COMMENTS
After all is said and done, it comes down to How badly do you want it? and How open-minded are you to the possibilities of improving yourself to attain "it"? Learning to love criticism is a difficult but necessary attribute. As far as how "hard" it's going to be: Henry Ford said, "If you think you can do a thing, or if you think you can't do a thing, you're right."
Hey Frank. While I LOVE the post, I don't know that I deserve this much attention.
I do remember vividly calling Rick after screwing up sales calls, asking him how to fix it, then going and doing it. Most of the time it worked, and even when it didn't, it was never Rick's fault. My job was to move on and find the next guy who needed what I had. I don't remember ever questioning Rick, unless I was just trying to understand why. Things started clicking after enough attempts and I never looked back. I've seen you and Rick help many others do the same and we're helping a lot of people realize and achieve the success they want!
I agree with Robert, that it comes to "How badly do you want it?" Everyday, my team interviews marketing agencies about their business to see if it makes sense for us to partner. The main reason it doesn't happen, is because they don't want it bad enough. Of course, many are skeptical. But, most just aren't up for the challenge of:
- writing down their financial goals and doing whatever it takes to make them happen
- selling VALUE/ROI (instead of projects and tactics) upfront to their prospects, so they can secure recurring revenue/retainers
- learning how do deliver new services that are required in order to deliver that ROI
- investing $ in order to develop and learn the processes/systems they need to be as effective and efficient as they can be, and as their competitors are.
- Having the discipline to pick up the phone and connect with suspects, turn them into prospects and sales opportunities, at the rate they need in order to hit their goals.
It's been awesome to see all of the HubSpot VARs working with you and Rick who turn their struggling 1 man consulting businesses into profitable multi-employee agencies, or their 5 person agencies into 20 person (and still growing)firms!
Great post, Frank. The part about Rick being tougher than Mr. Miyagi made me chuckle - an understatement indeed!
What I have learned through working with Rick, though, is that, while he is a tough coach, he is also encouraging and a "nice job" from him, or the elusive "I'm proud of you" will have me dancing all day.
I'm still in the midst of my transformation from wimpy kid to sales ninja and while the coaching may be hard sometimes, the *doing* has been harder: getting myself to go outside my comfort zone and apply what I'm learning to achieve new results.
I may have hit a turning point last week, though. I picked up the phone and, before I dialed I thought "what's the worst that could happen?" I thought through that worst case scenario, dialed the phone and then experienced that worst case scenario. All I could do when I hung up the phone, though, was giggle. Being on the other side of that call, I realized, well if *that* was the worst that could happen, that's pretty harmless!
I’m not where I want to be yet so I’ll keep trying and learning and applying and trying some more because that future vision of Savoir Faire, and the Stephanie who is running it, is well worth reaching for!
Nice post, Frank, with some great insights. You cannot possibly succeed without a clear goal and the willingness to recognize, accept and address your weaknesses. That said, the source of constructive criticism is equally critical to the feedback itself. A leader or coach or mentor must establish a significant level of credibility and trust before they can expect others to effectively heed their advice or buy in to their strategies and methodologies. Whether you coach an individual or manage a team, as the leader, you must first establish trust and demonstrate an authentic desire to help and to see your student succeed. Criticism that comes from anything less can be counterproductive.
Talk about not deserving this much attention and being compared to Mr. Miyagi? Here's the real secret. If you're good at picking talent, the talent makes the coach look good. Mr. Miyagi couldn't have done it with the Karate Kid if the Karate Kid didn't have what it takes. Thank you, Pete and thank you Stephanie for making me what I am.