Archives for March 2013

Over the last 28 years I have had the honor of working with thousands of business owners, corporate leaders and managers. The truly successful ones have one thing in common. They play to their strengths. It’s not about who you aren’t. It’s about who you are. Talking with Robert Kiyosaki, we agreed you can become successful and rich in any of the CashFlow quadrants if you know the strategies of each and how to win there.

This article may upset some people and I suppose that’s okay. It is not intended to aggravate anyone but simply to shed light on where you’re at so you can play to your strengths.

While there are some striking similarities amongst those business owners, corporate leaders and managers, there are also some significant differences. Not that one is necessarily better than another nor does it matter whether you are an employee, self-employed or a business owner. It is purely a frame of mind.

Therefore the environment that you put yourself in is critical to your success. If you mismatch, there’s a good chance you’ll end up miserable.

I know many people who thrive to great wealth and fulfillment and many others who struggle and are constantly stressed out. Let me determine the differences based on my observations and you can see where you fit in. The question to ask yourself at the end of this is… are you playing to your strengths?

Ask yourself in your heart of hearts; are you an entrepreneur or a manager?

Harvard Business School defines entrepreneurs as those who seek opportunities without apparent or available resources. That is, striving for an objective regardless of whether there is funding, people, assets or resources. A manager on the other hand is one who executes an objective by allocating available resources. There is a huge difference.

I have found people to be amazingly creative, energetic and productive when they are in an environment where the boundaries are known and where budgets, timelines and resources are apparent. They may not be totally clear…but the environment is established. That is a manager.

However, put some of those same people into an entrepreneurial environment where there are no resources, where the boundaries are very obscure or nonexistent and they find themselves stressed and confused. Emotion goes up… intelligence goes down and creativity shuts down. The more randomness and complexity, the more results are diminished.

True entrepreneurs on the other hand, while they may be stressed, get more creative under greater pressure. Some of the most brilliant businesses and strategies are born out of near desperation situations. Some get resourceful while others stress out and get cynical.

Some worry about what others are saying while there are others who may care, but not that much.

Some use adversity as a springboard for greatness and others use it as a reason to reconsider.

The job of an entrepreneur is to create something that was not there before. To create an artifact, tool, institution or physical ‘thing’ that empowers others to a higher standard of living, operation or satisfaction.

So you have to ask yourself… do you like standing in the heat? Do you have a pattern for breaking through to new levels of awareness and accomplishment? Or does it just stress you out?

• Do you create and drive on a mission or do you clarify a mission?
• Are you good at inside sales or outside sales?
• Is fear a motivator or de-motivator?
• Do you naturally expand the pie before dividing it?
• Do you over extend or do you stay in exchange?
• Are you better at organizing and motivating an existing group of people or attracting a great team from scratch?
• Are you time-based or outcome-based?
• What is your level of risk and how much of yourself are you willing to risk?
• Do you look to do “the deal” first or do you over-serve first?
• Does ‘not knowing’ slow you down or speed you up?
• When does money enter the picture… sooner or later?
• Do you seek balance in your life or do you operate at extremes?
• Do pressure and scarcity make you creative or does a smorgasbord of talent and resource do it for you?
• Are you a revolutionary/rising star in a world of the known or are you creating light where there isn’t even a perceived need for light yet?
• Do you find that your creative juices flow when presented with problems or do you create problems and then get creative?

Do you move at the speed of your expectations or at the speed of (others) reality?

It’s not that one answer is better and you may find that in some cases you are one side of the equation and other times you’re on the other side. But all the people I have met who have achieved high levels of success have one thing in common – they position themselves to win almost unconsciously. You gotta play to your strengths and put yourself into an environment that will allow the best of you to emerge.

Doing anything less is kidding yourself and setting yourself up for frustration. It’s not so much about what quadrant you are in as it is the way you think and where your heart and soul are at. Do not try to be someone that you are not!

Are you playing to your strengths?

Please click here to leave your feedback and comments on my Facebook page.