I like smart, creative people--they help me learn new things and push me to be better. If you aren't striving to get better at what you do, ask yourself "why not?"Seth Godin's a smart guy and I try to swing by his blog from time to time to see what he's blogging about.
This post, from the end of March talks about getting vs. taking.
Most people spend a lot of time to get an education.
They wait for the teacher (hopefully a great one) to give them something of value.
Many employees do the same thing at work. They wait for a boss (hopefully a great one) to give them responsibility or authority or experiences that add up to a career.
A few people, not many, but a few, take. They take the best education they can get, pushing teachers for more, finding things to do, exploring non-defined niches. They take more courses than the minimum, they invent new projects and they show up with questions.
A few people, not many, take opportunities at work. Marketers have the easiest time of this (sort of hard to commandeer the chain saw) but don't do it nearly as often as they should.
What have you taken today?
Good blogs create interactivity (like comments). One of the comments that sprang from Seth's post was this one (via Digg, by Ingeme), which I'll also include;
Less is More – Promise less; deliver more. More, more, and more seems to be the byword in our culture. The attitude that more is always better permeates so many facets of our society. Taller is better, increases in contacts, cold calls, customers, and sales volume, to mention a few topics motivate so many in sales. However, quality is not necessarily associated with more of anything. The point is that going for the largest bite of everything does not guarantee long term success; satisfying and profitable business relationships are based on building quality service and interactions. The loudest voice makes noise that can be deafening, while a well moderated demeanor keyed into hearing and observing the needs and wants of the sales prospect will win in the final analysis.
Murray Lederman, a very successful Boston businessman taught me to “Promise less and deliver more”.
Although gone now, Murray remains alive in the sales and management wisdom he imparted to those with whom he conducted business. Listen, learn, think, produce and execute. Do this consistently and you will experience satisfying and profitable results.
Give something of yourself; pour some passion into your task at hand. Try it and see if you can make it part of what you do.
1 comment:
Commenting more than a year after this post. You are absolutely right about Murray. Strength and passion. mixed with humbleness and attention to every detail. That's both how he lived in business and in daily life. He is my Grandfather. Thank you for remembering him!
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