Rickey Henderson baseball hall of fame induction...
Yesterday Rickey Henderson was inducted into Major League Baseball's Hall of Fame.
As a boy I remember watching Rickey set his records. I remember his flamboyant style, his trademark stance at the plate that always reduced the strike zone on him to about half the area everyone else had.
He was the penultimate leadoff hitter...he got on base!
He could hit home runs, singles, doubles, triples...
He could walk to get on...
He stole bases unlike any other...
He was a great fielder...
He brought the fans to the ballpark...
And yesterday, he was also humbled by the completion of his baseball journey into the Hall of Fame.
Check out the video of his speech.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090726&content_id=6067946&vkey=news_mlb&fext=.jsp&c_id=mlb
As you go through life, are you giving it your all? Are you showing to the best of your abilities? Are you contributing a great legacy?
You have something great to show the world. You know what it is.
Live your potential!
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
Hopping Down the Idea Trail...Are You Making These Mistakes?
Ideas are fascinating. But do they make you money?
You’ve been there. You get a great idea. You can’t sleep because you’re so excited. You polish and shine that idea. You build it up in your mind until it’s larger than life.
Maybe you implement it and it doesn’t do quite what you thought.
Or maybe before you kick it off you find another idea that also seems great and you run off in a new direction.
STOP!
Ideas are important aren’t they?
Don’t they help you drive your business to new levels?
Isn’t that what helps companies go from ok to great?
Before I answer that question let’s look at a few interesting quotes on the subject…
(From “99 Inspirational & Motivational Quotes on Entrepreneurship by Minterest” http://tinyurl.com/ny4m9a)
Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea. – Jim Rohn
Okay. So I just need one more good idea, right? Not so fast pardner…
Many great ideas go unexecuted, and many great executioners are without ideas. One without the other is worthless. – Tim Blixseth
Now you’re getting closer. Pairing up ideas with execution is critical. Let’s see more…
Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you. – Mark Cuban
You’re homing in now…
If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete. – Jack Welch
Are you making these mistakes?
1) Are you so buried in your day-to-day operations so that you aren’t looking for new ideas?
2) Are you idea jumping? Always going to the next great idea and never fully implementing the previous one?
3) Are you making it painful for your customer to do business with you?
4) Is your company a “me too” competitor that gives your customer no good reason for them to buy from you instead of your competitors?
Don’t do it! Do the opposite.
1) Be open and looking for ideas.
2) Make sure to execute before moving on to a new idea.
3) Make it easy for your customer to buy. Ideas should be focused in this area.
4) Stack the cards in your favor or don’t compete.
So how can you use this?
1) Look for ideas everywhere. Often your best ideas come from the most unexpected places. In particular, look outside your industry. In general, everyone inside your industry is doing things the same way, plus or minus 10%. Why? Because they all learned from the same people who learned from other people, who all did it the same way. By going outside your industry or to sources your competitors aren’t looking, you can find game-changing competitive advantages.
2) Take a new idea, determine if it has legs. If it does and it has some serious positive leverage behind it, then test it immediately. Do not run off chasing the next sparkly idea. Once you’ve tested it in the real world then you can worry about fine tuning it or rolling it out bigger, or adding another idea.
3) Make sure your idea is focused on an area that improves your customer’s ability to say YES! to your offers. Use the 80/20 rule where 20% of what you do gets 80% of your results. Don’t waste your time in areas that have little upside. Focus on the customer since that’s where your present and future is.
4) Go big or go home. You want everything possible to be slanted your way.
a. That can mean making your offer so irresistible your customer can’t say anything but YES!
b. Or if it means finding that unique competitive advantage that you can promote that no one else can and driving it home in every communication you do.
c. Or sneaking in behind the scenes to help your potential client design the RFP so that only you will win it and your competitors are forced to lick their wounds and go home.
What are you waiting for? Take action NOW…
…so you can move on to the next idea.
You’ve been there. You get a great idea. You can’t sleep because you’re so excited. You polish and shine that idea. You build it up in your mind until it’s larger than life.
Maybe you implement it and it doesn’t do quite what you thought.
Or maybe before you kick it off you find another idea that also seems great and you run off in a new direction.
STOP!
Ideas are important aren’t they?
Don’t they help you drive your business to new levels?
Isn’t that what helps companies go from ok to great?
Before I answer that question let’s look at a few interesting quotes on the subject…
(From “99 Inspirational & Motivational Quotes on Entrepreneurship by Minterest” http://tinyurl.com/ny4m9a)
Ideas can be life-changing. Sometimes all you need to open the door is just one more good idea. – Jim Rohn
Okay. So I just need one more good idea, right? Not so fast pardner…
Many great ideas go unexecuted, and many great executioners are without ideas. One without the other is worthless. – Tim Blixseth
Now you’re getting closer. Pairing up ideas with execution is critical. Let’s see more…
Make your product easier to buy than your competition, or you will find your customers buying from them, not you. – Mark Cuban
You’re homing in now…
If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete. – Jack Welch
Are you making these mistakes?
1) Are you so buried in your day-to-day operations so that you aren’t looking for new ideas?
2) Are you idea jumping? Always going to the next great idea and never fully implementing the previous one?
3) Are you making it painful for your customer to do business with you?
4) Is your company a “me too” competitor that gives your customer no good reason for them to buy from you instead of your competitors?
Don’t do it! Do the opposite.
1) Be open and looking for ideas.
2) Make sure to execute before moving on to a new idea.
3) Make it easy for your customer to buy. Ideas should be focused in this area.
4) Stack the cards in your favor or don’t compete.
So how can you use this?
1) Look for ideas everywhere. Often your best ideas come from the most unexpected places. In particular, look outside your industry. In general, everyone inside your industry is doing things the same way, plus or minus 10%. Why? Because they all learned from the same people who learned from other people, who all did it the same way. By going outside your industry or to sources your competitors aren’t looking, you can find game-changing competitive advantages.
2) Take a new idea, determine if it has legs. If it does and it has some serious positive leverage behind it, then test it immediately. Do not run off chasing the next sparkly idea. Once you’ve tested it in the real world then you can worry about fine tuning it or rolling it out bigger, or adding another idea.
3) Make sure your idea is focused on an area that improves your customer’s ability to say YES! to your offers. Use the 80/20 rule where 20% of what you do gets 80% of your results. Don’t waste your time in areas that have little upside. Focus on the customer since that’s where your present and future is.
4) Go big or go home. You want everything possible to be slanted your way.
a. That can mean making your offer so irresistible your customer can’t say anything but YES!
b. Or if it means finding that unique competitive advantage that you can promote that no one else can and driving it home in every communication you do.
c. Or sneaking in behind the scenes to help your potential client design the RFP so that only you will win it and your competitors are forced to lick their wounds and go home.
What are you waiting for? Take action NOW…
…so you can move on to the next idea.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
It’s easy when things go right. How to handle things in the real world.
Imagine your automatic guidance system is leading you into disaster. You cannot communicate with your support team. And you’re thousands of miles from your home office.
Imagine your life is on the line. And you have overridden the automatic systems and run things on manual.
Each day you face similar challenges in your business. Your best-laid plans fall apart. Mr. Murphy’s Law kicks in and everything starts unraveling.
How do you handle it?
Do you know what to do?
Have you trained for this?
Are you committed to action?
Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic step on the moon.
This wasn’t an ordinary job or business.
John F. Kennedy set the bar high,
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.”
Many prior rocket flights were unsuccessful (read BOOM!)
The astronauts flew over 950,000 miles on technology less powerful than today’s $10 calculators.
And when they were nearing their goal (completing the landing on the moon), the autopilot started flying them to a boulder strewn area instead of the smooth landing site in the “Sea of Tranquility.”
So what did they do? They did what any red blooded American man in that situation would do.
No, he didn’t put his head between his legs and kiss his a** goodbye.
Armstrong took over the manual controls and coasted the lunar lander to a safe landing with 20 seconds of fuel remaining.
(Sounds like a NASCAR race I watched recently…)
Oh, I digress.
Looking back we see success pulled from disaster. You and your company face these same types of issues, albeit on a smaller scale.
· You make a bold plan; launch on a big idea that you put the resources of your company behind.
· Sh** happens.
· You have to act fast or face disaster.
· You realize that as an entrepreneur, many times it’s up to you and your force of will to save the day. Your butt’s on the line (it’s your bank account, your personal guarantee on the loan, your home that’s mortgaged to the hilt and your credit cards that are maxed out).
· And sometimes luck is on your side.
What did the astronauts do to ensure success when it could have easily turned into a disaster with 530 million people watching?
· The astronauts were awesome human specimens, capable of withstanding the most tortuous stresses.
· They planned for disasters of every kind imaginable and trained on countermeasures.
· They trained in the most stressful situations.
· They refused to let the scientists take out their manual controls (you never know when you’ll need them).
· They knew their mission and failure was not an option.
In your business those same core elements apply:
· Hire the best and put them in the right jobs.
· Determine what can possibly go wrong and plan multiple solutions for each.
· Train so that the real thing seems easy.
· You can delegate but make sure you know what is going on in your business and take over the reins quickly when you need to. It’s your business and no one cares about it more than you.
· Have a grand vision and shove failure into the back shadows of the office storeroom.
Now go out and shoot the moon!
Imagine your life is on the line. And you have overridden the automatic systems and run things on manual.
Each day you face similar challenges in your business. Your best-laid plans fall apart. Mr. Murphy’s Law kicks in and everything starts unraveling.
How do you handle it?
Do you know what to do?
Have you trained for this?
Are you committed to action?
Yesterday was the 40th anniversary of Neil Armstrong’s historic step on the moon.
This wasn’t an ordinary job or business.
John F. Kennedy set the bar high,
“I believe that this nation should commit itself to achieving the goal before this decade is out of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to Earth.”
Many prior rocket flights were unsuccessful (read BOOM!)
The astronauts flew over 950,000 miles on technology less powerful than today’s $10 calculators.
And when they were nearing their goal (completing the landing on the moon), the autopilot started flying them to a boulder strewn area instead of the smooth landing site in the “Sea of Tranquility.”
So what did they do? They did what any red blooded American man in that situation would do.
No, he didn’t put his head between his legs and kiss his a** goodbye.
Armstrong took over the manual controls and coasted the lunar lander to a safe landing with 20 seconds of fuel remaining.
(Sounds like a NASCAR race I watched recently…)
Oh, I digress.
Looking back we see success pulled from disaster. You and your company face these same types of issues, albeit on a smaller scale.
· You make a bold plan; launch on a big idea that you put the resources of your company behind.
· Sh** happens.
· You have to act fast or face disaster.
· You realize that as an entrepreneur, many times it’s up to you and your force of will to save the day. Your butt’s on the line (it’s your bank account, your personal guarantee on the loan, your home that’s mortgaged to the hilt and your credit cards that are maxed out).
· And sometimes luck is on your side.
What did the astronauts do to ensure success when it could have easily turned into a disaster with 530 million people watching?
· The astronauts were awesome human specimens, capable of withstanding the most tortuous stresses.
· They planned for disasters of every kind imaginable and trained on countermeasures.
· They trained in the most stressful situations.
· They refused to let the scientists take out their manual controls (you never know when you’ll need them).
· They knew their mission and failure was not an option.
In your business those same core elements apply:
· Hire the best and put them in the right jobs.
· Determine what can possibly go wrong and plan multiple solutions for each.
· Train so that the real thing seems easy.
· You can delegate but make sure you know what is going on in your business and take over the reins quickly when you need to. It’s your business and no one cares about it more than you.
· Have a grand vision and shove failure into the back shadows of the office storeroom.
Now go out and shoot the moon!
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Tom Watson's Near Miss
Watching Tom Watson play "The Open" at Turnberry this week, I was caught up in the drama of Tom possibly winning his 6th Open Championship at 59 years old (to become the oldest winner ever).
There were great subplots like Tiger Woods' implosion causing him to miss the cut on Friday. There was the flashbacks to the Watson/Nicholas rivalry that Watson won the last time Watson won at this same golf course.
The crowds hung on every shot and hoped that this would be a glorious example of history unfolding...
...it didn't happen.
But it was amazing to watch just the same and Tom certainly gave it his all in gentlemanly fashion. Even after he totally collapsed in the four hole playoff, he exhibited class.
So what does this mean for business?
In business as well as in sports, momentum means so much.
One minute everything is perfect and the next you could be rolling into bankrupcy. Too big to fail? Just ask the auto companies. How about the banks?
There are examples everywhere where companies seemed to be soaring skyward, doing everything right. Then something went haywire. It could be a little thing. And then the momentum shifted. Then it picked up speed...in the wrong direction.
Where's you business momentum going?
If it's going in the right way, are you nurturing it?
If it's going the wrong way, what are you doing to interrupt the cycle?
There were great subplots like Tiger Woods' implosion causing him to miss the cut on Friday. There was the flashbacks to the Watson/Nicholas rivalry that Watson won the last time Watson won at this same golf course.
The crowds hung on every shot and hoped that this would be a glorious example of history unfolding...
...it didn't happen.
But it was amazing to watch just the same and Tom certainly gave it his all in gentlemanly fashion. Even after he totally collapsed in the four hole playoff, he exhibited class.
So what does this mean for business?
In business as well as in sports, momentum means so much.
One minute everything is perfect and the next you could be rolling into bankrupcy. Too big to fail? Just ask the auto companies. How about the banks?
There are examples everywhere where companies seemed to be soaring skyward, doing everything right. Then something went haywire. It could be a little thing. And then the momentum shifted. Then it picked up speed...in the wrong direction.
Where's you business momentum going?
If it's going in the right way, are you nurturing it?
If it's going the wrong way, what are you doing to interrupt the cycle?
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