The #1 thing I notice beginners do, which experts don’t, is they focus on….
+ FANCY instead of the fundamentals. When we troubleshoot campaigns, 99% of the time, a bunch of fundamentals are missing. And it shouldn’t take an expert to notice what can be tracked via a checklist.
+ URGENCY instead of results. A fire drill is exciting and gives the semblance that things are happening. But don’t mistake commotion with progress.
+ APPEARANCES instead of progress. Are you focusing on how you look instead of getting the job done? If your perfect Instagram flex is ruined by getting dirt under your nails, you can still out-pretend the other fakers.
+ THEMSELVES instead of others. If you want to make a million dollars, solve a $100 million problem. When you lift up others and serve others, they can’t help but toot your horn, instead of you awkwardly tooting your own.
LEARNING all the time instead of trying to give advice on something you’ve never done yourself. The most successful people I know read 3+ hours a day and actively seek out other successful people.
Do you know someone who fits the description above of a successful person or a failure?
You’re either creating problems for her or that you’re solving problems for her.
And this is the key to advancing– whether your boss is your employer, client, customer, teacher, or parent (yes, all these are bosses).
I’ve had some incredible mentors over my career– and some spectacular failures, too.
But when I messed up and got feedback on how to improve, I could never imagine talking back to my mentor– to show disrespect when he was going out of his way to help me.
Could you imagine having the balls to say that to the CEO of American Airlines?
Maybe I’m an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy– hey kids- get off my lawn!
But everything good I’ve gotten has been from a boss or mentor who has opened doors for me that they didn’t have to.
I’m not a slave groveling for mercy, but I’m also not a 20 year who knows it all.
By showing my boss/client/mentor that I’m someone who comes in to take care of problems before they even happen, even if it’s not “my fault”, they breathe a sigh of relief when I’m around.
As opposed to being worried that something will blow up in their face, that they will have to intervene, or that they’d have to deal with righteous young anger.
The more you take care of your client/boss/mentor, the greater opportunities they will open for you.
Over time, this grows into something incredible– and it’s the #1 reason for everything good that’s happened for me.
Not because I’m smarter, harder-working, or “better” than anyone.
Have you tried this tactic with your boss? And if you’re a boss, how do you deal with people who are creating problems versus solving problems?
Here’s the internal note I sent team members, discussing big changes at BlitzMetrics.
What do you think?
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It’s time for all of us and the company to LEVEL UP!
Some of you will be excited by these changes, since you’ll be rewarded for your diligence.
Others may be dismayed, because they will have to dramatically increase their performance or leave— even if they have been comfortable getting away with doing the same thing for years without consequences.
We are moving to a P&L model next month, where qualified team leads will run their businesses using BlitzMetrics as a support platform. They will have dedicated team members to serve clients, while using shared services and support— training, finance, legal, marketing, technology, and HR.
This situation will create stark accountability, so the people who have been hiding, but aren’t delivering clear client value, need to improve or leave— since the client won’t want to pay for that, and the team lead won’t want that cost against their P&L.
Most of you will make a lot more money this way and have more freedom. You’ll see some people go from Level 2 to Level 6 in a couple months because of initiative, while others may be stuck at their current level or even be downgraded, since their actual performance doesn’t warrant the level they are at.
Imagine that you can get a piece of the profit that you generate!
After running the P&L model for a few months, we will then switch to piecemeal payment, moving away from the hourly system. The hourly system rewards people for taking longer and wasting time. The task-based model, complemented by reviews, pays people what they are actually worth, which can be over $100 a hour for many of us if we focus on results.
Internal team members who are building systems are exempt from this model, since engineering, finance, and certain parts of marketing are not client-specific. They will be on salary plus bonus.
For people to earn their way to be internal, which is Level 6+, they must still prove themselves capable as INTRAPRENEURS, else they are not qualified to be building systems or teaching others how to do something they’ve not done themselves.
In other words, we must all first demonstrate we can achieve client success before we have earned the privilege of building systems, no matter how eager we may be to teach or believe that gravity doesn’t apply to us.
This shift creates a huge opportunity for everyone to level up, since we need strong team leads that can run their businesses without operations or even me needing to chase.
There are more than enough clients and team lead slots to go around, not counting the new clients and partners about to come on.
So we are all learning how to do new tasks, doing tasks to generate income for everyone, and then teaching others how to do.
We’ve been working on systems that will make this operation possible, much like Uber and FancyHands with their supply and demand systems- except we train and mentor where they don’t.
The deals with ADU, Escape Fitness, DigitalMarketer, Affiliate Institute, LightSpeed VT, and others will pull in thousands of new specialists and businesses into our system- and these folks will need team leads to guide them.
With strong team leads in place, handling everything Level 6 and below, I can focus on the Level 7+ items that you’re all counting on me to deliver.
If you’re not ready for this change, you should say something now, so you don’t let down the rest of us- not fair to everyone when a few people don’t do their part. It’s the “weakest link” where a couple people can wreck it for everyone.
Some people may take things personally, instead of seeing that they need to improve their performance and that a few of us are willing to help, even if uncomfortable— most companies don’t have the patience.
We’ve all worked so hard together to get to this point, and we’re about to enjoy the launch of these new systems in the next few months!
Think about what this means and discuss with your team lead.
The amazing (or scary) part of being a Founder is that you are representing your company 24×7– even if not during “working hours” or in the office.
Yell epithets at the Chick-fil-A drive through employee, surf porn late at night, or get arrested for drunk fighting– you are representing your company.
That’s proof enough of the power of personal branding.
And some would say that even regular employees or students at a university are representing their organization.
At my high school, some students took trips to buy drugs in South America. It wasn’t a school field trip and it was during holiday breaks (when school wasn’t in session), but they still got expelled for honor code violations.
Look at the increased sensitivity of the general public– to easily be ignited into massive outrage.
It’s not a “Facebook problem” because it’s the underlying appetite of the people. Facebook is like a buffet where many people are getting fat and developing diabetes– because of the choices they are making.
Or perhaps you prefer the cigarette analogy for regulation, which is where governments are headed for social.
My take– Facebook is gasoline that will ignite whatever you put into the machine– matches, dirty socks, water, or TNT.
