Before going into a fight, you must get your team together. Make sure they know the plan, the rules, the desired outcome. That way everyone can act in a coherent manner without endless check-ins. You can move faster. Speed = victory. Communication wins battles.
Escape as early as possible
Sometimes, in business, you get entangled with bad guys. As you soon as you realise who they are, escape! A better escape opportunity will not present itself later. The longer you’re in, the more chains they wrap you in. Escape as early as possible.
Are you a seagull?
When you’re the boss, it’s easy to fly in, shit on everyone, and fly out. Like a seagull. Very easy, but it achieves nothing except lose you respect. If you’re going to shit of folks, then you need to be in the trenches. Not just flying in and out. Are you a seagull?
Do you want to be a flower? Or a root?
When you look at a tree, the flower is most readily noticeable. But it comes and goes. What about a leaf or a branch? A leaf is green and pretty, but animals eat it. The branch seems more resilient. Would you rather be a branch or the trunk? A branch is strong and carries the…
Celebrate when you can
Celebrations are like product launches. Faster the better! Don’t wait for the perfect moment. There is never a perfect moment. When you have a win, celebrate. Before the inevitable setback arises.
Find a chasm
If you’re a visionary, or an innovator, or a ground-breaker, you’re always going to find copy-cats hot on your heels. Pestering you, following you, sniffing your tracks. Trying to be you. You can’t spend all your energy trying to out-run them. What you need to do is find a chasm. A deep rift between two…
Just because its accepted doesn’t mean its not insane
If you speak to a tree or a rose, people think you’re insane. If you speak to a cross or a tombstone, it’s ok. Why? They’re all inanimate objects. They can’t hear you. Why it ok to talk to a cross but not to a tree? Because it’s accepted that when you speak to a…
Disasters are not without their lessons
Cliched as it sounds, it’s true. No setback comes without a lesson. The bigger the setback, the more valuable the lesson. So don’t let disaster strike without you extracting at least one lesson.
Handle the speed-bumps with dignity
Things will go wrong. Sometimes it’s your fault, sometimes someone else’s. You have to fix it, no matter what. Throwing your toys out the cot won’t change that. Losing your cool will simply lose you respect. So be cool. Handle the speed-bumps with dignity.
Don’t forget it’s a long drop
It’s easy to forget on the way up that the way down is a long drop. There’s no getting away from that risk, but if you forget then you’ll be much worse off if you do fall. Try keep it at the back your mind. You’ll be more careful before making enemies. You’ll be more…
Sometimes you gotta make promises you’re not sure you can keep
You are told from the age you can talk that you must keep your promises. Which means you must only make promises you can keep. A golden rule which will serve you well in life. But sometimes its not apprioriate. There will be times where you have makes promises that you’re not sure you can…
You can’t chicken out
You’ve plunged in, pulled the trigger. The adventure is underway. It’s turning out to be less fun that you expected. Pretty damn uncomfortable in fact. The glory of other entrepreneur’s stories fail to communicate the vertiginous risks. Tough luck. You gotta keep going. There’s no chickening out.