I Will Try That

In a restaurant, trying something new is perfectly acceptable. You may like it and add it to your must have list or you may not like it and never order it again. Either way, you know.

In business "trying" is a path to failure. Trying is implying failure because, to try, lacks commitment. When you commit you are buying-in and unleashing your determination to make a success of your new chosen project. All to often when someone says they are going to try, the outcome is already in question. Simply trying gives them the path to an easy-out by allowing them to say; "At least I tried." So what? We do not need non-committed individuals in the business world. Either take a stand and say, I will or say I will not. Do not take the position that you are going to try. There is not time for try, there is plenty of time for "I will."

When you make the commitment to making something happen there is a gathering of unseen forces within you that align and provide strength and determination moving you toward a favorable outcome. To commit means that you are not going to try it means that you are going to DO.

There will be times when you realize that the endeavor might not succeed as planned and that may be the time to cut your losses. Yes, there is a difference in cutting your losses and saying; "At least I tried." Cutting your losses often means that circumstances beyond your control have changed. You didn't stop trying because you never were trying, you were in the process of doing when things changed. That is perfectly acceptable and understandable. Move on to the next endeavor, but don't try, DO!

If People Aren't Buying

A good friend of mine was in the sales business. At the time of this story he shared with me, he was in the advertising sales business working at a newspaper where his Father was the editor. One evening at dinner with his Mother and Father he was complaining about how terrible sales were. He was not making his goal, clients were too unreasonable, prices were too high, he could not get appointments with decision makers, the competition was stiff and no one in the newspaper was willing to help. His Father listened patiently to this tirade and then said; "I have found in my rather lengthy newspaper career, that if people aren't buying, that usually means that no one is selling." My friend said that changed his whole disposition and outlook on his sales career.

Selling is not an easy endeavor and yes there are many reasons why people do not buy. But for every reason there is for not buying, there is a reason to buy. Your mission is to discover why people aren't buying and then give them factual reasons to buy. If you spend your time mulling over the reasons that someone is not buying, you are looking in the wrong direction. Focus on the reasons why people should buy from you and look at the issue from the client's perspective.

If people are not buying that means that someone is not selling.

We are the Constant

I am in the newspaper business. My career in this fantastic business started a long time ago, selling advertising for a daily newspaper with a circulation of 16,000. When I began, the only thing I knew about newspapers was that I read one every day. I still do.

The local newspaper in my hometown was, for want of a better word, local. The newspaper was much more than a newspaper, it was an institution and a part of our daily lives. There was community information in the newspaper that could be found no where else. Good information, the kind that provides people with what they need to make decisions. Those decisions were, and still are, centered in the desire to make a better life. The newspaper could be trusted to report the news that mattered.

Sports was and still is my favorite section. There was, over the course of time, a bit of news and information for almost every interest one may have. The newspaper appealed, in that sense, to everybody. Some loved it and some did not, but almost everyone read it and talked about what they read.

The newspaper provided local businesses a very effective end efficient method to deliver their marketing messages to their best potential customers. These advertisers could talk to their market using a vehicle that delivered, literally and figuratively.

These realities are indisputable.

What is also indisputable is that the newspaper held politicians and business people and citizens accountable. The news-hounds would aggressively go after anyone who was suspected or actually charged with wrong doing.

The questions we all need to answer is who, that can be trusted, is going to continue this vital service if newspapers do not. Make no mistake, if there is not a means, with a commitment, to hold people accountable and bring to the light the wrong doings, and also illuminate that the accused did nothing wrong, the places we now live will look a lot different, without newspapers, than they do today.

"We are the Constant" and, unless someone-else wants this responsibility, we need to trust and support the local newspaper.

Talent-Alone Will Not

Talent-alone will not work!

We all know talented people. Some of us know exceptionally talented people. We ourselves, may be exceptionally talented. Talent in and of itself is a gift and should be categorized as such. Talent-alone is not what your are going to need to get you where you want to go. We were all given a special set of talents from the beginning of our life. Some get bigger doses of talent than others. So what? Talent-alone is not sufficient to achieve lasting and meaningful success. Certainly not the kind of success that helps to build on other successes and establishes a winning pattern. They who rely on talent-alone will achieve the occasional victory, but they do not grow because talent-alone is not a willful act. You don't choose to get talent, you just get it.

Talent does not teach.

When you compliment your talent with your determination and meaningful action you will begin to see just how far you can go if you decide to do so. You will discover that the choices you made to add determination and willpower to your efforts are going to help you achieve much more than your talent-alone.

Look around. The world has a lot of very talented people that are not getting anywhere. Their considerable talent, instead of being a positive, has actually hurt their chances of continued success because they relied too heavily on talent-alone. Their talent "ran out" and they stopped progressing because they had not willingly added anything, such as determination and persistence, to the formula.

You can achieve high levels of success independent of your level of talent, if you do the things that need to be done, consistently.

Do not take talent for granted, it is a gift, and should be treasured. Identify your talents and make the most of what you have been given by getting better everyday. You may discover talents you did not know you had and may have never discovered, if you had not made a decision to do the things necessary to be successful. With or without exceptional levels of talent, you can and deserve to be successful.

Rewarding Bad Behavior

Do not reward bad behavior.

This applies to large companies all the way down to the one-man shop and everyone, in the end, is a one man shop regarding their professional path.

Knowing what to do, how much and when is required for you to achieve desired levels of success. It is always in the doing and learning that builds over time, the experience that will teach you what to do, how much needs doing and by when it needs to be done. Once you are empowered with this vital information, take action by doing what is necessary and do not reward bad behavior by allowing yourself to be distracted or convinced that there is an easier path. You know what needs doing and not making progress, when it is entirely within your control, is in fact, rewarding bad behavior by accepting less than you know you can accomplish. Losing focus or momentum are classic mistakes in business growth and if you allow that to happen, without losing sleep, you are in effect rewarding inappropriate or bad behavior. The reward is in your thinking and accepting that you are going to be okay with a level of achievement that is less than you are capable of. Think again. While the detrimental effect of your underachievement may not surface immediately, it will come back to haunt you and you will either get better or get out. So do not reward bad behavior by accepting less.

Do Things Differently With a Desire to Do Things Better

"There is nothing more difficult to take in hand, more perilous to conduct, or more uncertain in its success, than to take the lead in the introduction of a new order of things. Because the innovator has for enemies all those who have done well under the old conditions, and lukewarm defenders in those who may do well under the new." (Niccolo Machiavelli)

Machiavelli was right. The person who boldly introduces a new order of things is too often alone in their quest and also often right in their new order of things. Independent of the level of success ultimately achieved, the necessary and bold change in the order of things will illuminate "some that will and some that will not."

Changes in life or in business are never ending. Change comes in all shapes and sizes.

The opportunity to be a part of positive change is yours to embrace or reject. You may be at the forefront of change in the new order of things and as so, you are most vulnerable. Be prepared for the attacks from those in the organization that do not embrace the opportunity to change. These people are the very ones that change will leave behind. Pay more attention to they who say "I will" than they who say "I will not."

When you commit to a new order of things, stay committed inspite of the uproar you hear from the masses. The unique individual, that seizes the chance to take a positive role in becoming a part of the new order of things, will learn a lot about themselves and about the people around them. It takes just one spark to start a raging fire, you can and should be that spark, at whatever level, you are given the opportunity.

Failure is Required

The tech industry is one of the places you will find many more failures than successes. Some of the failures are colossal. Failure in the tech industry is not only accepted as a the norm it is almost required. The tech industry learned that in their wold they are going to fail before they succeed so the industry understood, on a grand scale, that failures are part of the norm. Because of the willingness to fail and willingness to accept failure as a vital part of success, the tech industry has changed the world.

Failure requires money but money is simply a by-product of success. The moment you start putting too much emphasis on the money is the moment you will likely divert your attention from the challenges of making incremental progress and overcoming the obstacles that are a part of every successful endeavor. Failure requires guts and money. Failure requires commitment, dedication and money. Failure requires efficiencies and money. Failure requires and thrives on persistence and yes, money. All too often we see failure as, a dark spot on our progress, it is anything but that. The very act of failing means you are doing something and doing something is vastly more productive than waiting. The more you experience unique failures, the closer to success you get. Make sure to learn from your failures. Making the same mistake repeatedly, is not failure, it is not paying attention and cannot be accepted.

You cannot make a commitment to succeed , without factoring in the reality that, in order to achieve success, you are going to fail. Failure is a part of the process. Success is all the sweeter the more failure that is mixed in with it.