| |
| |
|
Management Information |
|
|
|
Whatever it Takes!
I have a sign on my office door. It pretty much summarizes my philosophy of life. The sign simply says?.."Whatever it takes." Short. Simple. To the Point. "Whatever it takes," means exactly that. That I will do "whatever it takes" to get what I really want. It is the best description that I have ever been able to come up with to summarize the entrepreneurial experience. Decision. Commitment. Result. Make the Decision. With my friends and colleagues I abbreviate and say?W.I.T. I'll often refer to individuals as either having W.I.T or not. Y'know it's like in the Rocky movies?"the eye of the tiger." You can tell when someone has W.I.T and when someone is faking W.I.T.. Or, worse yet when someone doesn't even know about it! Walt Disney suffered through a bankruptcy and breakdown. Milton Hershey experienced bankruptcy in his pursuit as the "chocolate king." H.J. Heinz saw his newborn company forced into liquidation. All these individuals understood W.I.T. It often confounds me though how many people will never understand what "whatever it takes" really means? It seems that I developed my understanding of this philosophy through hardship. A tough teacher but an effective one nonetheless. Maybe you can relate. When I first started my life as an entrepreneur I thought I was pretty focused on what I wanted. Instead I got the exact opposite. Working long hours for little or no pay, dealing with creditors, angry customers, unresponsive vendors, indifferent intermediaries, idiotic bankers, erratic sales, loaning money to the company, etc. Quite frustrating until I discovered that all of that had been a training ground of sorts that taught me the alchemy of turning problems into opportunities. The one characteristic that every great businessperson must possess. Whatever it takes. Problems into Opportunities. W.I.T made me understand that it is not what happens to you. W.I.T makes you look at what are you going to do about it? Before I had discovered W.I.T I had never realized that I had a "BLAME" list that was responsible for my circumstances. There were so many problems standing in the way of my success. I was convinced that I needed less problems. "If Only's" so to speak?. I rationalized that successful people had less problems than I did which allowed them to be successful. LOL! I hate to admit it, but it is true. "Well you know the economy?" All of these are huge lies which will prevent you from understanding "W.I.T." Everybody has problems. But problems begin to dissolve when you acquire skills. I was guilty of wishing and hoping for less problems. What I needed though was better skills. Without skills your focus gravitates to the problem. A very poor focus indeed. How often do you complain? Most of us are not conscious of how regularly we demonstrate that our "FOCUS" is on the problem and not the solution. I was thinking about this the other day when I overheard a group of employees whining about their circumstances. It reminded me of my "BLAME LIST." No W.I.T. One of the benefits of being an employee is not having to take TOTAL responsibility for your life. Its made me realize that rarely have I observed successful individuals complain about their circumstances. It is a major distinction between people who exhibit entrepreneurial flair and those who will always remain employees. W.I.T. The biggest issue that I have found with success is actually defining "the word" SUCCESS on my own terms. Over the years I have developed a love affair with dictionaries. You might remember those books our ancestors used in the pre-search engine days. Anyway, I use dictionaries regularly to see how they define a word. What has become fascinating about this is that dictionaries often disagree with one another?.kind of like the search engines do today. If you look up the word success in most dictionaries it will normally come up with some variations of the following ideas: accomplishment, achievement, attainment; triumph, victory And my experience has been that these synonyms promote the following viewpoints: When you get what you want then you can be happy. Life begins when you get X. What you don't have is better that what you do have. More is better. I find these perspectives woefully inadequate for truly defining the elements of a successful life. Until you decide what success means to you, inadvertently you will fall for one of these perspectives. The key is defining SUCCESS based upon what is ultimately significant to your life, on your own terms, by your own design. For me, W.I.T. is a wonderful definition of SUCCESS. Football coach and legend Vince Lombardi said, "The pride of success is hard work, dedication to the job at hand, and determination that whether we win or lose, we have applied the best of ourselves to the task at hand." If anybody understood W.I.T, it was Vince Lombardi. I, also however am reminded of the French prisoner Papillon who was unjustly condemned to life imprisonment on Devils Island. He was disturbed by a recurring nightmare. His dream was that he stood before a harsh tribunal. "You are charged," they would shout, "with a wasted life. How do you plead?" "Guilty." He would mutter. "I plead guilty." Papillon, the prisoner knew that to waste his life under the control of others was WASTE. He also consistently pursued his freedom. W.I.T. Life is essentially composed of energy, time and space. To ultimately live a successful life would mean that we intensely understand these basic elements and invest them wisely without waste in pursuit of our goal.. The rich have money. The successful individual has a rich entrepreneurial life and lives it intensely. Success is a passionate love affair with life. W.I.T. On your own terms, by your own design. So be it! Harald Anderson is the co-founder of Artinspires.com a leading online gallery of Motivational Posters and Inspirational Prints."When Art Inspires, Dreams Become Realities. His goal in life is to become the kind of person that his dog already thinks he is. http://www.artinspires.com/
MORE RESOURCES:
Google News |
|
|
|
RELATED ARTICLES
Change and Performance - Training May Not Be The Answer Introducing new products or services, bringing new people on board, developing a new process or procedure, installing new equipment, change seems to be the one constant in business today and change always seems to drive a need for training.In conducting training needs analysis at any level, we need to understand that training may not be the solution, at least not the whole solution. CEOs Are Great, Top CEOs Are Greater People in leading positions are often in a dilemma: on one hand they are supposed to give great performances, make the right decisions and so forth; on the other hand, they have to fill the role of a very confident and self-assured manager. This may be considered a dilemma because CEOs are expected to be almost supernatural, and asking for assistance in what is supposed to be their core competence (leadership!) simply does not fit the picture, no matter how necessary it may be. Three Business Lessons From The US Postal Service There was a buzz in the air recently about the US Postal Service. Seems as though they were running into a budget deficit in the billions. Six Honest Business Friends - They Guide Me In All I Do SIX "HONEST BUSINESS FRIENDS" - THEY GUIDE ME IN ALL I DOI keep six honest serving-men(They taught me all I knew);Their names are What and Why and WhenAnd How and Where and Who. (RudyardKipling, from "The Elephant's Child" in Just So Stories). Meeting Your Meeting Expectations "To get something done a meeting should consist of no more than three people, two of whom are absent." ~Author unknownOne of the complaints I hear most often is about the number of meetings people attend during any given week. How To Own A Business... Instead Of A Job Every business is run by someone who took on a risk with their time and money. So I believe that person should be rewarded. Project Management - Are You Done Yet What happens when a Project Manager asks one of his team members "Are you done yet"?If you're a seasoned project manager, then the following scenario will sound very familiar. If you're new at this game, take my word for it: This will happen to you!------------------------------------------------------Starring in this article: R. 7 Essential Elements To Every Organizational Change [This article is based on excerpts from the special report "Overcoming Resistance to Change" by Dr. Mike Beitler. Business Leadership Skills - Managing the Human Being Behind the Business Managing the Human Being Behind the Business It's a common problem and we've all seen it - business owners that are just 'too busy' all of the time, and as a result, do not enjoy the success in business they had hoped for. Let's not kid ourselves, there is a lot to focus on: technology, employees, sales, marketing and so on. Middle-Aged Managers, the Forgotten Digital Divide The digital divide is defined by the role computers play within widening social gaps in our society, as the condition of one group having an advantage over another group in regard to computers, technology skills and Internet access.This is usually thought of as being a divide between the white middle class and minority communities; but there is another often overlooked class of nonusers, the middle-aged corporate manager. Interviewing: How to Stay Out of legal Hot Water Some interviewers ask great questions; others ask dumb questions; and, worst of all, some ask questions that can get them into legal hot water.Every recruiter, hiring manager, executive, and department manager must realize that asking the wrong questions or making improper inquiries can lead to discrimination or wrongful-discharge lawsuits. The Comfort Zone The Comfort Zone I have a friend named Gene, a serial entrepreneur who currently runs a software business. Like many people, last year was a tough one for his company. Manage or Lead - Why the Difference Matters and What to Do About That Difference Many books have been written about managing people, and an equally large number have been written about leadership. Some use the words manage and lead interchangeably, and some talk about the differences between the words, building a distinction based on style or behaviors. Importance of Just-In-Time Inventory System In today's competitive world shorter product life cycles, customers rapid demands and quickly changing business environment is putting lot of pressures on manufacturers for quicker response and shorter cycle times. Now the manufacturers put pressures on their suppliers. Using an Appraisal to Benefit Your Organization PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS BENEFIT THE ORGANIZATION:Appraisals help spot employees with potential for advancement. Appraisals bring attention to the so-called high-potentials - people who have both the will and the ability to excel in the organization. Quick Tips On Bringing Out The Best In People Want to bring out the best in people?Edward W. Smith, motivational speaker, author and TV show host, who specializes in quick tips on how to move your life ahead even faster, offers the following advice. The 3rd Plan Missing from your Business If you're like most people, you probably started with wonderful ideas of fulfilling your dreams, to be successful and to take charge of your own destiny.I hope you have achieved those or are well on your way. Creativity Management - The Value of Being Prolific When asked his secret to success, the author Graham Green said that it was down to his always writing 500 words a day. There are real reasons why this philosophy rings true:a) The single best creative product tends to appear at that point in the career when the creator is being most prolific - quality of output is closely related to quantity. CEOs Role in Family Business I first met Roland (not his real name) in 1972. He was a high school student working a summer job in his father's business. Weaknesses of Wishing When you're starting a business, you might wish for a lot of things, like having more than enough customers or not having to do marketing. But wishing is weak willed, having no momentum behind it.
|
| home | site map |
| © 2006 |
