A helpful talk for those of us in business, or thinking about it …
A lot of truths here. Success is not about taking the easy path.
I can concur that the primary benefit of being in business is freedom and options. However, if we are not careful, we can be robbed of these as well.
Notes (but watch the talk, it’s only 20m and well worth your time):
Following your heart is a luxury and not a right. Make money, move the needle for clients, and work with great people, and your heart will be fine.
Discipline is far more important than IQ, talent, or education. Luck doesn’t hurt, but displine is king.
Be a little bolder and take more risks. You could likely succeed at a dozen different things. So switch to something else if it doesn’t work.You can only connect the dots backwards (Steve Jobs). And most good things just “happen” if you are doing the right things. (Take advantage of weird opportunities, don’t worry about planning your life specifically)
This starts by saying “yes” a whole lot, but you’ll never thrive unless you start saying “no” to most things.
By being choosier, you develop a very deep expertise, still grounded by a strange, diverse, interesting personal life … funded by a bounded work life. The must successful entrepreneurs are going to have a very narrow, specific thing they do. You can’t be a master of all things, you need to be a specific expert. You personal life should be all over the place, and this informs your expertise so you’re not just this nerd who does not understand what is happening outside in the world.
Growth is neutral. It doesn’t matter. Don’t let someone else decide what your role will be: managing the team or doing the work itself.
Your job as that leader is to make decisions. The occasional bad decision is much less dangerous than no decision.
You decisions will involve healthy tensions that must be managed and not resolved. Healthy tension keeps you on the path.
These decisions will be better if you understand yourself, first. How you react and how your immune system to ideas is constructed.
Most anger is really masking hurt. Be honest with yourself and grow up.
Quit blaming people, clients, competitors, the economy. The enemy is usually within.
Your role, as a leader, is to do the things that the team cannot or will not do for themselves, providing a safety net while they perform.
Good leaders are loved at first, then hated as they make those hard decisions, and then loved again in retrospect when others realize the truth: a hate sandwich. If everyone loves you, you’re not doing your job. What you should care about is what people think of you years later.
What will you do with that money? Buying your time back, and freedom, is better than just things. The primary benefit of running a business is that it gives you options. Running a business is primarily about person freedom and providing freedom to other people.
Clarity (your POV) will come IN the articulation … and no AFTER it. “Write” to figure out what you “think” about something. Whatever business you start, you need to have a POV. I should be able to come to you and ask you some incisive questions, and you should be able to answer those questions very quickly. The best way to get this perspective is to write a lot.
The older you get, the more certain you should be about fewer things. Always be open to new insights. I believe fewer things, but I believe those things much more deeply. Don’t have arguments with people, have discussions where all you care about is surfacing the truth.
Remember that you are two big mistakes away from homelessness. but that’s alright. I want to be courageous about how I run my life. I don’t want to be so cautious that I’m terrified of any big mistake I make.
The most impactful people are “slightly-broken, high-performing” humans.
Who realize that their biggest impact will be on family, friends, and co-workers. Ten years from now, nobody will remember they were a client of yours. But ten years from now, everyone will remember how good of a manager you were. How good of a friend you were.
