THE SKILLS THAT MAKE AN ENTREPRENEUR
by Bill J. Bonnstetter
Harvard Business Review
Entrepreneurial-minded people (and the ideas they generate) are extremely valuable to an organization. At our research firm, we recently conducted a multi-variable analysis of a group of serial entrepreneurs and identified five personal skills that clearly make them unique. “Personal skills” — often classified as “soft skills” — develop slowly over time, and we used them to help identify what job-related activities a person has developed. We primarily looked at people who started multiple businesses and experienced both success and failure. More »
“IF YOU AREN’T TEACHING, YOU AREN’T LEADING.”
Noel Tichy in his book The Leadership Engine says that leading is teaching and if you aren’t teaching you’re not leading. What this means to me is simple. To grow this business to the level you want it to will take some leadership on your part.
First of all I have believed that Shaklee is a teaching, coaching business for many years. Some people think it’s a product business, some believe it’s a selling business. There really isn’t a wrong answer to what this business is. It’s all of the above. But it’s also about people so we can say it’s a people business.
People need leadership and what I saw very early in my Shaklee career was the people who had the kind of business I wanted were doing meetings and teaching as well as coaching. Some people will figure it out but for the most part people need to learn and of course if Noel Tichy is correct, people need someone to teach and coach them on a regular basis.
Are you teaching? About what? Prospecting, follow up, in-home events, attitude, presentations, encouraging people, etc. Are you maybe doing some coaching along the way….let me show you how to do a 1-on-1 presentation….The point is simple but yet very profound. First of all be the example and be bringing in more people to your personal group. It’s easier to teach and coach when you yourself are in motion doing the basic fundamentals yourself.
Think about it… “If you aren’t teaching, you aren’t leading.”
Enthusiastically,
Gary Burke
DO IT ANYWAY
Free Advice: You know what they say (I am not sure who “they” are-lol) about you get what you pay for but I hope this is helpful. This is a result of a conversation with a 40-somehting year old gentleman recently who said. “I do not know if I want to do this.”
If you are on my team, another company, or simply thinking about your future please accept this respectfully: Do not make your decision about embracing opportunity based on whether or not it is something you “want” to do. You do not buy a drill because you want a drill. You buy a drill because you want a hole.
Success is generally derived from doing things you do not want to do…things others will not do…so you can live like most people will never live.
Keep in mind, the question should be, “Will this get me what I ‘want’ in life?” If so, do it!
Regardless of whether or not you want to. If you told me digging ditches 8 hours per day would make my dreams come true I would simply ask for a bigger shovel so I could get there faster.
What do you want, not what do you want to do.
If you know “why”, the “how” presents itself… usually in the form of something you may not want to do. Do it anyway. I wish you all the best in whatever you pursue.
Always Lead,
Bo Short
Thanks, Sarah Stauber and Gary Burke
IT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE
I’m preparing a talk I’ll be giving shortly and yesterday I had a thought and I would like to pass it along. You may or may not agree but that’s okay. The thought of the importance of creating a plan and then of course working the plan was in my mind because of watching some of the Olympics.
The stories of the various Olympians always inspires me. These are people who worked incredibly hard for 4 years to perform for maybe 2 minutes or maybe a hour or two at the Olympics. Their plan was to qualify for the Olympics, do their best and maybe… just maybe they can get a medal.
I heard the word plan several times in interviews or by the TV announcers. Here is what it boils down to as far as I’m concerned. Planning is the key tool that helps a person to increase their probability of success.
A plan stimulates your thinking…it help you visualize the promise of the future….you’ll get new ideas and insights as you create your plan. A plan is a vital tool.
The other thought I had yesterday was this….people who don’t have a plan or idea of exactly what they want, these people are “doing Shaklee.”
A plan means there is a target, a goal, a dream, specific actions in order to achieve. You can’t just wish for things to change…you can have hope but you can’t just hope your business grows.
Think about it. Why not create a plan with very specific steps. Then get an accountability partner to talk with once or twice a month….someone who doesn’t criticize or judge. You need someone to encourage you to continue to move forward regardless of what happened yesterday or last week or last month.
Working from a specific plan will make a difference for you.
Enthusiastically,
Gary Burke
FEET ON THE STREET
BY Seth Godin
The complement to the brilliant strategy is the thankless work of lower-leverage detail.
An organization with feet on the street and alert and regular attention to detail can build more trust and develop better relationships than one than hits and runs.
• Contact every user who stops using your service and find out why.
• Create a newsletter for every journalist who covers your space, and deliver it every three weeks, even when you’re not asking for anything. Just to keep them in the loop.
• Eagerly pay attention to people who mention you online and engage with them in a way that they prefer to be engaged.
• Sponsor industry events and actually show up.
• Write a thank you note every single day, to someone who doesn’t expect one.
• Build your permission asset by 1% every day. Every day, 1% more people are eager and happy to hear from you.
• Write a blog every day, not to sell, but to teach.
• Connect people in your industry, because you enjoy it.
• Host community meetings in your store.
• Put a lemonade stand in front of your business and let the local kids donate the money to whatever charity they like.
• Hand out free samples every chance you have.
• Keep in touch with people who used to work with you and continue to help them get great gigs and new business, even years later.
• Put together an honest buyer’s guide, pointing out in which instances your competitor’s products are a better choice.
• Run classes for your customers.
• Run classes for your competitors.
• Build a recruiting pipeline that is in place more than a year before you need to hire someone.
• None of this is sufficient. Your product and your strategy have to be brilliant. But a lot of it is necessary.
Hearts and minds…
Another brilliant post from Seth Godin.
How many of these things are you doing?
What could you add to this list that would be helpful to all of us?
HOW I QUALIFIED FOR KENYA
Sandy Dietrich has qualified for the Kenya, African Safari and she describes here what she did to earn this incredible trip. Thank you Sandy for being the leader you are and for the example you’ve set.
Gary Burke
Good Morning Gary. As I read your message this am, I thought; “Yep,– I have a plan, I have a made up mind, and then I just do it – again and again and again.”
What struck me is how simple this business is. The hard part is “me” – having the discipline day in and day out to make it happen.
I spoke on the webinar yesterday about How We Earned Africa. I thought I would share my outline with you.
MY MIND CHANGED
1. My mind changed! I became determined and consistent starting about 3 years ago.
a. Stuck to a schedule for activity – no matter how many times it didn’t happen!
b. Worked on myself and refused to make excuses! (It didn’t matter if I “ felt like” doing Shaklee or not!)
c. Set a goal of 2 – 3 appointments a week.
MY FOCUS CHANGED
2. My focus changed! I worked on building relationships.
a. Listened and showed I cared – needs notebook
b. Stayed in contact – which leads to referrals and lifetime members
c. Did what it took to get lots of in-homes/meetings.
d. Had to be patient. No does not mean no forever.
e. 2-3 great people in my group have made all the difference!
f. Trusting God’s help and having those who prayed for and encouraged me, made such a positive difference.
MY ACTIVITY CHANGED
3. My activity changed! I showed the whole Shaklee story and I followed up.
a. I always tell: 1.The Company, 2. The products, 3. The Comp plan. – Stories!
b. Get a Wish list filled out for follow up.
c. Found there is always a next step with everyone – take it!
d. I am willing to work in Depth with anyone who will lead me to others!!
So Gary, thank-you for the crucial part you have played in my Shaklee journey. I’m looking forward to the rest of the trip!
Sandy
DON’T SEND YOUR DUCKS TO EAGLE SCHOOL
by Jim Rohn
The first rule of management is this: don’t send your ducks to eagle school.
Why? Because it won’t work. More »
HOW TO MAKE MONEY ONLINE
I get a lot of questions about whether or not to try and build a Shaklee organization online — and how to do it. My first reply is that I’ve never seen it done successfully. I have seen people sponsored into Shaklee, and I have seen people sell a few products through lead generation … but I have yet to see all that translate into building an organization. More »
“IF I FAIL MORE THAN YOU DO, I WIN!
A great life and business lesson from the brilliant Seth Godin.
ARE YOU ENROLLED?
Be enrolled yourself. You can’t expect to gain the commitment of others if you’re not committed yourself. You must want to make your idea a reality. Starting anything new is hard enough, even if you are committed. Others can sense if you are not genuinely enrolled. They can tell if you’re not excited about the idea or truly committed to making it happen. And if they get that feeling, they are bound to ask: “If he is not really into it, why should I be?”
Harvard Business Review
