I was reading a book this afternoon and it gave the story of a couple in America who were working for a company. The company was not doing very well and the owner decided to close it. The couple could see potential in it and went to the owner to see if they could purchase it from him. He knew that they couldn't afford it and told them so. They borrowed and begged for the money and finally got the money together. Anyway, to cut a long story short, at the time of writing the company had 300 employees and was grossing $50 million a year. Not a bad effort I must say.
When asked they gave 10 things to the secret of their success. (By the way, have you seen that movie, a 1980's movie with Michael J. Fox in it? I quite enjoyed it) I will list those ten things and give my opinions on the 10 things:
1. Keep a single focus. I think that my mind tends to wander and it takes forever to get back on track, whereas if I knew where I was going and what I was doing and that was clear in my mind most days would be easier because I had a focus I knew what I should be doing.
2. Keep a long term view and think ahead. It is very easy to focus on the present and agonise about the past. I tend to do that all the time, that is agonise about something that happen 16 and a half years ago that probably no one remembers and if they did they would laugh about it anyway. Think forward, have vision, that's what great leaders have, vision.
3. Do not panic. Panic is just a waste of energy. Step back and have a look and make informed instead of rushed decisions.
4. Develop a network and inventory your assets. What this means is that your friends, family, ideas and talents are also your assets. It doesn't have to be just hard assets. So if you have some kind of talent then you can leverage that.
5. Think possibilities and believe in the possibilities. You got to have options and you brainstorm until you find the right one or ones for you and then once you have decided you have faith in your decision and go for it.
6. Conserve you money. Yep! Don't follow my lead and spend it like it is going out of fashion or as my mother would say, "fritter."
7. Always be careful with your special team. That is your family and friends. You whole world might crumble and you could be in the middle of a pile of s**t but your family and friends will always be around. Look after them and they will look after you.
8. Surround yourself with positive people. It can very tiring being around negative people. it can be so demoralising for the soul, so why do that to yourself? Surround yourself with people who see the glass half full and tend to have that great smile on their dials. You will feel a lot more positive about things and you will get things done.
9. Don't take rejection to heart. Everyone gets rejected and it is how you react to it that shows what kind of person you are.
10. Look at every problem as an opportunity. This is another way of looking at the glass as being half full. You have a problem, you could do as I do and run away and hide under the nearest park bench or you could go great, I have this problem in my life what is the opportunity I am missing here? What can I learn from this?
There you go, sounds easy, doesn't it? It could be, so lets get to work and build something spectacular.
No comments:
Post a Comment