Is the boss well-liked? Are you?

I have a measure of business success that doesn’t get talked about much.

“Do you have real friends at work?”  

If you are the boss, do people really like you, or do they only smile when they see you because you are the boss?

It’s hard to tell sometimes, because people smile at you because you are the boss in any event.  But the appearance of some bosses strikes fear in their employees.

Do they trust you?  Do they respect you?

I know some business leaders (not many) who play the big shot, but their people do not like them for the things they have done and are doing and how they are doing them.  I don’t want to be that guy.

“There is no enjoying anything valuable if one has no one to share with.” – Seneca

You can be successful and well-liked.

How about you?

Time is not money, but this is –

Yes we want to be productive.  As business owners, leaders, and managers, we want to be productive at doing the right things.

That will help.  That can make us a few dollars.

But here’s where the REAL money lies – are you ready?

Relationships.  

The more great relationships you have the better.  

People need to know you are a giver, not a taker.  They need to know that you are helping them produce a result they want.

They need to know that you are true, without hidden motives.

They need to know they can count on you and that you will never hurt them.

The more people you have who will go along with you, pay attention to you, be led by you, cooperate with you, talk positively about you when you are not around, refer you, buy from you, be loyal to you, support you, etc., the better.

BUT, you must go first.  You must earn this.  You must be unconditionally valuable to others first.

Not everyone will respond or behave the same.  

That’s ok.  Keep showing up to help others get what they want.

And don’t do something stupid and blow it one day – like in a crisis.  You can kill relationships quickly.

There is much value in relationships.

What is the size and scope of your relationships?

Just a few moves produce almost all the results

You do a lot of things.  But just a few moves produce most all the results.

What are they for you?

What moves the dial?

What activities are the most effective at producing results?

Focus on those.

Combine will and skill

When you combine will and skill you are the one your competitors fear.

Have you got the will?

Have you got the skill?

Don’t lose your savings/investments

Do this exercise.

Rachelle starts out with 10,000 and invests it aggressively.  She gets 40% return in her first year.  (She is a genius!)  But she has to pay 35% tax on her gain because she sold appreciated stock.  The next year, she repeats the feat.  (Wow, she has the touch!) The next year, things turn, and her strategy isn’t working anymore, and she loses 50%.  (Drat!)  How much does she have now?

Penelope starts with $10,000 and she invests it wisely.  She gets a steady 12% return (Boring?) three years in a row, and does not sell any stock so she does not have to pay any tax on her gains – the gains keep compounding.  How much does she have after three years?

Answers – Rachelle has $7,938, and she lost three years.

Penelope has $14,049.

Moral – don’t get wiped out doing something dumb.

Bonus – How much does Penelope have after 10 years of 12% returns without selling any stock?

How much if she sells it all after the 20 years and pays her taxes on the gain if she pays 20% long-term capital gains tax to the Federal government and 8% income tax to her state?

Bonus answers – She will have $31,058 after 10 years.  If she sells, she will walk away with $25,162 after tax.

What if she does not sell and let’s it ride at 12% for ten more years?

Be Good at Money Math

Do you know the Rule of 72?   You should.  Everyone should.

The Rule of 72 is used when we talk about compound interest, whether it is working for you (when you invest) or against you (when you borrow).

It says that the number of years it takes your money to double is the annual interest (appreciation) rate divided into 72.  So, if you were earning a 10% appreciation, it would take 7.2 years for your money to double.  If you were paying credit card interest of 21% and you paid principal only, you’d pay as much in interest as you owed on the card in just over 3 1/2 years.

Why is this important?  Well, it gets really important when you look at a longer and longer time frame.  For for example if you earned 7.2% and left the interest in the account to compound, your money would double in 10 years.  It would double again (4x) in 20 years, and double again in 30 years (8x).

Now what about 10% interest – just 2.8% more?  Well, your money would double in 7.2 years, and double again (4x) in 14.4 years, and double again (8x) in 21.6 years, and double AGAIN (16x) in 28.8 years.  So the difference between 7.2% and 10% over 30 years is the difference between 8x and 16x!  That’s a huge difference.

What about 18%?  Your money doubles in 4 years.  In 30 years? – an astonishing 192 times its original value!

Understand this.  Know it.  Play with it and doodle scenarios.  Learn how.  Not many people know how, so you won’t get answers from many places.  By definition, it is extraordinary.  Not ordinary – even to people in the “investment business”.  

Money math.  Learn, play on paper, figure, understand, and plan.  Be smarter than the ordinary person.

Self-control is an old requirement for success

“He who overcomes others is strong, but he who overcomes himself is mightier still.” – Lao Tzu, 6th century B.C.  That’s about 2500 years ago.  Apparently, this is not a new idea.  It would seem that people who let their emotions run the show have always had problems.

If you cannot control your own emotions, thoughts and actions, there is little hope you can manage your way to success.

If you can only control yourself when things are going well, your life will be one step forward and one step back, and you won’t get far.

“Rule your mind, which, if it is not your servant, is your master.” – Horace, 1st c. B.C.  That was 2100 years ago.

And a mere 133 years ago, Leo Tolstoy said, “There never has been, and cannot be, a good life without self-control.  Apart from self-control, no good life is imaginable.” 

How are you doing with self-control in this age of abundance? 

When things don’t go your way? 

With your imagination?  

With resisting things that are bad for you long-term?

Have good bad days.

We all have some good days.

But when the bad days come, you have to salvage it into an ok day.

You can’t have disaster days that set you back and reverse progress you made on good days.

So when things go badly, don’t blow up or freak out.  Don’t start yelling.  Don’t show people you can’t handle adversity.

Don’t give up.  Don’t bring a bad attitude to the next interaction.

Save the day.

Maybe it will be marred by a less-than-wonderful event, but offset that with some things that go right.

Have some great days, and good bad days, and keep moving forward.

Make three “power calls” a day.

Make three power calls a day.

A power call might lead to something great happening.

Call a top performer and build a relationship, offer them lunch or a tour, and maybe get them to work with/for you.

Call a super successful person in the business community and see what you can help them with.

Call a successful peer in your industry.

Call your biggest supplier.

Call your landlord.

Call your top employees.

Call the mayor.

Call the police chief.

Call your state rep.

Call your biggest customer.

Start conversations and see what opportunities come up.

Courage before confidence

I did a speech for 1400 people last week.  The first time I spoke to large groups I was very nervous; maybe like I was going to pass out even.

I summoned courage and did it anyway.  This does not feel good before or as you are doing it.

While I am still “nervous” backstage before I come out, it is more “excited”. 

Now I am confident.  The confidence comes from doing it before and from preparation.

Confidence feels good.

The same is true for anything we do that is new or out of our comfort zone.  We have to use courage as a substitute for confidence, until confidence slowly comes.

 Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.