Are you lucky? According to Darren Hardy, author of The Compound Effect, “everyone has the opportunity to be ‘lucky,’ because beyond having the basics of health and sustenance, luck simply comes down to a series of choices.” He continues, “The difference between becoming fabulously rich, happy and healthy, or broke, depressed and unhealthy, is the choices you make throughout life. Nothing else will make a difference.”
Hardy was the publisher of SUCCESS magazine for many years, and he recalls a time when he asked Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Group, if he thought luck had been a part of his success. Branson answered, “Yes, of course, we are all lucky. If you live in a free society, you are lucky. Luck surrounds us every day; we are constantly having lucky things happen to us, whether you recognize it or not. I have not been any more lucky or unlucky that anyone else. The difference is when luck came my way, I took advantage of it.”
We’ve all heard the maxim that says: luck is when preparation meets opportunity. Hardy agrees, yet he believes preparation and opportunity are not enough, thus he adds two more components to the luck formula:
Preparation (personal growth): “By consistently improving and preparing yourself—your skills, knowledge, expertise, relationships, and resources— you have the wherewithal to take advantage of great opportunities when they arise (when luck ‘strikes’).” Movie producer Samuel Goldwyn said, “The harder I work the luckier I get.”
Attitude (belief/mindset): “It’s simply a matter of seeing situations, conversations, and circumstances as fortuitous. You cannot see what you don’t look for, and you cannot look for what you don’t believe in.” Bernadette Jiwa, business and brand strategist, writes in her book Hunch, “every day is filled with opportunities, either seized or missed, ours for the taking if only we can learn to listen for them.” (Read post).
Opportunity (a good thing coming your way):
“Luck isn’t forced. It’s a natural occurrence, and it often shows up seemingly of its own accord.” And, even though opportunity is a good thing coming your way, sometimes it comes in disguise and shows up, as Albert Einstein said, in the middle of difficulty.
Action (doing something about it): “This is where you come in. However this luck was delivered to you… it’s now your job to act on it. […] So no more whining about the cards you were dealt, the great defeats you suffered, or any other circumstances. Countless people have more disadvantages and greater obstacles than you, and yet they’re wealthier and more fulfilled. Luck is an equal-opportunity distributor. Lady luck shines on all, but rather than having your umbrella overhead, you’ve got to have your face to the sky. When it comes down to it, it’s all you. There’s no other way around it.”
“You seldom, if ever, get lucky sitting down.” Zig Ziglar
ACTION
TODAY: Take a moment today to think of all the opportunities that you have in front of you: the wild ones, the sensible ones, the big ones, the small ones. The idea is not to spread yourself too thin and act on them all, but to start seeing opportunity all around you. You’ll soon realize how lucky you are and how you can increase your luck by acting on an opportunity should you decide to do so. Is there one that fits right in with your goals? Go for it! If not, no worries, keep this quote from Richard Branson in mind, “Opportunities are like buses – there’s always another one coming!”
FUTURE: Make a point of constantly learning and growing yourself (I know a blog called EntreGurus that can help you… 😉 ), seeing opportunity wherever you go, and being ready to act when luck presents itself. Make sure that the opportunities you act on are taking you further in the direction of your goals. Remember, if it’s not an absolutely ‘Hell, yeah!’ then say no. That’s how you maximize your luck.
Best of luck! 🍀
Please share this post with a lucky friend or colleague via email, Facebook or Twitter!
The business world is peppered with quotes and slogans to never give up and never quit. When I wrote about Selective quitting from Chris Guillebeau’s book Born For This, the post highlighted how to quit projects or courses of action that were not in our best interest. In today’s idea, from Seth Godin’s The Dip, we’ll take a look at when to quit and when to stick.
Godin explains that “Most people will tell you that you that you need to persevere—to try harder, put in more hours, get more training, and work hard. ‘Don’t quit!’ they implore. But if all you need to do to succeed is not quit, then why do organizations less motivated than yours succeed? Why do individuals less talented than you win? It involves understanding the architecture of quitting, and, believe it or not, it means quitting a lot more than you do now.”
The author continues, “Strategic quitting is the secret of successful organizations [and individuals]. Reactive quitting and serial quitting are the bane of those that strive (and fail) to get what they want. And most people do just that. They quit when it’s painful and stick when they can’t be bothered to quit. […] Understanding the different types of situations that lead you to quit—or that should cause you to quit—is the first step toward getting what you want.”
Godin shares two curves that define virtually all situations that we face. Understanding them is the basis for success.
CURVE 1: THE CUL-DE-SAC
Cul-de-sac means dead end in French. We’ve all seen it and experienced it: “It’s a situation where you work and you work and you work and nothing much changes. It doesn’t get a lot better, it doesn’t get a lot worse. It just is.” And there’s not much to say about the cul-de-sac other than when you find yourself in it, you need to get out of it as fast as you can. “A dead end is keeping you from doing something else. The opportunity cost of investing your life in something that’s not going to get better is just too high.”
CURVE 2: THE DIP
Image courtesy of Seth Godin.
When you first start something there’s a fantastic rush of energy and excitement: you’re learning by leaps and bounds and making much progress. This growth and rapid learning keeps you going over the ensuing days or months. And then you fall into the Dip.
“The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery… the long stretch between beginner’s luck and accomplishment… [but it’s] actually a shortcut, because it gets you where you want to go faster than any other path.” Those that stick through the Dip and make it to the other side come out victorious, because “almost everything in life worth doing is controlled by the Dip.”
The important thing to keep in mind is that “just because you know you’re in the Dip doesn’t mean you have to live happily with it. Dips don’t last quite as long when you whittle at them.”
The things or skills that we most value are scarce. Without the Dip, scarcity—and thus value—wouldn’t exist. “What’s hard is getting there… there’s a huge Dip along the way.” If it were easy, everyone would be there already. That’s why “the people who invest the time and the energy and the effort to power through the Dip… are the ones who become the best in the world.”
To sum up, Godin gives the following wise advice: “Stick with The Dips that are likely to pan out, and quit the Cul-de-Sacs to focus your resources. That’s it.”
Both Seth Godin and The Dip were mentioned recently in the Billions TV series on Showtime. Here’s the video clip. (Courtesy of Seth Godin. Note: strong/uncensored language). And I’m absolutely thrilled and very proud that, today, Seth Godin—whose mind and writings I’ve long admired, and who I have the honor and joy of calling a friend—is being inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame.SUPERCONGRATS SETH!! For these and billions of other reasons, you are indeed on the other side of the Dip as the best in the world: well deserved and hats off!
ACTION
TODAY: Are there any cul-de-sacs among your current life or business projects that you need to quit? Are you experiencing any Dips? Take a moment to think about your future and the goals you want to achieve. And then determine the best course of action for you.
FUTURE: As you periodically examine your goals, quit the cul-de-sacs to free up energy and resources as well as to make valuable room for other endeavors. When you find yourself in a Dip, remember that you don’t have to like it or enjoy it, but you can certainly push through it to get to the other side, and once you’re there, the effort will have been worthwhile.
Know someone who is in a cul-de-sac and needs to quit? Or someone who is in a Dip and needs encouragement to keep at it? Share this post via email, Facebook or Twitter!
Jack Mitchell is the Chairman of the Mitchell Stores. These high-end apparel boutiques provide such exceptional customer service, that Mitchell Stores is a case study at Harvard Business School.
What makes Jack Mitchell and his stores so special? The fact that they hug their customers. Mitchell says, “In some instances, we physically hug the customers—I’ve seen sales associates actually give customers a bear hug and then dance with them around the floor—but we mainly metaphorically hug them by showering them with attention in a way that every business ought to but doesn’t. […] That’s what Mitchell’s is about: making people say ‘Wow!’ ” And it’s true, I kept thinking wow! many times as I read through Hug Your Customers.
Mitchell defines hugging “as a mindset more than a physical act. It’s a way of thinking about customers… in the simplest sense, a hug is anything that exceeds a customer’s expectations.” For instance, Mitchell recalls a time when the new Chief Financial Officer of a large corporation went into his store. He (Mitchell) greeted him and congratulated him on his company’s stock rising $5 the previous day. Needless to say, the CFO was blown away. That’s what he means by a metaphoric hug.
And just as clothing, hugs come in all sizes: one time Mitchell flew a suit on a corporate jet to Tokyo for the son of a customer who needed it the next day. He also recalls lending his very own top coat to a customer who needed it right away (and happened to be the same size) while the customer’s coat arrived two days later. And at another point a customer brought in a dress she had purchased at another luxury store to get it altered in a hurry, and they did it for her.
It’s important to highlight that everyone hugs differently, “and that’s the way it should be,” says Mitchell. “You adopt the hug that works for you and your customer… Some people are comfortable giving a bear hug. Others recoil at anything too physical. That’s fine. Those people like to shake hands, or give a high five, or look you in the eye, or send personal notes.”
Mitchell states that one of the best hugs is a letter of thanks, and it’s a bonus hug if it’s handwritten or if you handwrite a note on the side of a typed letter. As an exercise, he once sat down to write a list of different hugs and got to 33 before his hand started cramping. I suggest you do the same for your customers or clients. What can you do for them that will create that wow! response? I’m adding below some of the hugs in Mitchell’s list hoping they will spark some ideas in you (some of them won’t apply to your business, but think about equivalents that work for you).
Offer someone a beverage or snack
Carry their bags to the car
Send a birthday card
Send an anniversary card
Remember names
Sew on a button
Press pants
Call when you say you will
Send flowers on a holiday
Send flowers after a big sale
Call and invite to lunch at the store
Make reservations for someone at an exclusive restaurant
Get tickets to a ball game or the theater
Open the store after hours for private appointments
Have a liberal return policy that allows you to give money back with a smile
Call another store to get something you don’t have
Show product knowledge
Smile
Resolve credit issues instantly
Give a firm handshake
Look a customer in the eye as a friend who cares
Exchange business cards
Telephone someone who’s sick to show you care
Send an email (especially to people who travel internationally)
Listen
Happy hugging!
ACTION
TODAY: Make a list of the ways in which you can hug your customers. You’ll be surprised as to the difference that even small details can make!
FUTURE: Adopt the hugging mindset. Keep your list of hugs handy and keep adding to it. Get together with your team and brainwrite ways in which you can hug your customers more and more often. Determine which hugs you can turn into policies so as to serve your clients better and offer an exceptional experience.
Know someone who needs a hug? Send this post to that person! You can do so via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
We all have an ego, and that’s a good thing. It pushes us to do bigger and better things, it fuels our desire to win, and drives us to succeed. But if we let it take the lead, it becomes a destructive force that “clouds our judgment and prevents us from seeing the world as it is,” say Leif Babin and Jocko Willink, authors of Extreme Ownership.
Further, if left unchecked, “ego clouds and disrupts everything: the planning process, the ability to take good advice, and the ability to accept constructive criticism… Often, the most difficult ego to deal with is your own.”
As philosopher and writer Michel de Montaigne said “I have never seen a greater monster or miracle than myself.” So, if ego has these two sides, how do we make sure that it doesn’t hijack us to take over but stays on the miracle side instead?
The authors say that it the ego must be in check at all times and we must operate with a high degree of humility. “Admitting mistakes, taking ownership and developing a plan to overcome challenges are integral to any successful team… strive to be confident, but not cocky.”
Babin relays a story of one of his clients: this was a manager faced with a superintendent subordinate who had more knowledge and experience than him. The subordinate had taken action—without running it first by the manager—that would cost the company lots of money.
Needless to say the manager was very upset. His ego had taken a hit because the subordinate had not cleared the action with him. With Babin’s help, the manager was able to check his ego and realize that the action may not have been deliberately done to hurt him or to see how much the subordinate could get away with. The manager said, “I’m sure he [the subordinate] thought he was doing the best for the immediate situation as it presented itself.” Over the ensuing conversation, Babin and the manager came to the conclusion that the subordinate acted in good faith, yet was unaware of the big picture. Thus, the subordinate’s action, taken without running it first by the manager, had cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It was the responsibility of the manager to explain the overall plan and mission to all subordinates, so that they could see the impact of their actions.
Had Babin and the manager not spoken, the manager would have likely confronted the subordinate and it would have resulted in a clash of egos. Instead, Babin recommended to the manager to take Extreme Ownership and not point fingers, but take full responsibility. Here’s what Babin said to the manager:
“This isn’t his fault, it’s yours. You are in charge, so the fact that he didn’t follow procedure is your fault. And you have to believe that, because it’s true. When you talk to him [the subordinate] you need to start the conversation like this: ‘Our team made a mistake and it’s my fault. It’s my fault because I obviously wasn’t as clear as I should have been in explaining why we have these procedures in place and how not following them can cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. You are an extremely skilled and knowledgeable superintendent. You know more about this business than I ever will. It was up to me to make sure you know the parameters we have to work within and why some decisions have got to be run through me. Now, I need to fix this so it doesn’t happen again.’ ”
Our egos don’t like to take blame, so it’s natural for anyone in a leadership position to find where the blame lies when something goes wrong in the work of a team. However, it’s incumbent upon us to check our egos and to make sure everyone knows how their actions fit in the big picture. The bottom line: “It’s about the mission and how best to accomplish it.”
Happy leading with ego in check!
ACTION
TODAY: Are you the leader of a team or part of a team? Do you and everyone on your team know how each individual’s work fits into the big picture? If not, explain to all or ask your leader. This will save you and your team much heartache!
FUTURE: As you embark on new projects, always seek to communicate to your team what the overall mission is and how each member fits within it. Take full responsibility and extreme ownership of everything that happens. Operate with humility and check your ego constantly, that way you’ll ensure it will drive you to succeed.
Know someone who needs to check their ego? Please share this post with that person via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
TODAY’S IDEA: 9 Lessons I learned from my mom about leadership and business
Happy Mother’s Day!
From a very young age, mothers teach us many of the most important lessons that we will need in life, and also in business. As we grow up, our mothers are our leaders, and we look up to them to learn and emulate. It’s only fitting that today we thank them for everything they’ve taught us and everything they’ve done for us. As a tribute to my mom, whom I love and adore, here are 9 of the myriad lessons she’s taught me and how I use them today for leadership and business.
1. “Always take a sweater,” and “always pack a bathing suit.”
No matter how well informed you are up front, always plan for the unforeseen, best- and worst-case scenarios.
2. “Always say please and thank you.”
Common courtesy goes a very long way anywhere you go.
3. “Don’t do good things that can be perceived as being bad.”
As a leader, the only things you have are your name and your reputation. Protect them. Don’t hang out with the wrong crowd, even if you’re just trying to be nice. When they do crazy stuff, it won’t matter if you didn’t do anything, you’ll be guilty by association.
4. “Take care of yourself, you only have one body.”
YOU are the most important thing you have. Take proper care of yourself: your health and your wellbeing are first and foremost, always.
5. “If your trip is going to be a whirlwind and you don’t know what the schedule will be like, go to the bathroom when you can, and eat when you can—even if it’s not the time for it. And don’t forget to take with you water and snacks.” In the face of uncertainty, make sure you are well, and your basic needs are taken care of. Then you can tackle everything else.
6. “Think twice before giving away your toys.”
Once you give something away (from a beloved toy to equity in your company) it’s going to be very hard to get it back, if ever. Think twice before you give anything away that is precious to you, but when you do, do it gladly and fully convinced that you made the best decision.
7. “If a decision backfires, don’t blame yourself. Know that you made it with all the information you had at the moment and with the best intention in mind.”
Take your time before you make an important decision to deeply ponder all aspects of it. Ask for expert points of view, and use whatever is helpful from those opinions in forming yours. Make sure the decision is ultimately yours, and make it fully convinced that the course of action you choose is the best one for your circumstances. This is the best way to be OK with yourself and to solve things if something goes wrong or backfires. Only when you are OK with yourself can you move forward with a clear conscience and a focused mind.
8. “You can always change your mind.”
You are not bound to anything and you can always change your mind to make your circumstances better. Part of that change may involve anything from small tweaks (returning an item to the store), to big, bold and sometimes uncomfortable challenges (such as changing jobs, lifestyles, partners, getting out of a contract, etc.). Don’t ever feel stuck: there are always options for the better if you just give yourself the opportunity to search and ask for them.
9. “I’ll always be here for you.”
It’s so important to have someone in your life that you can always rely on and who is 100% dependable and trustworthy. Be that person for your loved ones. Be that person for your friends. Be that person for your team. Be that person for your clients. You will find that, in return, they’ll do the same for you and strong bonds will emerge. Cherish and celebrate those bonds.
ACTION
TODAY & FUTURE: Celebrate your mom, yourself if you are a mother, and other mothers around you—it’s the world’s toughest job! Check out this great (and funny) video below, and please share it via email, Facebook or Twitter, thanks!
In Thinking for a Change, John C. Maxwell makes a very good case for why we should take time to reflect on our experiences, big and small, good and bad. He says that reflective thinking gives us valuable benefits such as true perspective, because as a result of reflecting, you can put an experience into perspective, evaluate its timing and appreciate things that went unnoticed before.
Also, our confidence in decision-making increases. “Have you ever made a snap judgment and later wondered if you did the right thing? Everybody has. Reflective thinking can help to diffuse that doubt. It also gives you confidence for the next decision. Once you’ve reflected on an issue, you don’t have to repeat every step of the thinking process when you’re faced with it again. You’ve got mental road markers from having been there before. That compresses and speeds up thinking time—and it gives you confidence.”
Another significant point is that reflective thinking takes experience and turns it into insight. Mark Twain is quoted as saying, “We should be careful to get out of an experience all the wisdom that is in it—not like the cat that sits down on a hot stove lid. She will never sit down on a hot stove lid again—and that is well; but also she will never sit down on a cold one anymore.”
Yet in our crazy world where there is little time and where reflection and self-examination don’t come naturally, how should we incorporate this practice to reap the benefits?
Maxwell suggests setting aside time for reflection, and making sure that we are removed from distractions and interruptions. He also suggests going over your journal, if you have one, but if you don’t, your calendar is a great tool to review where you’ve been, what you’ve done and the progress you’ve made.
The most important thing, however is to ask the right questions and to put the thoughts derived from our reflections into action. “The value you receive from reflecting will depend on the kinds of questions you ask yourself. The better the questions, the more gold you will mine from your thinking.”
When Maxwell reflects, he thinks about his values, relationships and experiences. Here are some sample questions he shares. Feel free to use what you need and modify however you see fit to suit your experience and style.
What have I learned today that will help me grow?
How and when can I apply it to my life?
To whom did I add value today?
How do I know I added value to that person?
What did I do with someone else that made both of us better?
Can we do something else together to continue our mutual success?
Did I lead by example today?
What did I encounter today to which I need to give more thinking time? Are there lessons to be learned?
What went wrong? Could I have changed it? What do I need to do differently next time?
Happy reflecting!
ACTION
TODAY: Take a few minutes to reflect on your day today. Set aside some time and ask yourself questions. Based on the answers, set actions for the future. How did it go? What did you learn?
FUTURE: Set aside a specific time and place for your reflective thinking. Maxwell suggests doing this for 21 days to turn it into a regular practice.
Know someone who could benefit from reflective thinking? Please share this post with them via email, Facebook or Twitter, thank you!
TODAY’S IDEA: Getting lucky
TODAY’S IDEA: 9 Lessons I learned from my mom about leadership and business