When you gonna wake up and fight ?

As Robert Frost said in the last sentence of his poem The Road Not Taken: “Two roads diverged in a wood, and I — I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.”

Every day we are greeted with issues, decisions, challenges, and options. Each of these is a prime opportunity to face the divergence in the road and decide: Good or Bad. In truth, the decision in front of you is simply two moves on the chess board of Life. Each leads to another move from your opponent (Unhappiness), and then another move, and another, and so on. If you are not 99 years old, deaf, dumb, and blind…there is good news: you have a CHOICE.

Should I be happy or should i be ____(something else)_____?

Buddhists say that everything is void of Good or Bad. That it depends on your perception of the situation; and your situation as it relates to the actual occurrence.

That doesn’t mean that your life is a random event; like some macabre carnival game, pitching our fate with a random roll of the wheel. It means that the determination of Good or Bad is in the hands of the Beholder.

Because no matter what you Perceive to be obvious, you have a choice to behave un-obviously.

This is called Faith.

Faith is choosing to Believe in something you do not see at present. There is no factual data to support the Belief. As you deal with the vagaries and uncertainty of life, Faith gives you the option to Choose. Which path shall I take?

The common path, which is usually that of the flotsam and jetsam of humanity, or the less common path: The Road Not Taken.

The Road Not Taken is Faith & Optimism. Deciding to see the choice you made, whatever it may be, as Happiness. Then taking action, taking that first step down the road, which is: Strength, Empowerment, Life’s Journey, Intuition, Clarity, Power, Subconscious Victory, Will Power… all of which lead to Self-Mastery.

There are two alternatives to this Decision to Accept Happiness. One is that you see the step taken as something that chooses you; an Action you were not in Control of making: Destiny, Fate, Self-Defeat, DNA, Spiritual Forces, The Will of God, Familial Obligation, Race, Gender, Situational Economics. The other is to choose to do the same thing you have Always Done. This has the false appearance of being empowering for some people. If it’s the same thing you always say or do, then it is not empowering you.

Anything that dis-empowers you, that takes Control out of your Hands, and puts it into the hands of anyone or anything else (including your own habits), is dis-empowering. It is the Actions Leading to Self Mastery that Empowers you, and leads to Happiness.

For example:

* I drink too much. I will choose to slow down. (ding: a decision). * I will act upon this decision (ding: action). * I recognize failure is human (ding: reality). *I forgive myself before failure happens, if it happens; although not avoiding responsibility (ding: self-acceptance). * And I am taking this journey, this Step…because I BELIEVE I can Win (ding: Happiness through Self-Empowerment).

Try choosing to walk the Road Not Taken: not even necessarily the one not taken by others; but the road not taken by you, the last time you faced this very same issue. I know when I am finding problems in front of me and behind me, I go left or right. And if yesterday I stepped on dog-shit on the left, my decision is pretty easy.

Try Different-ness.

“If you don’t like something change it. If you can’t change it, change your attitude.” – Maya Angelou

Some related links:

The Road Not Taken – Robert Frost

Meaning behind Shinedown’s Sound of Madness

Shinedown – Save Me video

Shinedown – acoustic version of Simple Man

DC Talk – Consume Me

It Ain’t About How Hard You Hit – Rocky Balboa

Rocky doesn't like F.F.P.S.

Every suburban American parent suffers the moment when we believe the secret to parenting is in getting our kid in competitive sports; right behind fishing or piano. Soccer, of course, seems the most innocuous; so, despite the fact that most people can’t name one professional American soccer team, we enroll our kids in soccer at or around age 7.

A few years back, a new program erupted on the angst-ridden parenting scene, and it was greeted with great fanfare and excitement as a Revolutionary new program called Fun Fair Positive Soccer or F.F.P.S.

Ever since, F.F.P.S. has been All-The-Rage!! Basically, it has no score, n0 winners, no losers; everyone gets a trophy, and everyone gets a cool-ass jersey… even that kid that picked his nose the entire game.

So what Gene: ‘Why is it wrong that everyone gets a trophy?’Because the good people at F.F.P.S are trying to equalize out the fact that life isn’t fair. Some kids are more athletic. Some have more drive. Who cares?!?! In F.F.P.S., everyone is equal; Losers and Winners alike!

The problem is, well…um, that ain’t L.I.F.E. my friend. This attitude, taught to kids now at an early age, doesn’t prepare children to be either effective or self-aware adults. In fact, it is actually robbing children of a crucial message: Life Is Not fair.

Thanks to F.F.P.S., and other equalizing programs, our society is full of goofy people who think showing up and picking daisies, or each other’s noses, is sufficient to engender a reward.

As adults, the same kids that got trophies for “not-losing,” go on to ask for pay raises and promotions despite the fact that they have done nothing to improve their skills or enhance their marketplace value. They, of course, get really mad; Tweeting, and Facebook-ing, and Yelp-ing about the insensitivity of their employer for not recognizing their daily attendance (productivity notwithstanding).

However, maybe if they had learned the proper lessons earlier in life, they would understand that rewards go to the players who Win and who Contribute. Other people have run the field hard, learned new skills and steadily increased their responsibilities; subsequently earning pay raises and promotions. These people understand the ball doesn’t come to you, you run after the ball, and KICK it as hard as possible!

So, here are a few lessons I hope to teach to my three awesome kids, as I watch them run the ball of life:

1) Don’t worry about your resume – Worry about the profits, efficiency and success of the team.  Resume enhancement comes from success. Success comes from adding value. Adding value comes from chasing the ball with all your might. WIN !!!

2) Absorb the beauty of a WIN, and the bitter pill of a LOSS – Only then can you strive and learn and grow. A trophy for losing is like a raise for tenure: Fool’s Gold. Oftentimes, the bitter pain of regret, loss and/or losing something of value is exactly what you need to make you get up and run Harder next time. How many entrepreneurs fail and then, armed with new learning experiences, succeed later in life? All of them.

Soccer players that expect success from just chasing the more athletic and skilled people around the field, or for simply showing up, are kidding themselves and being lazy.

Winners get trophies. Losers get learning opportunities. And DAMN-IT, that’s A-OK and exactly what each of them need and deserve!

If you are wondering why you haven’t gotten a pay raise lately? It’s because you haven’t added enough value to the team. You’ve been running around the field, chasing the athletic kids, wiping your nose on the daisies and the dandelions.

OK…What does it take to get recognition? Easy:

1st – Hard effort.

2nd – Win.

3rd – Trophy.

In that order.

Winning isn’t bad; it’s awesome. Losing isn’t bad either; it’s awesome. With each Winner comes a Loser.

Rocky. Aliens. Mighty Ducks. Cool Runnings. Transformers. ~ These movies have Winners and Losers. Which is why we cheer!!  YAY!!!  The Winner’s Won!!!

In the immortal words of Ricky Bobby: “If you ain’t first, you’re last.”

Rewarding someone for NOT evolving is a travesty of nature, a two-headed animal, and most two-headed animals die.

F.F.P.S. should be called F.F.B.S..

And people who demand “More” from life, yet refuse to run after the ball, should be called “Losers.”

Don’t be a Loser. Run Forrest Run!!

Go for the Gold. IT IS IN YOU!

I will admit it’s nice to be able to just gab, blab, and blubber in someone else’s paid and professional care. Men who habitually pay for female companionship know exactly what I am talking about…a lesser known skill taught at pole-dancing school is listening to the client B&M (Bitch & Moan) about their often self-perpetuated self-abuse.

That said – let me sum up professional therapy, and the Champagne Room counseling session, and save you thousands or even tens of thousands of Benjamins:

1) Your parents, God bless-em, are probably f-ups in one way or another. – They learned from their parents, who learned from their parents, who learned from their parents, etc., etc., etc. Vicious Cycle of Parental Incompetence. No qualifications for having a baby required, or rearing that poor little sod. Even these people can do it…

2) So are you. – Yep, Sport, sorry to tell you… but there is a VERY high likelihood you are not half as perfect as you think you might be right now. No matter what your aforementioned Mommy told you. Guess what? It’s OK. Whether you’re shaving your head in denial like Britney, or making crap movies like Ashton, or nationalizing all of a previously glorious and free country like Obama…. you are likely making mistakes. That’s OK.

3) Get over it. – Yep… it is that simple. Get Over It. This Too Shall Pass. You will recover from your mistakes most likely and move on as a wiser, braver, older, slightly more scarred human being. They call that ‘certain look of knowledge and experience’ … WISDOM. As I get older, I now realize why so many old people know so much and yet are so reticent to share, expressing their knowledge through cynicism and cantankerous behavior… b/c sometimes the pain of gaining wisdom is…well…painful.

4) Do you need a scrip ? (for… alcohol, cocaine, pot, Ritalin, overt sexuality, no sexuality, obsessive behavior, Tourette’s syndrome, work-a-holism, Blackberry addiction, gambling, depression, anger, or only having 16 sides on your 20-sided die (obscure Dungeons & Dragons reference for the Gary Gygax fans) … I’m sorry. Blame it on your Mom. Or Dad. Or Uncle. These are all just ways to cope.

So…hire that Pole Dancer, or therapist; cry like a  baby if need be. And then Get Over It.

That’s the bottom-line.

We’ve all got personal problems. Every single imperfect one of us.

Leadership Lesson Hidden Behind this Bizarre Message about Pole Dancers and Therapists and Prescription Drugs:

• Don’t get caught up in your problems.
• Don’t get caught up in other people’s problems.
• Leave your bullshit at the door (as best you can).
• And be a “real” human being to those who can’t.

B/c leadership is a lot like Fatherhood – Under appreciated. Always needed. 

Love the people who make up your Tribe.

Because being a Leader sometimes means you might have to lend a shoulder for someone to cry upon… b/c they are human. So are you.

And that is A-OK. Sometimes as a Leader, you DO have to be more than a Boss. It doesn’t make you any less of a Leader.

And it doesn’t make them any less of an employee, friend, or pole dancer.

Peace Out.

PS – As a Leader, it is generally best if you seek your therapy through professional sources and avoid blubbering on the shoulder’s of your fellow Tribal Passionistas (i.e. your staff).

In the last ten days, I’ve taken on the job roles previously assigned to four people (including me). When you have an almost insurmountable amount of work in front of you, you get very good at making decisions and delegating.

Making decisions – this is crucial for leadership. Most people are scared to make decisions, captured by the fear of risk. What if…? And their mind fills in fears, the weight of the decision looms- even grows- and they then use some personalized delay tactic.

Thing is… Leaders lead. If the journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step, then we see that nowhere more exemplified in the ability to make decisions.

I have some underlying rules, related to my own behavior, that I almost religiously follow when faced with decisions (weighing the risks of two partial unknowns)… to the extent that they are habitual.

1. The economic impact on the variance from “perfect” to “good” is usually very small. The cost of a delay can be much more expensive than the added value of perfection. As Guy Kawasaki says, “Don’t Worry, Be Crappy.” Followed of course by “Churn, baby, churn.”

2. Time, truly, has a monetary equivalent (i.e. time is money). This value of Time varies depending on whose time is in question. Note: All animals are created equal, but some animals are more equal than others… delegate down.

3) My intuition is subconsciously running the math, smelling the air, adjusting for the wind… and is usually correct. Give extra credence to my first response.

4. The possible negative emotional impact of a decision grows exponentially as it is delayed. Problems grow as they are delayed… they don’t go away.

5. Life is a series of decisions. Since I am not J.C. (or any reasonable facsimile)… it is ok to make mistakes. I insist on learning from them, and I expect and even welcome them with a somewhat odd optimism. Forgive yourself.

6. Circumstances weigh heavily on what determines the “right” or “wrong” decision. Sticking with stoic rules or processes – or maybe even ethics – can cause wrong decisions. Weigh situations freely.

7.I must beware the reality that my own selfish interests oftentimes cloud my judgment. Therefore, if it benefits me personally, I give the decision a little more scrutiny.

Holy crap Batman… What does all that mean?

Simple. Trust your instincts. Accept “good enough.” Rush to decide. Forgive yourself, and forgive others if you delegate. Respect the value of your time. Learn from mistakes.

Leaders make decisions.

Oh yeah… one more -

8. Respect and tap into the power of optimism. You would be amazed how hard you work to prove yourself “right.”

That said; let’s start at the end.  About six months ago, I decided it was time to evolve my business.  I had seen many entrepreneurs who had grown their business to the stage that they were able to “retire” to a beautiful yacht or a new philanthropic venture, or even their own foibles and personal addictions… and I wanted the same.  Not to pull out, but to pull UP… to evolve my role from 60-70-80 hr a week entrepreneur, business development, operations, finance, and sales guy – to that of an owner with a successful business, equally successful executives and peers, and new more worldly-focused efforts.  Maybe I was bored.  Maybe I was tired.  Maybe I was stupid.  Who knows. Nonetheless, I sat down with my key executive team after getting a series of conflicting emails that said: help, be here more, don’t be here so much, we need you, we don’t need you, and even more angst ridden emails and calls for something they needed or wanted from me: more freedom, more executive authority, more clear direction, transparency, more, more, more.

So I decided to try and pull my daily operational decision-making back a few steps, give the management team more authority, and evolve my business and my personal life… functionally separating a little bit from the business; or at least trying to fly above the trees (which for a small business owner often resemble the trees in the Wizard of Oz: apples in hand, snarls on faces).  I told them that my goal was to eventually resign from day-to-day operations, and that they needed to step up and run the business in full.  I gave them parameters for their authority, and told them that this was their chance to evolve their careers from managers to executives.  I will fast forward to the outcome (because the middle portion is irrelevant), and I will say quite simply… my retirement / resignation of my day-to-day decision-making duties didn’t work.  Apparently, I had failed to convey the necessary information and skills to the folks to whom I was gifting much of my authority.  That’s my failure; plain and simple.  The leader is responsible to lead, to train, to inspect, and to pass on the appropriate skills.  Any failure in the organization; in process, people, or adopted technology, is a failure of the leader.

Recently, I have embraced the need to re-engage as the CEO.  The lesson herein is an entrepreneurial lesson, that I was not only forced to learn, but compelled to take actions to resolve, for the betterment of the company and the supported employees, vendors, shareholders, and customers.

The lesson learned was simple.  Entrepreneurs work themselves to death because they LOVE their business (or what they perceive they are receiving from their business).  This love of business; of the game, the fight, the constant learning opportunity, compels them to hold back on giving people the necessary freedoms, and education, and opportunities to grow professionally.  Many entrepreneurs hold this information, this wisdom, inside…waiting for someone with a stronger force of will to come along and TAKE it from them.  Or maybe they are simply perfectionists with an unwillingness to give the freedom of failure (i.e. the freedom to take risks) to their staff.  Regardless, the lesson I learned was simple… I had failed my management staff.  Rather than preparing them for success; I had simply given them a problem they were not capable, or empowered, or maybe even hungry enough to resolve.  They had fears.  They had goals.  They had personal lives.  They even had stated ambitions.  What they did not have was the intellectual or emotional empowerment to succeed at the role I was forcing onto them.

And I made the mistake of assuming that I could dictate the timing and intensity of their own leadership evolution.  I wanted it on my time frame, and then I let them live or die based upon their own strengths.  Which was ultimately a selfish decision on my end.  Now, maybe this was Freudian (i.e. maybe I internally desired this outcome)?  Who knows. The net effect though was this: six months later, it was apparent I had to step back into a clear leadership and operating role.  Not because things were “failing,” but because the insidious disease of mediocrity had set into the work place and was rapidly and like a virus, infecting the entire staff, our work product, and our bottom-line.  Ultimately, the staff and management team interpreted my absence as not caring…and they simply followed suit. Showing up physically; but in many cases, not mentally and emotionally.

So… today, with this post, I announce my posthumous retirement.

Crap.  That didn’t last long.

OK. I am back. STEP ONE, I have decided, is leadership development within my staff, because I still secretly desire to tell my boss to Take This Job and Shove It!  These blog posts being the first of many efforts I am under-taking for everyone’s long-term benefit.  I intend to post them approximately weekly, until I run out of steam on this particular subject or at least until something really shiny shows up in my peripheral vision.

My intent is to contribute to the knowledge that every single employee has here at Pop Labs, on how to be a better, more successful employee, manager, leader, maybe even a future entrepreneur. Helping them develop and evolve… and maybe helping them avoid some of my “messy” mistakes.

Why? Because beyond “fiduciary responsibility,” beyond ego, beyond desires and even mutual dependence…. I care about the outcome. To them. To my investors. To my friends, my family, and my employees (past, present, and future).

And for me….. because I want to get back to that idea of  “retirement” someday, or at least evolve myself into a new role.  You know, write a book, slow down, adopt fifteen kids from Zimbabwe, whatever

So… here’s to Zimbabwe… and you… and me !

Rock and Roll !

Buckle Up.

10). Don’t think about your future…live for today only. Don’t plan. Don’t cogitate. Don’t worry be happy. If spending every penny you make, and some you haven’t yet made, makes you happy…do it. If quitting college makes you happy…do it. If doing a lot of drugs and partying every single day makes you happy…do it. If you plan for the future, you might be disappointed. Don’t be disappointed…don’t plan. Instead, live for today! You might be dead tomorrow, so why bother.

9) Take no risks professionally or personally. Risks are stupid. Risk takers are stupid. Think about them all: Amelia Earhart, Howard Hughes, Donald Trump, Oprah. Shoot…if you take risks, you could end up dead, crazy, with really bad hair, or have a PR nightmare from your most recent $50 million donation. Who wants that mess? It is much easier to sit on your ideas forever, to play-it-safe, and to ride out mediocrity. If it’s good enough for the unnamed and unknown masses of humanity…it’s good enough for you. Grab another beer and bag of chips€¦life is waiting. It can wait.

Let other people make all your decisions. Stay safe…avoid ever being accused of being decisive. It is always the decisive guy that gets axed first in the movies…witness Samuel L Jackson’s character in Deep Blue Sea. You don’t want to be that guy do you? Crunch!! No way!! Sit back and let some other lime-light grabbing jerkwad lead the troops and paint his face blue…it’s much safer to be the schlep following all their decisions. Do you want to live forever?? Yes!!! Leaders die gruesome horrible deaths.

7) Never, ever read. Reading is over rated. If the subject matter was important, they would have taught it to you in Junior College. Besides, life isn’t fun or challenging when you are smart and well equipped for the variety of challenges life has a habit of throwing at you…it is much more fun to go into the unknown wearing only your underwear. Real men don’t read. Reading is a pansy sport. They read a lot in France.

6) Never accept responsibility. Deny fault, even when you look like a stupid a-hole. You will recover from being a stupid a-hole, but they will never recover from properly assigning blame and responsibility on the irresponsible (i.e. you).

5) The world revolves around you. Keep telling yourself that, it will come true someday. If it doesn’t come true by the time you are old and decrepit, buy some ruby red slippers and tap them together while reciting “It’s all about me, it’s all about me.” You will eventually get back to Kansas Dorothy, or at least your Mom and Dad’s home in Topeka.

4) Join a religious or tree-huggers group that backs up your moral conviction that money is bad. You’ll feel better about being a broke, lazy, stupid, schmuck when you are chaining yourself to a tree or sitting astride your valiant steed Ego, your moral high horse, with your trusted friend Judgment by your side. In fact, if you can tell people that you are following “the will of God”, or helping the green movement shoot.you can justify almost anything. What’s a little laziness, bias, castigation, or abuse of others compared to what other people do in the name of religion and eco-terrorism. I bet God invented potato chips and beer. If not, you know you saved a cow when you bought that Naugahyde couch you can sit and eat your organic chips and drink your micro-brewed beer on who wants real leather anyway.

3) Look for a job with a massive company, ideally the government, where you can hide safely amidst the masses and nobody in management will ever see your complete lack of efficiency and productivity. This is crucial. Good benefits and “job security” come with big companies. Just ask anyone who worked for Enron, Dynegy, Arthur Anderson, Eastern Airlines, or WorldCom. Let some nameless boob control your retirement account and your economic future. He will absolutely take care of you and put your interests first, employee number 32,789, he promises.

2) Never ever learn from the mistakes you make, or the mistakes of others. That would require asking yourself hard questions and accepting responsibility, or humbling yourself to learn from other who may have experienced similar life and business issues to those you are currently exposed. Screw that. Humble pie doesn’t taste good. Instead, just keep making the same dumb mistakes over and over and over. Never change your formula. It worked for Thomas Edison…remember, he tried to invent the light bulb 10,000 times. I’m sure he never changed his test. It just worked one day because he bent the rules of nature to his needs. Persistence. Over and over, never change, but expect different results. Learn from Thomas Edison. 10,000 tests…then whammo…it magically worked.

1) Don’t work hard. Laziness is the secret. You’ve heard the saying about being a duck, calm on the surface but paddling furiously under-water? Screw that. Ducks are lazy. They float around all day, and sleep, and wait for kids to feed them bread crumbs. Be the duck. Float. Don’t even paddle…shoot…who knows where you would end up if you did that! Float down life’s river. Eat the bread crumbs thrown by others in your slovenly direction…because bread crumbs from little booger-picking kid’s hands are much better than fois-gras. Who wants fake grass anyway? Ducks eat real grass. Ducks have it made.

Ps – Don’t be the lead duck. The wind hurts his face when he’s flying. It is way better to be the duck in the rear. Yeah, the view never changes, but it’s better to have your duck bill up someone’s back-side than to be buffeted by the cold, harsh, winds of taking on what lies ahead. Duck-holes are warm; who wants cold duck lips?

So there you go. Follow this sage advice and you will succeed mightily at being unsuccessful. You have to be good at something maybe you have finally found your calling!

1. Develop a personal brand.
2. Learn the language of early stage finance.
3. Determine the viability and demand for your product or service.
4. Sell, sell, sell.
5. Recruiting, partnering, outsourcing, and hiring away your weaknesses.
6. Support your sales efforts with marketing & branding.
7. Learn how to manage others…and yourself.
8. Balancing cash flow in daily operations.
9. Why are you doing this and what is the exit? - You should have your goals outlined LONG before you get started. Granted, life changes and sometimes your goals, needs and desires change as well….but the lack of a goal will likely cause you to wander in the desert for 40 yrs and get a really bad sunburn. What motivates you? Money, your ego, a desire to survive / thrive / grow, to prove yourself, control…what? Define this and you will have a much more clear vision for what actions you should take and when you should take them. Last comment here; you should study how, when and why an “exit” is likely to occur and how, when and why you will pursue this type of event, or if you should simply build your business for lifestyle opportunities.
10. The end is the beginning - Finalizing the list is the simple idea that your business is NOT your child, it is NOT your spouse and it is NOT your sense of self. Learn to see your business as a fantastic and fun ride, a great learning opportunity, a financial vehicle for you, your employees, investors and vendors, and simply stated…the business is owned BY you…it should not OWN you. Someday, the business might go away (through acquisition, failure, or simply winding it down). What will you do next? Will you do it again? What have you learned and become through this phenomenal and gut wrenching thrill-ride? Are you better, did you make the lives of other’s better, are you smarter, wiser and hopefully broader in your resources and mental bandwidth than before? While you may well build the next Koch Industries and find the next Anna Nicole….or you might have to start over. Make sure you learn from every experience, manage your personal finances and lifestyle, try and strive for some balance in your affairs, and work towards your goals daily.

Rock and roll !!!!

1. Develop a personal brand,
2. Learn the language of early stage finance,
3. Invent a bionic product or service,
4. The five W’s (and one H) of sales,
5. Recruiting away your weaknesses – We all have strengths and weaknesses; not everyone is as perfect as Lindsay Lohan or Paris Hilton. However, we don’t have to wallow in our own filth just because we lack the genius of Sergei Brin or the fluid sales skills of Bill Clinton…we can simply hire, recruit or partner away our problems!! This starts with recognizing your limitations, understanding the basic roles that every company requires (even startups), and then being a strong enough person to realize that strength comes from resolving problems and not by ignoring them or pretending these weaknesses do not exist. If you can’t sell…you can’t sell. If you stink at finances…admit it and move on. A few key words: Partnerships -be careful and lay it all out early. Hiring – be careful and lay it all out early. Outsourcing – be careful and lay it all out early.
6. Feed the beast – Marketing & branding. Not yourself, but your company’s products and / or services. Pick a niche, and announce to the world your amazing expertise and the gifts that you bring to humanity through your new venture. Ideally, this is a well crafted, well thought through game plan for expanding the world’s knowledge of your company. Marketing is the support system for sales. Your carefully branded message, supported by well developed marketing efforts feeds your sales staff, who in turn feed the company. One final note about marketing and branding: the web has introduced a new paradigm to this venue, currently being ignored by many ad agencies and pr firms. The web eliminates, in many cases, the idea of the “integrity of the media”…but the social web reverses that and empowers the people’s message. That means they are definitely going to talk about you online, and that will be perceived by many as “truth”…might as well join in and try to guide or manage the message.
7. The secret to managing people - Many hundreds of millions of dollars are spent (and earned) every year as business owners and managers try to figure out that elusive target of managing others to efficient and profitable performance. Most of these otherwise fantastic books and speakers miss the key point of management…leading by example. Leverage, through technology, capital or people is the easiest way to insure your business can grow or at least sustain as you sip Bahama-Mamas on the beach. You will never be able to leverage people if you do not know how to recruit, train, motivate and lead them (i.e. manage away mediocrity). Truth is…they tire of the speeches, the harassment and the “motivational” ass-kicking. What they really want to know is…WWJD…What Would Jefe Do? Do you come in late and expect your people early? Do you refuse to sell, service, or dig into details? Do you set the right example…nearly all of the time? If you don’t, you should expect them to follow suit. They will do half of what you do when they are duplicating positives and 300% your efforts when duplicating negatives (because that is usually more fun). You better get GOOD at managing others, managing managers, and managing yourself. BTW – when managing others, consider Machiavelli’s book The Prince, which can be summed up with, ‘It is best if one is both loved and feared. Given the difficulty of uniting both in one person, one ought to inspire fear in such a way that, if he does not win love, he at least avoids hatred.’
8. Learning to snorkel – Last year, I snorkeled for the first time on a trip to Belize (stayed at Francis Ford Coppola’s Turtle Inn…awesome). OK Boo-Boo, I may be a little slower than the average bear…because it took me a while to figure out that I had to breathe through this tiny little apparatus, and if I went nuts wearing myself out…the hole never got any bigger for me to suck oxygen through. I had to keep it unobstructed and had to bring it above water every now and then. Cash flow to your business is an awful lot oxygen to a slightly overweight man ten feet under the water…you need it to survive and you better pay close attention to its availability. Recently a restaurant opened close to my office. It was busy, had decent food, and looked like it was going to be successful…then one day it closed down with no notice. Happens every single day, probably the most common destroyer of businesses (especially new businesses)…the owner ran out of money. Some businesses eat money faster as they grow more and more successful. My company, Pop Labs, has a similar financial model. Our cost to provide service is much higher during the first 3-6 months than the cash flow brought in by a new client. Thus, our success eats more cash than the business spins off on new clientele; the more successful we are, the more cash we need. You MUST manage cash flow daily; insure you have enough for your payroll, client services, key vendors, etc. Guess who gets paid last? You. Isn’t being the owner awesome!!

Just two more to go…nine (9) and ten (10) are about your goals and obligations. Leadership ain’t easy, nor is ownership; but when done right…it generates safety and security beyond the simple appearance of a “good job” or good benefits. If you are serious about starting a business…get ready to fight, every day of your life, for a while…because, as Tom Hank’s character said in A League of their Own, “If it wasn’t hard, everyone would do it. It’s the hard that makes it great.”

The Five W’s (and one H) of SALES. Many a great idea has died a slow and painful death due to no cash to buy food and drink for the human beingswho are building this new enterprise, many an army has lost the war before ever entering battle from a lack of supplies. Business is no different. Cash is oxygen. Cash flow is created through the production of sales. I must admit, this is a subjectI can wax poetic about for a while. Sales can be one of theleast appreciated, albeit oftentimes highestpaid, career paths in existence. Bottom-line though is this, new businesses need to generate cash. Cash can be easily generated from sales. Sales don’t happen by accident though, and they rarely happen virally. They happen through a planned target for customer acquisition and servicing. Thus…Rudyard Kipling’s poem:

I keep six honest serving-men
(They taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When
And How and Where and Who.

The Five W’s (and one H):

• What are you selling?
• Who willbuy it?
• Why would they buy it?
• How will you sell it?
• Where will they buy it?
• When will you sell it?

You must make a plan for your salesand revenue generation….or you better make a plan on moving back in with Mom and Dad. There is a big reason that many businesses post their first dollar on the wall…because that first dollar is symbolic of something. Not that you will be a millionaire, or that you have all your problems solved (woe ye merry man who doesn’t realize the problems have just begun); rather it symbolizes that you have actually gotten someone to buy your poorly-thought-through, undeveloped, PNQAFAYEIWBASAYGSMC (possibly-not-quite-as-fantastic-as-you-expect-it-will-be-as-soon-as-you-get-some-more-capital)product or service. In other words, “Hot Damn, I sold sumthin!!!” Note: That dollaralso symbolizes hope and dreams and optimism…all crucial.

In summary, you’ve got to make a plan for sales. What will you sell? Will you personally sell it or hire someone? What are the sales growth expectations and how will you fund that plan? What will the product / service generate in short term and long term receivables, are their annuities, what percentage of clients will convert from a prospect to a client, how will you find prospects, what is the sales life cycle (i.e. time to close), how much will you invest in your proposal to a client to buy your product / service, how will you recruit salespeople, what expectations will you manage up front in the buying process, is this product / service profitable enough to justify the sales expense, etc, etc, etc.

Lots and lots of questions you must ask yourself about the sales process, not to mention the service side (profits, costs to provide service, refunds, service personnel, etc.).

A couple last minute points here:

You will likely need to start selling, to generate revenue, before your product / service is “ready” or “perfect”. That is OK. Remember Guy Kawasaki’s Rules for Revolutionaries, Don’t Worry Be Crappy. Remember the next Rule. Don’t Stay Crappy….Release, Release, Release (new versions). I just visited with some Entrepreneurs yesterday who told me what differentiated them from the other products on the marketplace was the fact that they took 2.5 yrs to develop it prior to launch. I leaned over to my co-worker and said…’rich parents’. In the absence of serious early stage funding and rich parents…most Entrepreneurs have to start selling prior to being fully ready.

Price your product / service higher than _______(whatever you were about to price it at). People see more value in higher pried items than in cheap stuff. Witness why you don’t buy most of your friends gifts from the $.99 store, despite the cool wrapping paper and awesome Halloween decorations they have available all year long.

Even if you areThe Greatest Salesman in the World, you will someday get tired,sick, or tired AND sick of selling. The larger your business grows, the more important it is youhave a defined plan for scaled growth that is no longer dependant on your own incredible skills. In other words, avoid thetypicalproblem suffered by most Surgeons…lots of money but no free time to enjoy the cash flow.

So…get cranking. The Five W’s (and one H) are calling. Plan your work…work your plan!!

If you’ve seen Entourage you either love Ari or hate him. Even if you hate him, you probably admire his bulldog tenacity, his superbly quick wit and his insanely funny sharp tongue. Played by Jeremy Piven, the character is a cartoonish version of an all-sales-all-the-time-super-performer.

Here is why I love Ari Gold…. he is the physical representation of capitalism at it’s best. Supreme confidence. Awe inspiring. Ari is all business all the time: “Playboy mansion, strip clubs, whore houses, I go where the meetings are…its my job.” – Ari Gold Hear more Ari one-liners here (not for the feint of heart).

In real life, we cant all be like Ari …but we can duplicate his work ethic, his aggressiveness, his tenacity and his drive to win. In Ari’s case, he is already rich. Its not about the money, it is about the will to win. The desire to prove who is the BEST agent in town.

I manage salespeople, among other things. Guess what is missing in most salespeople? The desire to truly WIN. The tenacity and stick-to-itiveness to see their projects through to fruition. The patience, the work ethic, the humbleness of spirit combined with the CONFIDENCE to win.

I also belong to a great group of entrepreneurs, people who are generally between 35 and 50 yrs of age and run businesses of at least $1 mill in annual revenues. The group is called Entrepreneur’s Organization (EO), and represents 6,400 companies, $85 billion in combined revenues, and 926,000 employees worldwide.

While I have seen all types of personalities, all types of businesses, and all levels of “success” in my exposure to other entrepreneurs through EO…I can assure you one thing seems consistent, at one point in their lives, these guys / gals all put in 110%, they all were focused on their business success, and while they may not all choose the same colorful language of Ari Goldthey all have carried the heart of the champion for a period of time.

“You can have it if you want to live in F’ing Agora Hills, and go to group therapy; but if you want a Beverly Hills mansion, and a country club membership, and nine weeks in a Tuscan Villa, then Im going to need to take a call when it comes in at noon on a MF’ing Wednesday!” – Ari Gold.

What lessons can an aspiring entrepreneur, six-figure salesperson, or up-and-coming future executive take from Hard-Hitting-Ari? What lessons can an aspiring entrepreneur, six-figure salesperson, or up-and-coming future executive take from Hard-Hitting-Ari?

Simple, here are a few thoughts:

What lessons can an aspiring entrepreneur, six-figure salesperson, or up-and-coming future executive take from Hard-Hitting-Ari?

Simple, here are a few thoughts:

1) Nothing comes easy, no matter how connected you strive to be.
2) You can not escape the work ethic requirement embedded in the success equation.
3) Drive and determination are what your clients expect.
4) People are motivated more by emotion than by fact.
5) Regardless of what your spouse, friends, or co-workers sayyou are in charge of your destiny and NOBODY else is going to do it for youand most wont support your crazy visions, dreams and ambitions.
6) Never, ever, ever, ever give up.
7) Fire people who are lazy and / or unproductive; Can you read? {while Ari writes on white board} Get The F Out Ari Gold.
Take risks.
9) Make decisions – Conquer your fears Reward loyalty.

Achieve what you need / require.

Tap your own internal Ari Gold and enjoy the fruits of your labor!!

I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious. Vince Lombardi.

Youve been born into royalty baby, you know it. Now you just gotta be thankful and wear the crown. Ari Gold.

Lets hug it out, bitch Ari Gold.