and illness catches up with you, you naturally turn just a little bit philosophical.”

Walton continued, “The truth is that if I hadn't gotten sick, I doubt I would have written this book, or taken the time to try to sort my life out.” The question at hand was whether or not Sam had spent his life in a worthy cause.

As we might imagine, building Wal-Mart required tremendous effort and sacrifice. Walton asked himself, “Am I really leaving behind something on this earth that I can be proud of having accomplished, or does it somehow lack meaning to me now that I am facing the ultimate challenge?”

I personally believe that death can help give meaning to life. Death creates a deadline. And, a project is not a project unless it has a deadline. We are all projects of various kinds. It need not be a morbid thought to ask the question, what do you want to be remembered for?

I think we all know it is hard to hit a target we cannot see. The question, what do I want to be remembered for? can be scary and intimidating. But, that is no reason to avoid cultivating your answer.

I have heard it said that the meaning of life is meaning. That is to say, it is incumbent upon each of us to create a meaningful life. Hopefully Roosevelt's quote can help give you the courage to go for it.

Lastly, I shall not leave you hanging on the subject of Sam Walton. If you have not read his book, I will finish the story. In many ways, I believe Walton was the embodiment of The Man in the Arena.

Walton wrote, “Here's how I look at it: my life has been a trade-off. If I wanted to reach the goals I set for myself, I had to get at it and stay at it every day. I had to think about it all the time. I had to get up every day with my mind set on improving something.”

I have no idea how familiar Sam Walton was with President Roosevelt's quote. But, the punchline is, yes, Walton was happy and proud of the fact that he had dared greatly. Walton wrote, “I am just awfully proud of the whole deal, and I feel good about how I chose to expend my energies in this life.”

Sam had also written, “While a lot of people were working away at jobs they might not have particularly enjoyed, I was having the time of my life.” Of course, daring greatly is not limited to work life. It is about being courageous, and entering the arena, regardless of the game we choose to play.

A big part of the problem, perhaps the main part, is that we fear what other people (the critics) might think or say. Listening to the critics keeps us small. It destroys meaning and fulfillment. In celebration of the anniversary of Teddy's quote, I hope that everyone will have the courage to dare greatly.

The Value of Perfectionism

I do not know about you but I tend to be a perfectionist. In fact, I know a lot of people aim for perfection. Is that a good thing or a bad thing? I would say … it depends.

Often times we use the word perfectionist as a euphemism. Some people seem to almost be bragging when they say they are perfectionists. And, what being a perfectionist can really mean, is being afraid of making mistakes. Perfectionism is a manifest of fear. It is a method of coping with emotions.

For whatever reason, life teaches us that mistakes are a bad thing. Maybe it is our schooling system. Maybe it is overprotective parents. Who knows. But, how we got here is less important than where we are headed.

Despite what we may have been taught, mistakes are not a bad thing. You do not need to fear making mistakes. And, as an extension, you do not need to be perfect.

This does not, however, mean you should not try to do your best. Doing your personal best has many positive rewards. Doing your best usually causes you to stretch yourself. Which leads to personal growth. Which is a good thing. It is very rewarding, psychologically.

Doing your best can create pride and happiness. Evolution has wired our brains to enjoy the act of overcoming laziness. We feel good when we do not succumb to laziness. That said, laziness is a formidable foe. He will scream in your ear and beg you to stay with him. He will try to convince you that the effort is not going to be worth it.

But, mother nature is smarter than laziness. She knows about the importance of effort. So, she has hard-wired your brain to feel good after doing the work. Doing your best does results in many psychic rewards. Like Gandhi said, “Full effort is full victory.”

What I am saying is that it is important to be able to perceive the line between good perfectionism and bad perfectionism. Good perfectionism means trying your best and hardest. It means striving for excellence. Bad perfectionism means demanding that you actually become perfect.

To sum it up in a sentence, I believe we should strive for perfection knowing full-well it is not attainable. This is another elegant paradox. And, it has everything to do with this past post from the Buddhists. What matters most is the striving.

General Electric CEO, Jack Welch, was always looking for people with the longest "runway." Welch viewed your runway as your capacity for growth. Abraham Lincoln was the embodiment of a long runway. He lifted himself from an absolute nobody to a resident of Pennsylvania Avenue.

Thinking big and striving for excellence/perfection lengthen your runway. It will always give you something new to work on. Something to look forward to. It will stave off complacency and increase engagement. All-in-all it is a pretty great idea. And, one of the keys is to internalize the truth that mistakes and failures are inevitable parts of effectiveness and success. If you need evidence, just read all the mistakes I make on this blog :P

We are talking about a battle of good perfectionism versus bad perfectionism.

Perfect Your Pitch

Today is Opening Day for the 2015 season of Major League Baseball. As you may know, of course, I am a big fan of baseball. At the beginning of last season, I wrote this post, and it was very well received. A LOT of you read it.

As you can see, that post was about the reverse K. It was about striking out looking. It was a post about the sadness that is inaction. This year, to celebrate the start of 2015, let's talk about action. Let us talk about the pitch.

By talking about a pitch I will, of course, be speaking metaphorically. As we know, in the world of business, a pitch is a sales message. Your pitch is your sales message. It is the offer you make to the public.

These days, the word “pitch” is generally used in a negative and derogatory fashion. Meaning, when somebody tells you to give them your pitch, they are usually being dismissive. What they are really saying is, “Hurry and tell me what you've got so I can hurry and say No.”

For this reason, if you are in sales, I do not recommend pitching people your products. Rather you should maintain your posture and refuse to be subjugated in such a pathetic manner. I do believe it is fine to tell people the benefits of what you do. But, I also support you when you refuse to jump through hoops like some circus clown.

I will give you a personal example. I will tell you what I do. What my company does is we make it so that top-rated attorneys are completely affordable for people. It's simple and it's powerful. In the beginning that is a person needs to know. So, I do not explain any further. If somebody wants more information, I will happily send it over, or we can arrange for an appointment. Either option is more effective than a pitch. It's win-win.

That said, I do suggest that all people perfect their pitch. To this you may ask, Courtney, aren't you contradicting yourself? The answer is, no, I am not. As I have said, the fact is, the word “pitch” tends to be a pejorative. At the same time, I think it is wise to take ownership of that word. I like taking a negative and turning it into a positive. It is something they did on TV.

Did you ever see that television show called PitchMen, with Billy Mays and Anthony Sullivan? The creators of that show took a negative and turned it into a positive. Because, if you like to berate pitch men, and you know that show, the joke is on you!

So, yes, a pitch is a sales proposition, and I think we should all know exactly what it is that we sell. Even if you are not technically “in sales,” you still need to know your pitch. Like Tom Peters said, “All of life is sales.”

Let's say you want to go to a certain restaurant for dinner. You might need to pitch people on the idea. Or, let's say you want to convince your child to clean up his room. You better pitch hard! The list of examples I could create is endless.

Over the weekend I watched a beautiful presentation by Guy Kawasaki. The name of the talk was “The Art of Innovation,” and Kawasaki knocked it out of the park. What's more, I cannot help but believe that Kawasaki channeled the strength, to hit a home run, by giving the talk in Berkeley (bias revealed)!

At any rate, in his talk, Kawasaki gives the top ten things required to be a successful innovator. On Guy's list, number ten was “Perfect you pitch.” Kawasaki says, “If you're an innovator, you have to learn to pitch.”

Readers of this blog know how we should all be innovators. Even if that innovation only starts off with personal development. And, if you are an innovator, you are an entrepreneur, which is where this blog focuses. As Peter Drucker said, “Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs.” To be an entrepreneur, you need to use innovation, and you need to know how to sell. Period, full stop.

So, what do you sell? How do you help people? Are you clear about it? As I said earlier, my company makes attorneys affordable. I don't know that I could get it much more clear than that. The statement, “We make attorneys affordable,” is pretty simple. But, to be completely honest with you, it took me a long time to figure out. Which is pretty normal.

What Peter Drucker used to tell everybody is that they need to answer the question, “What is my business?” And he warns, the answer is a lot harder than you might think. The answer is really about what people buy, rather than what you think you sell. Do you understand? If not, work on it.

Here is an example. Insurance is not something people buy. What people really buy is peace of mind. Right? What people really want is to know they will be covered in the event of a loss.

Back to my personal example real quick. In a technical sense, what my company sells is a membership. But that is not what people buy. What my customers really buy is the ability to speak with quality attorneys without having to worry about the costs. What my customers are buying are protection, empowerment, and peace of mind. Are you with me?

If you do not know why your customers buy from you, you should work on it. One option is to simply, and directly, ask your customers. Ask them why they bought your product or service. Ask them what benefits they have received from owning your product/service, etc.

You see, the way I look at it, what better time, than the start of baseball season, to learn how to pitch? By the way, click here and you can watch Guy Kawasaki's full talk on YouTube. Go Angels!