CEO corner. Be a Leader: Wozniak was a great musician, Jobs played the orchestra.

[Antifragile]

Want to build a 10+ figure business and 9+ figure net worth? Fastest way, maybe the ONLY way is to become a great leader, a great CEO of your company. Steve Wozniak was a great musician. Steve Jobs played the orchestra.

It's never too late to be who you might have been. George Elliot.

This thread is for you if you aspire to be a CEO, to be a leader. It is not for everyone.
This thread is not for you, if you hate the idea of dealing with employees or thinking BIGGER.

You are still reading means you do want a bigger business and that CEO role. Ask yourself:

1. Why do you want it? Be honest, if you had all the money you ever wanted, would you still want to do it?
2. What does "success" mean to you?
3. What is your moral compass? Did you ever write down things you wouldn't do?

For those few remaining... stick around, we'll have fun.

Traits of a good leader:

• Courage - to take a stand
• Perseverance - to finish what you start
• Integrity - to say what you mean
• Self-control - to keep emotion in check
• Fairness - knowing right and wrong
• Discretion - humility, modesty.

Try answering these questions:

1. An effective leader never stops doing what?
2. What is the CEO's single most important skill?
3. What is the one job a CEO cannot delegate?
4. What is the leading cause of CEO's errors in judgement?
5. What are CEO's biggest time wasters?
6. What is the single best predictor of company's poor performance?
7. What two skills differentiate good from bad CEOs?

Go ahead and post your answer before reading my thoughts.

1. Learning, 2. Listening (asking questions), 3. vision, 4. overconfidence, 5 interruptions, 6. complacency, and 7. ability to make things happen and to delegate. @Kak talks about this the Kyle Keegan Radio Show (KKRS) a lot.

You are a leader if and only if people follow you when they have the freedom not to. Jim Collins.


P.S. Why am I doing this? To clarify my own thinking and help others in similar position along the way.

 

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[Itizn]

1. Challenging and encouraging growth from his circle.

2. Decision making.

3. Any notable decision involving their largest account

4. Emotions (like most people)

5. Fickle (biz) partners

6. Inadequate people placed in managerial positions

7. Effective communication & proper delegation

 

[KindlyCutTheCrap]

This thread is for you if you aspire to be a CEO, to be a leader. It is not for everyone.
This thread is not for you, if you hate the idea of dealing with employees or thinking BIGGER.

You are still reading means you do want a bigger business and that CEO role. Ask yourself:

1. Why do you want it? Be honest, if you had all the money you ever wanted, would you still want to do it?
2. What does "success" mean to you?
3. What is your moral compass? Did you ever write down things you wouldn't do?

For those few remaining... stick around, we'll have fun.

Traits of a good leader:

• Courage - to take a stand
• Perseverance - to finish what you start
• Integrity - to say what you mean
• Self-control - to keep emotion in check
• Fairness - knowing right and wrong
• Discretion - humility, modesty.

Try answering these questions:

1. An effective leader never stops doing what?
2. What is the CEO's single most important skill?
3. What is the one job a CEO cannot delegate?
4. What is the leading cause of CEO's errors in judgement?
5. What are CEO's biggest time wasters?
6. What is the single best predictor of company's poor performance?
7. What two skills differentiate good from bad CEOs?

Go ahead and post your answer before reading my thoughts.

1. Learning, 2. Listening (asking questions), 3. vision, 4. overconfidence, 5 interruptions, 6. complacency, and 7. ability to make things happen and to delegate. @Kak talks about this the Kyle Keegan Radio Show (KKRS) a lot.

It's never too late to be who you might have been. George Elliot.
You are a leader if and only if people follow you when they have the freedom not to. Jim Collins.


P.S. Why am I doing this? To clarify my own thinking and help others in similar position along the way.

One leadership development program states there are 2 directions. Horizontal and Vertical.

Horizontal is the technical skills, e.g. legal, finance, sales, marketing and so on. You can hire people to do the gruntwork and focus on other aspects of the business.

Vertical is about you as a person and is a) your skills to navigate challenges, b) how to include diverse perspectives, and c) sense-making.

Sense-making is another way to say 'How well do you reflect on the way you're relating to yourself, others, the business?'. The research finds that leaders are pretty bad at knowing how to reflect well. But as far as I can tell, if you can't reflect in a useful way, how good can you be at the rest?

How can a person can do well with challenges and integrating diverse ideas and learning about their blindspots if they don't know their mind and emotional landscape well.

The better we are at understanding our mind and emotional landscape, the easier it is for everything else to fall into place without an internal argument and self-doubt.

 

[Antifragile]

Thanks for posting the answers. I’m tagging @mikecarlooch as he’s working on being a leader to his team.

1. An effective leader never stops doing what?
2. What is the CEO's single most important skill?
3. What is the one job a CEO cannot delegate?
4. What is the leading cause of CEO's errors in judgement?
5. What are CEO's biggest time wasters?
6. What is the single best predictor of company's poor performance?
7. What two skills differentiate good from bad CEOs?

You know my answers are: 1. Learning, 2. Listening (asking questions), 3. vision, 4. overconfidence, 5 interruptions, 6. complacency, and 7. ability to make things happen and to delegate.

There is no course or book or some stupid certificate that can make us a good leader. There is no one right answer. But never asking these questions is the wrong way to go about it.

1. Challenging and encouraging growth from his circle.

I like it.

2. Decision making.

I’m going to challenge you on that. Building a 10 figure businesses will mean having many staff, senior VPs etc. wouldn’t they be making many decisions?

Do you think you are a good listener? How would you stack up against other leaders?

3. Any notable decision involving their largest account

In the early stages of a company life, I agree with you. What about when your business is large?

4. Emotions (like most people)

Well put. I like your answer better. Nailed it. We as leaders can’t get emotional to the point of losing it. But we are all human, we need to be real too.

5. Fickle (biz) partners

Haha. Tells me you may have a story there. Care to share?
I’m working on expanding my business and was at the office yesterday. I spent 50% of my time being distracted by staff meetings and questions.

I think distractions are key.


6. Inadequate people placed in managerial positions

Can you elaborate on what you mean here?

7. Effective communication & proper delegation

Kak would agree and so do I, must delegate!

Amazing answers. Thanks.

 

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[mikecarlooch]

To be honest I’m not 100% sure what a CEO does yet, other than its super important. Haven’t looked into it.. I’ve always been a bit confused.. but I’ll do my best! (A little embarrassed to admit this lol)

An effective leader never stops doing what

Planning & strategizing, and leading

What is the CEO's single most important skill?

leadership

What is the one job a CEO cannot delegate?

leading

What is the leading cause of CEO's errors in judgement?

Themselves

What are CEO's biggest time wasters?

Anything that is not moving the business forward

What is the single best predictor of company's poor performance?

The CEO’s leadership

What two skills differentiate good from bad CEOs?

leadership
confidence

 

[mikecarlooch]

1. Learning, 2. Listening (asking questions), 3. vision, 4. overconfidence, 5 interruptions, 6. complacency, and 7. ability to make things happen and to delegate. @Kak talks about this the Kyle Keegan Radio Show (KKRS) a lot.

Ahh thanks I understand better now,

But one question I do have is what does a CEO physically do in a day? Is it all about writing down strategies and giving orders?

 

[Antifragile]

But one question I do have is what does a CEO physically do in a day? Is it all about writing down strategies and giving orders?

You are the CEO of your video company. What does that mean to you? What do you do?

You’ve posted a reply to @fastlane_dad that yesterday you realized the importance, planned and focused on your team. Why? What made you decide that’s the most important job at the moment?

 

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[mikecarlooch]

You are the CEO of your video company. What does that mean to you? What do you do?

You’ve posted a reply to @fastlane_dad that yesterday you realized the importance, planned and focused on your team. Why? What made you decide that’s the most important job at the moment?

Thanks you helped me answer my own question.

I spend my productive time strategizing and managing my team the best I can, and since I don’t have sales people yet, I do the selling.

What made me think that was the most important job at the moment was that it currently feels disorganized and it doesn’t feel like what I want it to be. I feel organizing the team and taking it seriously will lead to more confidence + value, and therefore more sales

 

[Antifragile]

Thanks you helped me answer my own question.

I spend my productive time strategizing and managing my team the best I can, and since I don’t have sales people yet, I do the selling.

What made me think that was the most important job at the moment was that it currently feels disorganized and it doesn’t feel like what I want it to be. I feel organizing the team and taking it seriously will lead to more confidence + value, and therefore more sales

Mike, I posted @Kak short in Random thread. In a way that short clip that is probably the best description of a CEO I've ever come across:
"Steve Wozniak was a great musician. Steve Jobs played the orchestra."
Steve Jobs was the CEO. Elon Musk is the CEO.

Want that 9,10,11 figure Net Worth? This is the way. This is thinking big and then thinking BIGGER.

 

[mikecarlooch]

Mike, I posted @Kak short in Random thread. In a way that short clip that is probably the best description of a CEO I've ever come across:
"Steve Wozniak was a great musician. Steve Jobs played the orchestra."
Steve Jobs was the CEO. Elon Musk is the CEO.

Want that 9,10,11 figure Net Worth? This is the way. This is thinking big and then thinking BIGGER.

View attachment 45522

That's GENIUS. how I've never heard this.. I don't know..

typing the following to give myself some more clarity on this :

a great conductor without a band means wasted potential.

the music is what comes out (sales)

the different instruments are the systems (marketing, sales, product, experience) that create the necessary sounds to create the music (sales)

however the conductor of the band (CEO) is the one everyone follows for the next keys to hit, and if the conductor screws up, the whole band screws up.

The better the conductor plays the orchestra, the better the value created, the better the product, the more sales that come out the other end.

PS: I'm excited to see where this thread goes, haven't seen many like it! Thanks for bringing it to light @Antifragile

 

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[Itizn]

I’m going to challenge you on that. Building a 10 figure businesses will mean having many staff, senior VPs etc. wouldn’t they be making many decisions?

Sure, but the fact those individuals are in the building in the first place is usually a result of the top of the totem poll deciding to place them there. In essence, decide who gets to delegate.

Do you think you are a good listener? How would you stack up against other leaders?

-I would say I'm good at remembering initial details but not the best at processing information as a whole.
All too often I regret a response to a prospect or even someone I know. Simply because I feel the words I chose to communicate weren't as effective as I would have liked it to be. Or they overlooked a key component of the initial message.
- Poorly and that's being generous.

In the early stages of a company life, I agree with you. What about when your business is large?

-Any decision involving the potential of what could be your new largest account. Or a partnership of equal magnitude.

Haha. Tells me you may have a story there. Care to share?

- Not necessarily, but dealing with people who can't make up their mind is a pet peeve and is stumbled across often in what I do. Part of that is my fault, for not effectively reading between the lines, asking tough questions, and qualifying opportunities.

Can you elaborate on what you mean here?

- Everything trickles down and a broken home starts at the top.
If the bottom line isn't up to snuff then we know the direction in which to head to scope out the weak link.

Amazing answers. Thanks.

- This was fun!

 

[Antifragile]

I'm excited to see where this thread goes, haven't seen many like it! Thanks for bringing it to light @Antifragile

What is Leadership?

The definition is always evolving with the times.

Leadership can be defined in many ways, but at its core, leadership is the ability to motivate and inspire others to achieve a common goal. A great leader is someone who can not only articulate a vision for the future but also has the charisma and drive to rally others around that vision.

While there are many different leadership styles, the best leaders share some common traits. They are passionate, articulate communicators who can inspire others to action. They also have a strong sense of personal integrity and can gain the trust of those they lead.

Great leaders are not afraid to take risks and make tough decisions. They also know how to delegate authority and responsibility, and they create an environment where creativity and innovation can flourish.

At its heart, leadership is about empowering others to achieve their full potential. Great leaders possess the ability to empower those around them to be their best selves. They create an environment in which people can thrive, and they provide the support and guidance that people need to reach their goals.

THAT is not all...

Today, a leader must know e-commerce and yet appreciate old-time-tested businesses too. Have superb instincts, perfect pitch to attract people, be an innovator, visionary, change agent, be a coach and team player, be able to work smart and have personal life in balance! be young at heart but mature in judgement and look good in a suit.

In the past, leader was a doer, now thats not the case. Steve Jobs was a strategic planner. What will the leader of tomorrow need to look like to be successful? (tagging @Kak )

The new leader is someone who doesn't know everything but is surrounded by people who know more. It is now more about GETTING THE PROCESS RIGHT. This means making sure the right people are on the bus, in the right seats, talking to the right other people to get things done, having the right tools to do their work and ability to decide what should be done and what shouldn't. Money is attracted like a gravity pull.

Paradoxically, leader must provide enough disorder to create change and enough order to produce results. Opposing forces of creativity and efficiency, balancing confidence with humility and so on.

One thing will never change about great leaders - they get people to follow a vision.

 

[mikecarlooch]

What is Leadership?

The definition is always evolving with the times.

Leadership can be defined in many ways, but at its core, leadership is the ability to motivate and inspire others to achieve a common goal. A great leader is someone who can not only articulate a vision for the future but also has the charisma and drive to rally others around that vision.

Grateful to have learned this recently (from yourself and kyle on the show), always thought everything was about more and more money, and just paying people by the hour to do their work and that's it. When you put it this way, it feels like a mission. It feels like one-upping the status quo is possible. (about to read 0 to 1, which I know is all about that)

While there are many different leadership styles, the best leaders share some common traits. They are passionate, articulate communicators who can inspire others to action. They also have a strong sense of personal integrity and can gain the trust of those they lead.

I noticed this a while back, even when things ended up being completely wrong, when I completely believe in something, I get people so excited about it that they take action. Something I'm half proud of half not proud of is the amount of people I sold on buying Kobe Bryant rookie cards for $8,000 a piece when I was into basketball cards.. They weren't buying from me, but even though I was an idiot I believed so much that I convinced multiple people to buy these things. I can see now, that was a quality of leadership. What if you have that belief in something that actually does work? Could probably change the world..

However whenever I've not truly believed in something, no matter how hard I try to convince people, it doesn't work. It shows through the energy.

Great leaders are not afraid to take risks and make tough decisions. They also know how to delegate authority and responsibility, and they create an environment where creativity and innovation can flourish.

At its heart, leadership is about empowering others to achieve their full potential. Great leaders possess the ability to empower those around them to be their best selves. They create an environment in which people can thrive, and they provide the support and guidance that people need to reach their goals.

Thanks. This makes me realize how I can truly differentiate my business. It doesn't matter what part of the world my team is from, if I can lead them to a mission to be the greatest they can possibly be and offer them something good enough, a team on the other side of the world can be just as good if not better than a US team.. "There are no bad teams, only bad leaders"

Today, a leader must know e-commerce and yet appreciate old-time-tested businesses too. Have superb instincts, perfect pitch to attract people, be an innovator, visionary, change agent, be a coach and team player, be able to work smart and have personal life in balance! be young at heart but mature in judgement and look good in a suit.

Seems like such a fulfilling life , truly.

In the past, leader was a doer, now thats not the case. Steve Jobs was a strategic planner. What will the leader of tomorrow need to look like to be successful? (tagging @Kak )

The new leader is someone who doesn't know everything but is surrounded by people who know more. It is now more about GETTING THE PROCESS RIGHT. This means making sure the right people are on the bus, in the right seats, talking to the right other people to get things done, having the right tools to do their work and ability to decide what should be done and what shouldn't. Money is attracted like a gravity pull.

I wish I read and understood this 3 years ago before I got into gary vee hustle porn, where if I wasn't working or doing something productive or making a tiktok every waking hour I'd feel like a failure, staring at my phone for hours on end.. replying to comments and a ton of different action fakes.

Although I must admit that some of the gary vee motivation days like the garage saling and thrift shops, reselling on ebay, I will never forget those days ever, they are a core part of my life forever. It's what got me into the whole business rabbit hole.

Paradoxically, leader must provide enough disorder to create change and enough order to produce results. Opposing forces of creativity and efficiency, balancing confidence with humility and so on.

One thing will never change about great leaders - they get people to follow a vision.

Gold! (i hope this thread does get gold.. you deserve it)

 

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[BizyDad]

1. An effective leader never stops doing what?
2. What is the CEO's single most important skill?
3. What is the one job a CEO cannot delegate?
4. What is the leading cause of CEO's errors in judgement?
5. What are CEO's biggest time wasters?
6. What is the single best predictor of company's poor performance?
7. What two skills differentiate good from bad CEOs?

Ok, I'll give it a go. Had to do a bit of scrolling to leave this, haven't read anything else yet...

1. Learning (I want to say leading just to be funny)
2. Listening
3. Setting Direction/Mission
4. Poor data
5. Email (the question was written in plural, so... Emails) Lol.
6. Poor marketing
7. The skills to motivate and delegate

I feel like the questions got harder as they went on...

Edit: had to scroll a lot to self-grade my pop quiz. I feel like I nailed it!! Ok, only 4 out of 7, but I give myself partial credit and I'm grading on a curve...

 

[Antifragile]

Edit: had to scroll a lot to self-grade my pop quiz. I feel like I nailed it!! Ok, only 4 out of 7, but I give myself partial credit and I'm grading on a curve...

Haha, @BizyDad - there are no "right" answers, just my take on this.

Are there any items where you disagree?

A fun little sidebar chat I am having with Kyle @Kak is that in entrepreneurship - YOU make the rules. Anyone claiming to have the exact answers must be fighting delusions of grandiosity.

Another way to look at this and to improve ourselves as leaders is to accept and understand the opposite.

Who are terrible leaders?

1. Never take risks
2. Hides their emotions
3. Avoids learning anything new (born genius level, knows all)
4. Comes with bags of excuses for every F*ck up
5. Blames and points fault in others
6. Never shares any knowledge
7. Micro manages
8. Only asks questions he knows answers to
9. Assumes business advantage is permanent
10. Appears unapproachable (god like figure)

Here is a question... which of the above 10 apply to you? (general reader you here, not directed at BizyDad in particular). We are all guilty of at least a FEW of these at least SOME of the time.

 

[BizyDad]

Haha, @BizyDad - there are no "right" answers, just my take on this.

First off, you and I agree on 4 answers so, yes, there are right answers. Anyone who disagrees with us is entitled to their (wrong) opinion. And I said email, you said interruptions, that is kinda the same too.

Are there any items where you disagree?

The predictor of poor performance.

Maybe over a long enough timeline you're right.

But there are hundreds of companies that are complacent. Thousands. And they are still big and not shrinking.

Maybe I don't know what you mean by poor performance. What is the measuring stick of that?

But a bad marketing campaign is a decent leading indicator of poor performance. Is it the best indicator? I don't know. This was actually the question that I found the hardest.

 

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[KindlyCutTheCrap]

Haha, @BizyDad - there are no "right" answers, just my take on this.

Are there any items where you disagree?

A fun little sidebar chat I am having with Kyle @Kak is that in entrepreneurship - YOU make the rules. Anyone claiming to have the exact answers must be fighting delusions of grandiosity.

Another way to look at this and to improve ourselves as leaders is to accept and understand the opposite.

Who are terrible leaders?

1. Never take risks
2. Hides their emotions
3. Avoids learning anything new (born genius level, knows all)
4. Comes with bags of excuses for every F*ck up
5. Blames and points fault in others
6. Never shares any knowledge
7. Micro manages
8. Only asks questions he knows answers to
9. Assumes business advantage is permanent
10. Appears unapproachable (god like figure)

Here is a question... which of the above 10 apply to you? (general reader you here, not directed at BizyDad in particular). We are all guilty of at least a FEW of these at least SOME of the time.

The one who's absent.

 

[Antifragile]

First off, you and I agree on 4 answers so, yes, there are right answers. Anyone who disagrees with us is entitled to their (wrong) opinion. And I said email, you said interruptions, that is kinda the same too.

Well duh... there are only two hard rules:
1. You and I are always right.
2. In case we are wrong, look up rule number 1

The predictor of poor performance.

Maybe over a long enough timeline you're right.

But there are hundreds of companies that are complacent. Thousands. And they are still big and not shrinking.

You nailed it, I think we are looking at it from a long vs medium term horizon. Any company that achieved mega scale will have a momentum to it. Like a giant ship in a sea, it won't turn around on a dime. But over a longer distance it won't fair well.

Examples? Look at Fortune 500 companies. Look at S&P 500 list. Longevity of corporations is shortening. Their "seat at the table" of being Fortune 500 is much shorter too.

Older article on HBR discussing this point here.

Maybe I don't know what you mean by poor performance. What is the measuring stick of that?

Poor performance is simply ignoring highest and best use for the corporation / resources. Every company must continue to evolve, change, re-invent itself. It is like being on a stair master, if you stay still you are going down. That's why complacency = standing still on a stair master.

This holds for personal growth too. Do nothing and your brain and body rots.

If I walk through a company and see a culture of complacency, it's the best predictor for poor performance. I wouldn't want to do business with them.

But a bad marketing campaign is a decent leading indicator of poor performance. Is it the best indicator? I don't know. This was actually the question that I found the hardest.

This is giving me some pause. I'll need to think about it some more. There is huge value in marketing, screw that up and it's hard to get any customers.

 

[mikecarlooch]

This seems like a good thread to ask this -

What are your guys takes on competition when it comes to building something great? I’m currently reading 0 to 1 and the 10X analogy to escape competition is something I’ve not heard of much.

Do you guys agree with this? Why or why not?

To me, I love the idea of creating something better than the status quo, because competition is something that bothers me sometimes, not gonna lie

What I also found interesting that he said in this book so far is that if you need to advertise your product it's not good enough (which I know MJ also preaches in a way)

 

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[Antifragile]

This seems like a good thread to ask this -

What are your guys takes on competition when it comes to building something great? I’m currently reading 0 to 1 and the 10X analogy to escape competition is something I’ve not heard of much.

I read that book many years ago, the only thing I remember about 0 to 1 is that Paypal was 10x better for eBay payments than sending in cheques and therefore it was "new" idea. Brilliant, I agree with that. We all want the "blue ocean" for ourselves with no competition.

Do you guys agree with this? Why or why not?

Yes, I agree. But how helpful has this been for me personally? Not at all. I did not invent a new payment system that's 10x better than Paypal. Yet I still have a profitable business.

I'd love to hear from @fastlane_dad and @NeoDialectic on their old business they sold. I bet it was NOT 10x better product than the next best alternative. I think it was marginally better, it had killer marketing campaign to create a brand etc.

What does this mean? Competition isn't keeping me up at night. For my business I view competition as informational source. What can I learn from them? What can I do better? What are they doing better than me? Then I forget all about them and do my thing. We focus on end users. Who will eventually have our product? How will they use it? Will they love it? Why will they buy it from us?

To me, I love the idea of creating something better than the status quo, because competition is something that bothers me sometimes, not gonna lie

Focus on unfair advantages instead. Every one of us has some unfair advantage. For my business I have two:

1. Most experience in the industry (team we hired that way on purpose)
2. Access to large amounts of capital.

This means I can do things my competition cannot. Interest rates went up, lenders funds became limited and we can buy properties. First, our team can solve challenges others cannot (think environmental, approvals etc.) and we can get loans when others cannot, or close in cash when others cannot.

The key is to identify and use your unfair advantage that competition doesn't have access to.

Second, I believe this is what @MJ DeMarco calls Value Skew, focus on the end user of your service or product. What value are they getting that's not available elsewhere?

What I also found interesting that he said in this book so far is that if you need to advertise your product it's not good enough (which I know MJ also preaches in a way)

I spoke to Brian Scudamore CEO of the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? on this topic. He said that his global company now advertises to make it harder for competition to steal any marketshare. But he grew this company from zero to biggest in the world by word of mouth marketing.

 

[mikecarlooch]

Focus on unfair advantages instead. Every one of us has some unfair advantage. For my business I have two:

1. Most experience in the industry (team we hired that way on purpose)
2. Access to large amounts of capital.

This means I can do things my competition cannot. Interest rates went up, lenders funds became limited and we can buy properties. First, our team can solve challenges others cannot (think environmental, approvals etc.) and we can get loans when others cannot, or close in cash when others cannot.

This is a great tip thanks! Knew it right off the top of my head

I spoke to Brian Scudamore CEO of the 1-800-GOT-JUNK? on this topic. He said that his global company now advertises to make it harder for competition to steal any marketshare. But he grew this company from zero to biggest in the world by word of mouth marketing.

I always found this business interesting, I've seen the word of mouth for this business work like crazy, never knew it was such a large company

 

[Antifragile]

This is a great tip thanks! Knew it right off the top of my head

In your business, what is your unfair advantage? How are you making a good use of it?

I always found this business interesting, I've seen the word of mouth for this business work like crazy, never knew it was such a large company

Brain is a Vancouver local, very friendly and approachable person. He gives his time to any entrepreneur who needs his help. A real gem of a person and has no flash. He doesn't drive a super car or wear a rolex. When you meet him, he'll be in his converse shoes and fairly casual.

Walking into his offices, one thing stands out instantly - there is a room with a WTF sign on it. It stands for "Willing to Fail".

 

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[Antifragile]

Every leader, every CEO must read this:

Marshall Goldsmith on self-limiting beliefs:

"I think we have a lot of self-limiting beliefs. And the self-limiting beliefs, a lot of these come from inside us. Basically, I can’t do this. I can’t do that. This is just the way I am. One of the most common problems is, this is just the way I am as if we have some “real” fixed identity that lives throughout time. And I have to really work on people to change that. Even smart people say things like this, “I can’t listen. I can’t listen. I’ve never been able to listen.” I’ll look in their ears. “Why not? You got something stuck in there? Why can’t you listen? Do you have an incurable genetic defect that is prohibiting you from listening?” As long as we tell ourselves, “That’s the way I am.” Two things happen, both bad. One, we inhibit the odds of ever getting better. Two, even if we do change our behavior we don’t seem authentic to ourselves. We feel like a phony because if the real me can’t listen and you say, “I’m a good listener. You know what I’m thinking?” Well, that’s not the real me. I’m just pretending to be a good listener because the real me is no good at that.”

— Listen and Learn or read the transcript.

As @Kak shares on his show, this is external vs internal locus of control.

 

[mikecarlooch]

In your business, what is your unfair advantage? How are you making a good use of it?

I didn't necessarily have one on display before you posted because I wasn't thinking about it, but I created a plan.

It was actually so impactful that I put the process of acquiring new clients on hold in order to build up the system I need in order to serve the best product possible and just work with who I've got now until I'm able to implement it (worth it for me, open to feedback on this decision)

Had to do this for two reasons

1. I realized that if I all of a sudden had 15 new clients come on board I wouldn't be able to handle it (and 15 new clients is my goal by November 25th, so I'll need to take a new approach to take on that kind of demand)

2. If I implement this plan & utilize my unfair advantage it will surge my confidence about what this business can deliver.

Here's what I wrote out in a google doc about my unfair advantage (just a braindump I came up with in 20 mins)

-

You see, whenever someone thinks of a global team, they think cheap and bad quality.

In most cases, you’d be completely right! MOST companies that produce social media content WILL just go and hire anybody they can find, for the cheapest price possible and then say

“Go edit this!”

At LoochiMedia, we like to call that.. Bullsh*t.

You may be wondering, “Okay, but what differentiates you guys?”

Leadership & Experience

First of all, there is a strict filter in our hiring process.

"Yes.. we hire global talent from third-world countries, however, it’s not just us putting up a job post on a website and saying “come on aboard!”

The reality? On average, for every 100 applicants, there are 5 qualified editors that we take to the next step. These 5 applicants are editors who proved that they can follow directions and pay close attention to detail.

In this next step, we filter out even further by only accepting applicants who 1. have amazing work that fits what we are looking for, and 2. Follow a specific set of core values.

We are like Harvard University in a way, with a very low acceptance rate. We KNOW how many inexperienced videos there are, but when we see someone with true talent, we know.

You may be wondering, how?

Once a new editor is accepted, they go through our “Video Structuring University”

Editing is only half the battle when it comes to social media, the other half is the presentation and knowing which parts of a video to show in order to get the best chance of lots of people viewing a video.

You may be wondering, what makes us qualified to take on a role like this?

80,000,000 Views on Social Media, 2,000 Videos posted, and hundreds of videos edited by us personally (I wasn't going to use this statistic because I didn't necessarily want expectations extremely high, rather I want to be the go-to for those who need good video editing for their business at a good price.. I decided I wanted to use it after reading your unfair advantage post because I realized that I can arm my people with the same strategies that made those numbers happen, and that's an unfair advantage IMO)

Once an editor comes on board, we take them under our wing and teach them the systems & strategies behind video creation, which is a skill they take and combine with their editing talent.

So when you work with us, you are not only working with talented video editors, you are also working with a system that has generated great results on social media in last 3 years focusing on how to create an intriguing video for social media.

And you're getting that without the hassle of hiring new employees, constantly finding new editors for each new project you. We're a one stop shop."

Any feedback on this?

 

[NeoDialectic]

I'd love to hear from @fastlane_dad and @NeoDialectic on their old business they sold. I bet it was NOT 10x better product than the next best alternative. I think it was marginally better, it had killer marketing campaign to create a brand etc.

What does this mean? Competition isn't keeping me up at night. For my business I view competition as informational source. What can I learn from them? What can I do better? What are they doing better than me? Then I forget all about them and do my thing. We focus on end users. Who will eventually have our product? How will they use it? Will they love it? Why will they buy it from us?

Kind of. I just feel like the 10x thing is a nice jingle to get people thinking in the right direction, but shouldn't be taken as some kind of decree. So it depends on if you are asking me to interpret it literally or figuratively.

You are 100% right that our products were not carte blanche 10x our competition in any category that immediately comes to mind. BUT our primary products were all unique formulas. If you wanted all our ingredients your only other option was doing your own research and making something at home. Which people were already doing.

We did have one or two competitors that had different but overlapping formulas. I would go as far as saying that not only weren't our products necessarily 10x better, but some competitors products may have worked better for some people. That's the nature of different peoples bodies responding differently to things. Not sure where that falls, since if a competitor didn't work for you but ours did. That may be unlimited times better depending on POV haha.

Overall I agree with you though. Without getting into the weeds, our product wasn't inventing the wheel and was a natural progression in the market for some people.

If you want to make a billion dollars, then yea....Listen to the billionaires telling you that you need to make a 10x company. Otherwise make a better product and have good enough marketing to get it in front of peoples eyes as an option during their buying decision.

 

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[Antifragile]

Time for our next Q&A. When it comes to leadership, leading others:

Which of the following truths do you disagree with (or at least you had to pause and think about)?

1. You can’t please everyone. Don‘t even try.
2. Everyone is afraid of failing and looking stupid. And there is a difference between looking and being. But that’s another topic altogether.
3. You must appear to be calm even when you are not, especially when you are not.
4. Energy management is more important than time management.
5. Leadership is about “politics” in a sense that you cannot succeed unless you can presumed others to do what you want.
6. Your story is far more interesting to you than it is to anyone else, focus on others. You have two ears and one mouth, use proportionately.
7. Never take it personally and never explain yourself - just let it go. Is this how you normally act?
8. Don’t trash talk others - people will neither trust nor respect you. How did you measure up on this one?
9. Learn to make a positive first impression. This is a skill.
10. Always read your emails before sending them, they are opportunities - don’t make them into problems.
11. You have a life outside your CEO role, you need it for perspective.
12. Don’t take compliments too seriously - it’s all just feedback.
13. If you lose your composure in time of crisis, you make it worse.
14. The secret to success in business is being likeable, people trust people they like.
15. Know who you are and where you want to go - if you don’t, you are not a leader.

 

[Kak]

1. Agree. The best way to walk that line IMO is to be totally and completely honest about why you might have chosen something that doesn’t make them happy. Even if they don’t agree it pays to help them understand why.

2. Agreed. There are a lot of people in the world that are skeptical of entrepreneurs and our “grand plans.” Is that because they don’t believe it can happen, or don’t want to believe you can do it while they don’t even bother trying? I usually consider it the latter. Failing after working really hard is a tough thing to put on full display.

3. Nah. I think there’s a place for passion in business. I think you have to be careful with your words and actions, but I wouldn’t be afraid to show some fire if I was particularly passionate about something. Negative or positive.

I once had a PR lady working for me who was a drama queen. I fired her when she had a problem with the vision I had for her work. “I don’t know if I can do that.” Was her response to a simple request. My answer was “then I’m completely sure this is your last paycheck.”

I am a nice guy and before long people won’t mistake it for weakness. She wasn’t there long enough to understand it.

4. Time management is organizational not personal. The sooner an entrepreneur understands that the better. We don’t grow companies by cramming all we can into our 16 waking hours. We don’t grow companies by sucking down Red Bull. We are the visionary leaders. Our time should be relatively protected to be the CEO.

5. Disagree. Organizational politics implies manipulation, force, games, trickery, credit taking, and toxic internal competition. The best leaders foster an environment of open communication. Imagine being the ceo of a company and a low level employee brings a solution to a big problem to their superior who buries it, or takes credit for it. That’s a toxic individual I’d want out of there.

6. Without question. I always say you can do anything you want in the world as long as you can inspire others to agree that it’s a good idea. Having that core focus on others. What it means for them, not you, is important. This includes investors, customers and talent you want to attract.

7. Business is personal for me. I’d say I can try to compartmentalize it, but at the end of the day, I want what I want and I will get it if I can. I always explain myself. I think clear and and honest communication keeps the house of cards from going up. You don’t want tension to build up between you and your people. That happens with shrugging things off and leaving things alone that bug you.

Side note: Same goes for marriage. Don’t let tension build. Don’t let the house of cards get one card high.

8. Yeah gossipy people, particularly when you aren’t close with them, absolutely lessen trust.

9. Absolutely! Dress professionally. Be on time. Be prepared. Don’t ever waste people’s time.

10. Yep. I’m trigger happy with forum posts. I end up editing most longer posts here because of some typo I don’t want to live with. I’m much more careful with the send button. That thing is permanent!

11. Yes. Of course. There are deeper motivations outside of just the company. They help make me better.

12. To be quite honest I’m a little uncomfortable with complements. Maybe I should be more thankful for them. Sure I’m happy to get them, but I’m more happy that someone else is satisfied with my work.

13. Yeah, most of the time. If you throw a fit, you’re not going to see what needs to be done.

14. No. There’s no one secret. Success is the product of a combination of so many different things for so many different people. The people with all the friends in high school end up being the losers later… Why? They were likeable. Likability is not a predictor of success, it’s just something that helps. The question is written like a limiting belief from someone who considers themselves unlikable.

15. Absolutely. I will add that your name is important. I would never trade my name for a quick buck. In the long term, I understand that my name will be a highly valuable asset and I don’t want to diminish that.

 

[BizyDad]

Poor performance is simply ignoring highest and best use for the corporation / resources.

Sorry, but I somehow missed that you responded. Not quite ready to tackle all the new questions.

I do not like this definition...

If you want to make a billion dollars, then yea....Listen to the billionaires telling you that you need to make a 10x company. Otherwise make a better product and have good enough marketing to get it in front of peoples eyes as an option during their buying decision.

This is a perfect example of why.

Taken at its absolute most literal, that definition means everyone should strive for the absolute highest allocation of profit margin But there's really only one industry that can provide that. Not affordable compete in that, and many who try will fail.

Look at all these big companies, Google, Microsoft, Facebook who try and launch competing products with other people or buy up smaller companies and try and grow them into a competing products with what the others are doing. Only to fail. Over and over.

So I think any definition of performance needs to be tied to a goal.

Which is what ND's response illustrates. Not every corporation needs to be the biggest or the best or the most perfectly allocated at something.

I think performance is an internal definition. But the way you're asking us to look at it it's external. The only time poor performance measurements should be external is in the case of publicly traded companies.

For the companies that aren't publicly traded, if my goal is to have a lifestyle company for example, then oftentimes I'm coasting. Coasting being a synonym for complacency, in this case there's nothing wrong with that.

 

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[Antifragile]

For the companies that aren't publicly traded, if my goal is to have a lifestyle company for example, then oftentimes I'm coasting. Coasting being a synonym for complacency, in this case there's nothing wrong with that. (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});

I appreciate the exchange here especially when we disagree. It gives an opportunity to expand and clarify. For context, the main audience for this thread are those who only want to think BIGGER. Coasting and "lifestyle" business owners are unlikely to enjoy reading this...

Success, what is it?

Every business and organization wants to be successful. But what does success really mean? Is it simply achieving financial goals? Or is there more to it than that?

There's no doubt that financial stability is important for any business or organization. But true success goes beyond simply meeting financial targets. To truly be successful, you need to have a clear vision for your business or organization, and you need to be constantly working towards that vision.

Highest and best use

In business and organizations, success is often best achieved when there is a "highest and best use" of resources. This means that all resources are used in a way that optimizes their potential. For example, if a company has a limited amount of money to invest, it would be better to invest in a new product or service that has the potential to generate a lot of revenue rather than investing in something that will only provide a small return.

Game excellence vs excellent game

This philosophy can be compared to the idea of excellent game VS game excellence. In an excellent game, the goal is simply to win. However, in game excellence, the goal is to do everything possible to win, even if you eventually lose, you had game excellence. As Vince Lombardi famously said, "Winning isn't everything, wanting to win is."

Complacency, on the other hand, is guaranteed to lead to lower productivity. This is because complacency breeds a false sense of security and prevents people from taking risks or making changes that could improve their situation. Therefore, complacency is often a great predictor of poor performance.

Example

I do not believe that your interpretation for @NeoDialectic and @fastlane_dad applies. I am convinced that as savvy businessmen, both of them wanted to have a 10x better than alternative products. It is not through lack of trying that they didn't. They had game excellence and as such, achieved a successful exit at 8-figures. They applied "highest and best use" idea to make it happen.

 

[Antifragile]

I realized that if I all of a sudden had 15 new clients come on board I wouldn't be able to handle it (and 15 new clients is my goal by November 25th, so I'll need to take a new approach to take on that kind of demand)

This is such an important realization.

Whether you have a job or run a big business - you don't ever want to be in a position where you overflow just one side without being able to execute on your promise. Nothing, I repeat, nothing destroys your reputation faster than constantly overpromising and underdelivering.

Your write up is great. Question to you: how will you demonstrate that what you say and what you do are the same? Anyone can say "we hire the best", "we reject 98% of applicants", "we are ...." etc. How are you demonstrating this within the attention span of a typical person trying to judge you before hiring your company? You've got less than a minute...