There was an investor in the company I worked for who I personally liked but every time he’d call I’d feel a subtle, almost imperceptible wave of fear. Only much later did I realize his mission was to slice my fingers off one bloody joint at a time.
My head didn’t know it, but my gut did.
Ignoring my gut was a costly mistake.
You might have some memory of Admiral James Stockdale. He was the guy who was Ross Perot’s Vice Presidential candidate in ‘the US 1992 election.
He didn’t fare so well as a VP candidate, but he was quite an impressive military man. He was former president of the Naval War College and was the highest ranking officer in the dreaded “Hanoi Hilton” in Viet Nam.
He spent eight years in Hanoi and was tortured numerous times by his captors.
Mr. Thomas Barnett relates:
“Stockdale tells the story of the optimists who never survived their time in Hanoi, simply because…
I’m not sure I’ve ever told you the story of THE lowest point of my career.
Laura and I drove from Chicago to Nebraska over a steamy hot 4th of july weekend in our $1200 1985 Honda Civic whose engine had just $$$ blown out 3 months before. We were buying gas on whatever fumes were left on our credit cards.
I’d been demoted from my sales job to production manager at a tiny manufacturing company. Now I was earning zero sales commission. To try make up the difference I took home “outsourced assembly” projects from work.
It was terrifying to leave the “safety” of the Dilbert Cube. I couldn’t help but remember all the times before, when I was attempting to sell and recruit. Back then I would *always* miss my monthly goals.
Yes, my new post-Dilbert Cube life was much more promising. Still I had to overcome my old Fear Of Failure. It was sooooo easy to imagine my post-Dilbert Cube life being the same as before.
Plus this was right after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and nobody was spending money on anything then.
A lot of folks are struggling to orient themselves. Clarity, focus and courage have never been more prized than they are at this moment.
Welcome to the tunnel of chaos.
For this reason I’ve arranged to have corporate turnaround expert John Paul Mendocha join me on a teleseminar Thursday July 29 at 3:00pm London UK Time.
For 2 years, the buzz about social media was like your neighbor running his chainsaw on Sunday morning. Things are different now:
Imagine this: You’ve dominated the world market for centuries. Leaders in your business enjoy secure incomes and workers earn admirable wages. You’ve created a tradition of dignity, respect and superiority.
Then, unexpected foreign competition swarms in like carrion fowl. Within 24 months they crater your market share, destroy your margins and drive the major players into bankruptcy. Morale plummets, panic ensues. Wholesale economic destruction is imminent.
What will you do now? The future dangles delicately in the balance.
My wife Laura is is by no means a “Marketing Maniac,” but she’s learned a thing or two from years of sleeping with a guy who is.
Laura is heavily involved with relief agencies that serve the poorest of the poor in India and Africa. Last winter she went to a conference in St. Louis where hundreds of charities were recruiting workers and raising funds.
Her comment to me upon arriving home:
“It’s incredibly depressing that the same people who are doing some of the most important work in the entire world are the most abysmally horrible marketers.” And she plunks down a stack of brochures to prove the point.
There’s nothing harder to obtain – or more valuable to possess – than a few minutes of your prospect’s exclusive focus.
To get it, you don’t have to shout or be annoying or obnoxious. All you need is ONE clever idea, one arresting hook. Then suddenly she is listening to you intently.
On Thursday July 22 I’m doing a teleseminar on how to make that happen.
Yesterday I heard from a very reliable source that Facebook has triggered a sea change in the nursing home industry. This comes from a client of one of my business mentors.
The #1 reason people die is their friends have died or been dispersed to the four winds; their family doesn’t visit them anymore, and they have no more reason to get up in the morning. I’m sure all of us have visited long-term care facilities and seen the blank stares and hopelessness of aged people living out their last days.
Facebook has changed that.
