Independence Day (for Entrepreneurs)

Entrepreneurs!....how many times have you heard this:
"When are you going to get a REAL job?!"
...and to make it worse, most of the time, the question comes from our family and loved ones.

Well, it is time to fight back and claim your INDEPENDENCE DAY!

Here are eight inspirational quotes from entrepreneurs , just like yourself, to use as ammo against the pessimists that challenge you.

"When you reach an obstacle, turn it into an opportunity. You have the choice. You can overcome and be a winner, or you can allow it to overcome you and be a loser. The choice is yours and yours alone. Refuse to throw in the towel. Go that extra mile that failures refuse to travel. It is far better to be exhausted from success than to be rested from failure."
- Mary Kay Ash, founder of Mary Kay Cosmetics

"The critical ingredient is getting off your butt and doing something. It's as simple as that. A lot of people have ideas, but there are few who decide to do something about them now. Not tomorrow. Not next week. But today. The true entrepreneur is a doer, not a dreamer."
- Nolan Bushnell, founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese's

"Innovation is the specific tool of entrepreneurs, the means by which they exploit change as an opportunity for a different business or a different service. It is capable of being presented as a discipline, capable of being learned, capable of being practiced. Entrepreneurs need to search purposefully for the sources of innovation, the changes and their symptoms that indicate opportunities for successful innovation. And they need to know and to apply the principles of successful innovation."
- Peter F. Drucker, "The Father of Modern Management"

"Experience taught me a few things. One is to listen to your gut, no matter how good something sounds on paper. The second is that you're generally better off sticking with what you know. And the third is that sometimes your best investments are the ones you don't make."
- Donald Trump, real estate and entertainment mogul

"The important thing is not being afraid to take a chance. Remember, the greatest failure is to not try. Once you find something you love to do, be the best at doing it."
- Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies

"Nobody trips over mountains. It is the small pebble that causes you to stumble. Pass all the pebbles in your path and you will find you have crossed the mountain." ~ J. Susan

"Everyone falls, not everyone fails." D. Hardy

"I never perfected an invention that I did not think about in terms of the service it might give others... I find out what the world needs, then I proceed to invent."
- Thomas Edison

AND....Just in case someone says to you,
"You're no Thomas Edison."
Simply reply..."You're right, but who was Thomas Edison before he became "Thomas Edison? "

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*** Top Rated Post***

Several decades ago, I was a young cocky manager who thought I knew it all.

After all, I just won manager of the month, scored a great bonus and received an awesome promotion.

An associate of mine, we will call her Mary, reached out to me at my awards celebration and said if I ever needed her help, just let her know.

Mary was my hero; keyword here is “was.” She was a leader, my mentor… but in my eyes, I had no need for her anymore.

“Thanks for the offer Mary, let me think about.”

Some twenty years later, I ran into Mary. She had left the company, started a new career and in my eyes, she was very successful. I of course boasted about my success and never even asked Mary how she was doing. Once again, she reached out to me and offered her help. Really, I thought… “Thanks for the offer Mary, let me think about it.”

Fast forward to today.

I was attending a business event, when out of the corner of my eye I saw Mary walking towards me. She seemed distraught. We engaged in conversation and it turns out that Mary was struggling with her business, had been for years and needed help. Help that I knew I could offer.

“Mary,” I said, “please let me help you.”

She looked at me and said, “Thanks for offer Bob, let me think about it.”

I left the event very frustrated and confused.

Lesson learned:

Leadership is giving, and when Mary offered me help, I shut the door before I had a chance to see what was on the other side, denying her the opportunity to give. Years later, she reciprocated…I think not to be revengeful, but since I never accepted her help, she probably thought my offer was not genuine.

Songwriter and poet James Durst once wrote:

“Help one another; there’s no time like the present and no present like the time.”

No matter how successful you are in business, when someone offers you help, accept it…help is giving…help is a gift.

This is my 124^th blog posting
museahaw

The $50 Dryer

A client of mine recently shared a story with me. 

  Back in 1980, her family was struggling financially. One day their clothes dryer died and they had very little money to purchase a new one. So she visited the local garbage dump that sold used appliances.  She found a medium size unknown brand dryer for $50. The owner of the dump said he could not guarantee that it would work, however he did state that the people who dropped it off said it was still in fine working condition.

She took their word for it.

That dryer served her family for the next five years. In 1985 the family moved and had to leave the dryer behind. The new family that purchased her home offered $100 for the used dryer; my client denied and took only $50. That same dryer served the new family for the next three years. In 1988 the new family was expanding with three new children and decided they needed a bigger dryer. So they took the used dryer back to the same junk yard. When the owner of the junkyard saw the dryer he said, “I remember that dryer, does it still work?” The new family said “Yes, it works fine.” The junk yard owner gave them $50.

When I first heard this story, several words went through my mind.  “trust” “honesty”  “ appreciation” , even “serendipity”.

When I read it through a couple more times, I had an “aha moment”. The common thread here is actually “leadership”. You do the same…read it through a few more times and you will also have an “aha moment”.

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What is a "Conflictor"?

We all know one:

1. "Conflictors" know something about everything, just enough to be dangerous.
2. Disagree with you on everything, in a passive aggressive manner.
3. Challenge your knowledge, in a condescending manner.
4. Devalues your time, while their time is precious.
5. Tells you others are not team players, while stabbing you in the back.
6. Creates a positive facade, and then is negative about your positivity.
7. A "Conflictor" is always right, and if you try to prove them wrong...you will become mentally exhausted.

Bottom line; a "Conflictor" is a predator. When you are up they will get you down. And will you are down, they will take you deeper.

When a "Conflictor", by no choice of yours, becomes part of your team, family, or social circles...do not try to handle them alone. One on one they will drain you. Bond together with people you trust and eventually the "Conflictor" will get frustrated and move on to other prey.

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The Right Moves

Leaders need to have the right attitude, or the leadership will fall short.
Leadership is giving...inspire vs. require...work done "with" people vs. work done "by" people.

1. Give up on perfection, make it better.
2. Believe you have more in you.
3. Falling is not failing.
4. Never make excuses.
5. Compare up.
6. Train people "who" to be,  before telling them "what" to do.
7. Train on skills;  you can't teach personalities.
8. Do what your best self longs to do.
9. Surround yourself with people who acknowledge your progress and challenge you to do better.
10. Let go of the past, strive to improve the future.

"When looking at four ounces of water in an eight ounce glass, the pessimist will say its half empty, the optimistic says its half full...the leader says-----thank you for the water."

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Are You Boring?

Researchers at the University of Chicago asked students to rate 43 boring behaviors. Here are the top eight. They'll earn you the label of being "chronically boring": *

• Complaining about one's own problems (health, finances, relationships) and not being interested in the problems of others.
• Talking constantly about trivial things, always including unimportant details, and repeating tired old jokes.
• Showing no emotion, failing to make eye contact. and talking in a monotone.
• Seriousness- never smiling, joking, or making light of things.
• Tediousness, especially talking too slowly.
• Low participation. Never joining in conversation and always just going along with what is being said.
• Distracting behavior, including frequent use of expressions such as "you know" and "just saying".
• Self-centeredness. Always talking about your own life, experiences, and interests.

Credo to live by: "Be interested first, then you will become interesting."

*Teamwork notes
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Business Fundamentals...Don't Leave Home Without Them.

From the book, The Last Lecture...author Randy Pausch reflects on his "old school" football coach.

On the first day of practice, we were all scared to death. Plus he (the coach) hadn't brought along any footballs. One kid finally spoke up for all of us.
"Excuse me, Coach. There are no footballs."
And Coach Graham responded, "We don't need any footballs."

There was a silence, while we thought about that...
"How many men are on the football field at a time?" he asked us.
Eleven on a team, we answered, So that makes twenty-two.

"And how many people are touching the football at any given time?"
One of them.
"Right!" he said.
"So we're going to work on what the other twenty-one guys are doing."

Asked yourself the following question:  What are the three basic business fundamentals?
Not sure?  Contact me at bobgambone@bobgambone.com for the answer.



“Copyright (11-26-2011) by Robert V. Gambone Sr.”