Successful Observations...
The Tools Successful People Use to Succeed in Business
I’ve been fortunate to see some very successful people during their most stressful moments. Negotiating a contract with an opposing party can stress out a person who is used to getting his way wit the snap of a finger, and for me, it’s the prettiest sight ever. One can then observe the deepest primal instincts nestled deep beneath their cool façade, as they rise to surface and bubble over, and learn from it.
Moments like these are what crystallized to me - over years of coaching business people during all phases of drafting, negotiating, and finally signing their contracts - what makes these successful people, well, successful.
Here is what I learned, and most importantly, what can be emulated by anyone and utilized as tools to carve out a path to success.
1. Enthusiasm. I once asked a very wealthy client: “Honestly, you already have more money than you can ever spend, so why don’t you just retire to your recliner with a sefer and a coffee and call it quits?” The man said to me: “It never was, and still isn’t about the money. What wakes me up in the morning, and what lullabies me to sleep at night is the excitement of running my business; its constant challenges, the thrill of the roller coaster of the markets, and the feeling that I’m sitting on the top of the world waving a flag with my name on it!” Just sitting across the desk and listening to this was electrifying!
2. Discipline. Successful people stick to a set of rules which they established for themselves based on past experiences, successes and failures. And they won’t budge. Recently, I offered one of my clients an investment opportunity in the food industry. Although is seemed to me that the ROI will be huge, this client balked. I thought that I had missed a rotten fish buried in the numbers, so I asked for an explanation why he won’t consider the opportunity. He told me in all honesty that the numbers do add up and it does seem like a great deal. But, since he previously invested in the food industry and suffered a huge loss due to the unpredictable nature of many components needed to ensure shelf life of food, he is self disciplining himself not to step near the food industry again. The smartest of all people, King Solomon, writes in Proverbs (16; 32): He that ruleth his spirit [is greater] than he that taketh a city. A word from the wise, indeed.
3. Urgency. One of my steady clients once stated that he never writes down a phone number. “Wow!” I exclaimed, “So you got a good memory?” His reply was teachable. “When I need to call someone, that’s what I do. Right then and there. I never write down a number in order to call later, because now is always better than later!” Successful people are instilled with a great sense of urgency as if all relies on them taking action now. A sense of purpose begets urgency, urgency begets action, and action begets results.
4. Decisiveness. There’s a saying out there: “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing; the worst thing you can do is nothing.” Deciding lets a person move onto the playing field before the gate closes. Continuous contemplation hasn’t yet made a single dollar for anyone. When the time is right, successful people decide on a course of action and learn to live with the consequences, either enjoying the resultant gain or learning from the loss. Indecision is just too energy consuming without any return on the spent energy.
5. Fearless. Being almost deaf since childhood did not frighten Thomas Edison enough to succumb to his apparent fate. Neither did getting kicked out of school strike fear in his young heart. Had he feared to jump into his future, you’d be reading this article to the glow of an oil lantern. Inventors, venture capitalists, developers, and all great business visionaries have much to fear. Their hard earned money is on the line with no crystal glass to look into the future, and no guarantees. But FEAR does not exist in their lexicon. Never seen it, never heard of it, and never felt it. As President Roosevelt famously said in his inauguration address: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.”
6. Delegate. A successful person knows his limits, what he can and can’t do in any given day. By hiring staff members who are smarter, brighter, and more knowledgeable than themselves, they let their money work for them so that they don’t mess up. A client once confided to me that he actually had to learn how to delegate. He called it an “art”! He used to be his own secretary, accountant, advisor, lawyer, driver, buyer, seller, etc. Now he sources out the brunt of his work to a loyal and carefully chosen staff, and still feels like an artist…
7. Advisable. I once witnessed a lawyer tell his client: “I’ll handle your case just so I can make money off of you, but you are going to lose your case big time.” The baffled client asked in astonishment: “But did you not tell me, when we first met, that I have a decent chance at winning?” The lawyer explained: “You always assume that you are the smartest person in the room and that you cannot be taught or advised. But being as smart as you are is what put you into your situation in the first place!… Someone who cannot accept advice from smarter or more knowledgeable people, even when seeking out - and paying for - their counsel, is certainly doomed to fail!” As our sages so eloquently stated: “Who is considered smart? He who is open to learn from any person!”
8. Honesty. H-o-n-e-s-t-y contains the word ‘honey’ in it, and for good reason. It’s sweet and it attracts the bees. I’ve seen young people itching to make it big fast and furious, bulldozing their way over the heads, hearts, and wallets of other people, but ultimately, crashing with a thud. As word spread, businessmen shied away and kept their distance. On the other hand, those businessmen who protect their good name by dealing honestly, they attract the most lucrative deals and the best businesspeople. I’ve witnessed businessmen give up claims to huge amounts of money in order to preserve their honesty and integrity, and they were always rewarded tenfold in future business deals, often times done with the very same adversaries for whom they had given up the money!
9. Stamina. Although all great people love to explain how important sleep is to them, they did not get to where they are by sleeping all through it. There’s an interesting father-and-daughter exchange recorded in the Talmud (Eiruvin 65, a): Rav Chisda’s daughter said to him: “Father, why don’t you rest up a bit?” To which he replied: “My daughter, a day will come (i.e. death) when time is of no importance, and I will then sleep all I can!” Greatness cannot be achieved without working oneself to the bones. The love of accomplishment and the challenge to accomplish energizes and invigorates the restless businessman with an astounding amount of stamina and endurance power.
So, there you have it; front row seats at the daily show of strength over weakness as successful people turn their innermost qualities into the most powerful tools to use to their advantage.
