Order of Magnitude CEOs

The Tiger Woods, Oops, I meant to say Peyton Manning CEO

Image via Wikipedia

 

Image via Wikipedia

 

With the first anniversary of the Tiger Woods accident in a few days and Peyton Manning on national TV this past weekend it is fitting for me to briefly retell what happened to me shortly after the Tiger Woods accident. 

I was speaking to a small group of ambitious CEOs, and as I usually do, I started to describe the three kinds of CEOs that are most interested in declaring an exciting and valuable future for themselves and their companies:

1.  The First Time Serial CEO – this is the CEO that wants to sell her business, so she can immediately get on to her next big idea.

2.  The CEO Who Prefers to Work ON Their Business – this is the CEO who seeks to stop working IN their business all the time.

This concept is based on a wonderful book by Michael Gerber called E-Myth, about a bakery store owner who learns about the great entrepreneurial myth, that working “In your business” is not nearly as important as working “On your business.”

And,

3.  The Tiger Woods CEO - this is the CEO that seeks to master the game of being a business owner.

As you can tell, my third descriptor no longer worked, unless I am looking for laughs, which obviously I got, as it immediately conjured up images that I did not intend when I originally thought of the analogy a few years earlier.

So then, I started thinking which current celebrity athlete best embodies that third type of CEO.  A person who performs their chosen craft not for money, not for fame, and not for power, but for the pure enjoyment of working on their craft to be the best they can be.  In other words, Peyton Manning (and that’s coming from a lifetime New York Jets fan).

A “Peyton Manning” CEO treats being a CEO just like any other hobby where your personal goal is just to be the best you can be.  In golf, it is lowering your handicap; in tennis it is increasing your rating and for owners – it is about increasing the long-term value of their company. 

If being the best CEO you can be and all it entails is not your primary purpose in your role as CEO, perhaps it should be.

Don’t just get Help, Get Great Help Like NY Jet LaDainian Tomlinson and the Founders of the “World’s Most Comfortable Thong”

I was reminded of an October 20^th USA Today article on the resurgence of LaDainian Tomlinson after hearing Lida Orzeck, co-founder of Hanky Panky, maker of “the world’s most comfortable thong” (how could you not want to repeat their tagline), speak this past Thursday at Lincoln Center on a panel of successful entrepreneurs hosted by The New York Enterprise Report.

If you are a football fan, you most likely will have noticed the resurgence of LaDainian Tomlinson this year, compared to his previous couple of years with The San Diego Chargers. At 31, when running backs are at the twilight of their career or have retired, Tomlinson so far is having an MVP type year as he did back in 2006. A similar phenomenon occurred a few years ago with The New York Giants running back, Tiki Barber. After having a nice career, after age 30 “all of a sudden”, or so it appeared, to the average fan, Barber became an All Pro his final 3 seasons and actually retired at the peak of his production; well past the prime of an average NFL running back. Tomlinson noticed, so when he wanted to resurrect his own career, he asked Barber to explain what he had done differently.

The difference, as explained in the USA Today article, for Barber and now Tomlinson is the addition of a specific personal trainer, Lou Carini, who trained Barber and now Tomlinson to be “built for the end of the season”.

Going back to the panel, hosted by the New York Enterprise Report and moderated by Rob Levin, multiple times, I noticed that Lida Orzeck from Hanky Panky would point out her advisors as being critical to Hanky Panky’s 33 years of profitability and in particular managing huge growth for them after a favorable, above the fold page 1 story appeared in The Wall Street Journal. Rob Levin, as a moderator who actually listens to the panelists (how refreshing is that), picked up on it as well and asked Lida to elaborate on her use of advisors. Orzeck explained that she had accumulated a number of advisors throughout the years including advisors focused on insurance, real estate, accounting, and a strategic advisor that helped the founders capitalize on the unprecedented growth after the Wall Street Journal article appeared in 2004.

Business owners like Orzeck from Hanky Panky can opt for two kinds of help – strategic and tactical. Do you want an accountant that competently files your taxes on time for a low fee (tactical help) or do you want great help (strategic) from your accountant who understands your business so as to be able to provide business advice related to their world of taxes and balance sheets, income statements, and cash flows so as to make your business more valuable. For some areas, tactical help maybe fine for you (hiring somebody to “mow your lawn”), while in other areas great or strategic help (hiring a “landscape architect”) is the best way to see dramatic improvement “on the field” or in your own business.

Elevate Individual Performance One Specific Action and Compliment at a Time

Both my daughters are playing Soccer this fall on Saturday mornings.  Depending on the day, I may act as an assistant coach for my oldest daughter’s team, coached by Coach Rick for the past several years.  Coach Rick installed a hustle award at the beginning of the season.  Basically, at the end of each game, the player that hustled the most gets their name written on the “Hustle” Soccer ball with an accolade from Coach Rick and then she gets to take the soccer ball home for one week.  The first few weeks were easy for Coach Rick as he gave it to the best players on the team who actually do hustle the most (side note – funny how that works).

One of the girls on the team, Becky, almost did not join soccer and had been lethargic through most of the games.  She was the first one to offer to take a break, would only kick the ball if it came right to her, and was one of the girls most likely to chat with her friends while the game was on.  I happened to notice a few weeks back, Becky had more than a few balls come her way while she was on defense.  Becky made some “accidental” kicks that thwarted the other team.  She got a smile on her face of “did I do that” even before the “Nice Becky” emanated from the chorus of “Minivan Soccer Parents” (myself included) and Coach Rick.  Ensuing weeks progressed and I could see Becky become more aggressive; she started to go proactively after the ball more and got additional accolades from the coaches and parents.  Last week was the breakthrough.  After having her best first half of the season, at the start of the 2^nd half Becky  got the ball slightly before midfield and dribbled all the way downfield before launching a relatively hard shot at the goalie.   SAVE.   Becky trotted back with a triumphant look on her face.  Even though the shot was blocked, she was rightfully excited about her play.  Later, after the game ended, and Coach Rick gathered the girls for the hustle award I had no doubt who would get the hustle award and Becky’s teammates had no doubt as well.

As you build your team, although it is easier to spot fault or criticism in an individual’s performance, don’t forget to publicly and privately consistently spot and reinforce great decisions or moves or “hustle” from an individual to get more and more of the behavior you want.  We all like it, whether it is a little girl playing soccer or a senior executive, sincerely praising a specific action (as opposed to a generic “good job”) can keep your employees on the virtuous path of elevating their game one specific action and compliment at a time. 

Celebrate Milestones and What I learned from Art Shamsky of the ‘69 Mets

     

Jordan Silbert & Art Shamsky

Saturday afternoon, my sister-in-law Carol, successfully surprised the editor of my blog, who just so happens to be my older brother Ken, for his 50th birthday.  What made it a good surprise?   She had all the elements: a number of Ken’s close friends and relatives who truly care about Ken attended, a great setting with wonderful weather in their newly landscaped backyard, and Ken was actually surprised.  The surprise was two weeks ahead of his birthday, which Ken reminded me was how I surprised him for his bachelor party two decades ago, ouch, and so he was not expecting anything yet.  To get him out of the house for the preparation, his son Jordan had asked to play 9 holes of golf in the morning and get some pizza afterward, a not out of the ordinary request.  So, when Ken came walking into the backyard, with his belt off his shorts and mail in hand, we all knew that Carol’s plan to surprise her husband after twenty years of marriage, had paid off.  Carol still had one surprise left.

What to get the husband who within reason, has everything.  Carol remembered that a number of the best memories we have as adults are memories from our childhood experiences.  So she went searching for a sports celebrity from Ken’s past.  As a kid from Flushing, Queens who grew up in the 60’s and the 70’s just a few miles from Shea Stadium, it wasn’t too hard to narrow the search to a championship player from that era and location.  Sure, perhaps Carol could have gotten a more recent championship athlete, like an ex New York Giant, but the feel would not be the same.  So when Art Shamsky walked into my brother’s backyard and said, “Hi I am Art Shamsky, ‘69 Mets, Happy Birthday Ken” you could tell that Carol had done good.   As you would expect, Shamsky and Ken’s friends reminisced about that golden year in Mets and sports history and Shamsky who wore his large championship ring for the occasion, let Ken as well as Ken’s son, Jordan, wear the ring.

As is my natural inclination with somebody who has reached the pinnacle of his profession, I asked Shamsky what made the ‘69 Mets winners.  Shamsky gave a few answers, including a great manager in Gil Hodges who made all 25 team members contribute, but no real insight as to why this “magical” team won and the ‘68 team or ‘70 team did not.

Later, as Shamsky patiently and good naturedly did the obligatory signing of baseballs and pictures of him from that year, I noticed that for every single autograph, he ended with 4 words, “Art Shamsky, ‘69 Mets.”  Shamsky had learned that although he had a number of accomplishments in his life including being inducted in the Jewish Sports Hall of Fame and being one of only 7 players to hit 4 consecutive home runs, and the only player in major league history to hit 3 home runs in a row without starting the game, he hit the 4th the next day as a pinch hitter (Which begs the question, a guy hits 3 consecutive home runs and you bench him? But I digress.)

The only accomplishment of significant value in 2010 and beyond for Art Shamsky was his identity linked to being part of the magical New York Mets of 1969 and Art Shamsky knew it. 

As we wrapped up our time with Shamsky, somebody asked if he wished he played today with all the money players now make.  Shamsky responded, “As champions, we each got $19,000 which was more than every single player on our team made that year, and so I would be an idiot if I didn’t wish I played today, but not if I had to give up the experience of playing for the 1969 New York Mets.”  

As you continue to create a business of significant value for you and those around you, don’t forget the other dimension of creating something valuable, the achievement itself and the memory that goes along with it.  Take time out to celebrate personal and business accomplishments of your team and your family.   Honor and celebrate achievements like Shamsky’s and create memories like Carol created for her husband Ken. 

Happy 50th Ken!

(and thanks Carol, Art Shamsky, and friends and family for the memory!)

My Round of Golf with Bernie and the Alligator at Hilton Head

 

I just got back with my family from a great week at Hilton Head.  Since it was my first time there, and who knows, perhaps last, I decided to get one round of golf in.  I played a magnificent course called the Ocean Course at the Sea Pines property.  From my accidental playing partner Bernie, I learned that almost all the courses are magnificent on Hilton Head, at least compared to New Jersey, where coincidentally, we both live.

There was heavy rainfall the night before my round of golf so I decided to sleep in a little and miss my 7:30am tee time.  I had planned to show up around 7am to hit some golf balls at the driving range instead I arrived shortly after 8am.  The starter was in a good mood and told me that since there were a bunch of foursomes about to tee off, he suggested that I join up with a single golfer who teed off at 7:46am.  No driving range for me.  I quickly jumped back into my golf cart and caught up with Bernie as he was finishing up the 2nd hole.  We started playing together from the 3rd hole on.  It turned out that Bernie was an excellent golfer who plays an estimated 50 times per year, not including driving range days.  Bernie has a handicap of 4 -- add another 25 strokes or so and you get my handicap -- and before Bernie retired he used to teach golf to high school kids.  I am not a good golfer and after a par on the initial hole we played together, Bernie found that out about me. 

After that third hoIe, I was pretty erratic especially off the tee.  On the 15th hole or so after another errant tee shot, Bernie made a comment about my backswing.  I made the easy adjustment Bernie recommended and the next couple of holes were as Bernie commented, “clearly my best tee shots of the day”, enabling me to put together a couple of pars in a row.  After making the comment and watching my improved swing and result off the tee, Bernie commented, “Sorry, I didn’t say anything earlier because I did not know if you would welcome the advice and sometimes providing advice on the course can make a golfer play worse.”

As we approached the 17th green, there was an alligator crossing our path.  Bernie had seen alligators before on a golf course, I hadn’t.   “Alligators can run very fast for a short distance so I suggest we let the alligator play through.”  As Bernie recommended, we waited until the alligator crossed from one swamp to the next before proceeding to the green.

After my round with Bernie I reflected on the opportunity I had missed playing with Bernie.  Unlike most 4 handicap golfers, Bernie had picked up the game as an adult.  I speculate this made him a great student of the game and also most likely at some point he had gone through similar frustrations as many of his students.  It was immediately obvious to me that Bernie was a great player, yet I did not ask for help as we played.  I know the reasons Bernie had to make the first move instead of me -- none of which were very good.  The worst thing Bernie could have said is I prefer not to provide help on the golf course.

Instead it was just another round of golf where I did not improve my game even though there was somebody around me that could help and Bernie did not get the fulfillment as an expert of providing help.

How often is there a teachable moment in your organization where you or someone on your team is in position to help or be helped and the moment passes?  Do the experts in your organization know how to teach and understand the impact and does your organization encourage individuals in your organization to learn?  Or, is your organization full of Bernie’s and Jeff’s playing a leisurely round of golf where there is no explicit goal of learning and teaching for the sake of getting better.

(This blog post was inspired by an article last week in The New York Post called The boss’ orders: Rock Out about M5 Networks where I was an executive for six years and its commitment to creating a teaching and learning culture as a way to create long-term company value.)

Who Are You Hanging Out With? Go For The Dynasty, Not The Championship

Over the past month three individual executives from the world of sports has each received attention for declaring the most exciting and valuable of team accomplishments, building a dynasty.

1.  The Beginning of the Journey: Mikhail Prokhorov, New Jersey Nets Owner

Back in June, I heard a radio interview with the new New Jersey Nets owner.  During his interview, he was asked about his goal for the Nets.  He did not talk about signing a particular player nor winning a championship or championships.  Instead he talked about building a global brand, moving the Nets from New Jersey to Brooklyn, and his long-term ambition of building a dynasty. 

 2.  The Middle of the Journey: Pat Riley, Miami Heat President

There has been more than enough talk about all aspects of LeBron James’ decision so I will stay out of that.  What cannot be disputed is his decision to go with the Miami Heat is based on his fundamental belief that the opportunity to play with two perennial All Stars with a team assembled by Pat Riley is his best chance to win not just a championship or multiple championships but to be part of a dynasty led by Pat Riley.  Pat Riley is a seven-time National Basketball Association World Champion as a player and a coach.

3.  The End of the Journey: George Steinbrenner, New York Yankees Owner

George Steinbrenner rebuilt The New York Yankees into a dynasty.  The seven championships during just his 37 years as owner of the Yankees is more than any other Major League Baseball team’s total championships except for the St. Louis Cardinals.  In addition to the excitement of winning championships, Steinbrenner increased the value of the Yankees from around $10 million to around $1.5 billion, that’s over 2 Orders of Magnitude.

So what does it take to go for the dynasty and not the championship, it means changing who you hang out with:

Great Teachers (Coaches):  Who is helping the individuals on your team perform?  There is a reason why players like Kobe Bryant, Derek Jeter, and LeBron James want to play for people like Phil Jackson, Joe Torre and Pat Riley.  Each has the skill to win multiple championships (Jackson with the Bulls and now with the Lakers, Torre with the Yankees and Riley first with the Lakers and now going for it again with the Heat).  If you do not declare and communicate a big vision of where you can take your firm most likely you will have difficulty recruiting and retaining employees that are best suited to enable you to fulfill your declaration.

Great Colleagues (Your Team):  Who else is on your team?  As a fan you can be upset with LeBron James decision to go to the Miami Heat but you can’t deny he is associating himself with some of the best players in the game.  Your team matters.  A few ex-players have been deriding James’ decision including Charles Barkley and Reggie Miller, who together have won a combined 0 championships.  The Yankees current starting lineup  is currently a blend of free agents (“experienced hires”) and players brought up via their farm system (“recent grad hires”) with players like Derek Jeter, Jose Posada, Mariano Rivera, Andy Petitte and Robinson Cano.  Top performers that make a difference in your business can be trained from the ground up or brought in from the outside.  The key, is to consistently seek out both new and experienced hires that improve the performance of your current staff and are excited to take part in the journey with you.

The Already Accomplished (The Greats):  Who do you know that already has had success, that has gone where you want to take your team?  For instance, Jim Irsay, owner of the Indianapolis Colts considers George Steinbrenner a mentor, with a relationship that started back in the early 1980’s, on building a sports organization committed to winning.  Pat Riley, has himself served as mentor to coaches, including four current NBA coaches - Marc Iavaroni, Byron Scott, Erik Spoelstra, and Stan Van Gundy.  Developing meaningful relationships with business owners and others who have accomplishments that you admire serves as an important catalyst for moving your organization forward, seek them out.

Of the three sports business executives who sought to build a dynasty, Prokhorov is at the very beginning of the journey, Riley is in the middle of the journey and Steinbrenner arrived at his destination.   Will Prokhorov win a championship or championships, let alone build a dynasty, I don’t know.  Will Riley add to his previous successes and build a dynasty, if you are a Knick fan like me, hopefully not.  I do know each man is more likely to win championships, build team value and excite those around them by hanging out with the three types of people necessary to build a dynasty.  As a business owner, going just for short-term profit (or a single championship) is good but not as valuable nor as exciting for you and those around you as building a long-term exciting and valuable organization – the dynasty – go for it!

Five Steps To Becoming A Professional Business Owner

To make you feel better (or perhaps worse), Getting the Future You Want for your business is a daily journey like deciding to become a professional athlete.  Think how you improve at a sport like golf in order to break 100, 90, 80 70 or be a professional.  Today you work on your 7 iron and your putting. That does not mean that you will not be working on your 7 iron and putting the next day, the next week, the next month, and the next year.

Here are the five steps to becoming a Pro Business Owner:

STEP 1.  ALLOCATE - ALLOCATE part of your work week on making the Future YOU WANT happen

Any business owner can continually fill their day with daily “urgent” issues, which in the long term, will have little impact on enhancing firm value, the only thing it will do for sure is keep the owner busy.  Spend 5-10% of your work hours (no more no less) every week on purposely Getting The Future You Desire.  You will thank yourself later.

STEP 2.  DECLARE - DECLARE specifically in writing an exciting, differentiated, and valuable future.

When you DECLARE your future, write it down as if it happened already or as all-time hockey great Wayne Gretzky put it, “Skate to where the puck is going, not to where it has been.”

STEP 3. KNOW – KNOW the interim actions and goals required to make your declaration come true.

Once you have declared an exciting, differentiated and valuable future for yourself, you must KNOW the interim actions and goals to get there so your declaration moves from fantasy to possibility. This includes knowing the people, knowing the money, and knowing the specific interim goals and actions required to fulfill your declaration.

STEP 4 ACT - ACT to get the exciting and valuable future you declared.

At the end of the day, if you don’t ACT to make your declaration come true, nothing else matters. Your declaration becomes a fantasy or as Thomas Edison once said, “Vision without execution is hallucination”.

STEP 5 ITERATE – ITERATE since the journey to Your Future Success Is Not a Straight Upward Line.

As you ACT on fulfilling your current declaration, you will change, your company will change, and your industry will change. This is a natural part of the journey.  And because you ALLOCATE a portion of your work week to getting the future you want, you will be able to purposely and consciously ITERATE on getting the future you want versus moving forward towards an unconscious future as amateur business owners do.

Creating a valuable and exciting future for your business is a journey, and the sooner you purposely start the journey the better off you will be.  Good Luck!

Looking To Do 50 Great Chin-Ups Three Years From Now – Start With 6 Bad Ones

“One, Two, Three…”, John, an Owner/CEO friend of mine was recounting his day at the gym.  “I did six of the worst chin-ups you could ever imagine with my personal trainer.”  As I did them, my trainer said nothing about my poor technique, just encouraging me to do another bad one.”  “I hate chin-ups” was my immediate reaction.  “Exactly”, John replied.  “Did I just say that aloud”?  “You sure did Jeff, no worries.  Everybody hates chin-ups.  I hate them. My Dad hates them, heck, even my personal trainer used to hate them”, John replied and then he continued.  “You know why, because they are hard, especially in the beginning, and the only way to get good at them is to do them bad, really bad.  The point is to do them even if you are really bad at them, even if you think you are embarrassingly bad at it and even though it hurts, because the only way you are going to get good at them is by doing them.”

This reminded me of a woman I know who refuses to do anything she is not immediately good at.  That’s fine if it is something unimportant in your life like trying a new sport or hobby but not so good if the new skill truly matters in your life.  Looking to get good at presenting in front of prospects or potential investors in your business and you bomb, probably not the greatest decision to decide to stop presenting.  Or perhaps you are trying to build a sales team and you made a bad hire or two and ended up having to fire the person (or persons) six months later - five months after you knew you made the wrong call(s).  That’s ok.  What would be worse is not putting yourself in these first-time situations where the failure rate can be quite high.  To get good or even great at something truly important for your business like presenting or building a sales team you have to risk being bad at it to start.   

The only way to get good at something you’re bad at is to break it down and figure out what it will take to get better at it and start.  The reason John’s personal trainer encouraged John to do the bad chin-ups is the same reason you need to go and do the important stuff you are bad at today in your business.  It is the only way three years from now you will be able to do 50 great chin-ups in your business.

By the way, if you want to feel bad, here is what great chin-ups look like from what looks like a normal guy.  I wonder if the chin-up master started with 6 bad chin-ups like my friend John?  I speculate he did.

Build A Winning Organization One Personnel Move At A Time

As a New Yorker, I couldn’t help but be excited that the Celtics had eliminated LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in six games.  In most years, I would be rooting for LeBron and the Cavaliers or to be more precise, against the Celtics.  This year was different as everybody who follows basketball even from afar knows, LeBron James gets to decide where to play next and either build a legacy as a champion like his idol, Michael Jordan, or end up as a great player with no team championships like Allen Iverson.

About a month back I had conversations with two business owners who let go valued staff members, who are on their own personal journey of building winning organizations and cultures which reminded me of LeBron’s situation on which team to join.

A good friend of mine, Rich, who runs a 20 person professional service business had just let go a long time staff member who I have personally known for the last few years.  “So you finally got rid of her”, I asked.  “What do you mean?” Rich replied.  “You have been talking for the past six months or so for how you want to have a more valuable offer to your clients and you are the first one to say that she just doesn’t fit the mold anymore in terms of what your clients (and other employees) expect from your firm.” 

Coincidentally, I had a similar conversation with a retailer, Mitch, who runs twelve stores, who also just fired an employee – this time a star performer.  Mitch’s business is all about the number of visitors to his stores per week.  He religiously tracks the number of new visitors and repeat visitors to each of his stores.   “Jeff, I just fired, my #2 performer in one of my mid performing stores.”  Mitch said.  “Why”, I asked.   “Well, he posted great numbers and clients asked for him but he just did not care about his fellow employees and about the business itself.   He just was in it for himself and it was impacting the rest of the employees at this location and at some point I felt it would impact the clients as well.”

I checked in with both owners last week and remarkably both were more excited than I had ever seen them.

“I feel so much better now”, Rich, the professional service owner exclaimed, “I had no idea the extent she (the let go employee) was an anchor on my firm.  She was where I have been, the company I used to have when I first started as opposed to where I want my company to be.  Since we last spoke I added a staff member and a fantastic client that represents the future and firing her gave me the extra edge I needed to make both moves happen.”   Rich and I talked more and we agreed that although she was a loyal employee, firing her was the most visible move he had ever made to himself and those around him including current staff, clients, and investors in creating a culture built with purpose and based on performance.

As for Mitch the retailer who let go the high performer.  “As I expected Jeff, shortly after I gave the ok for my store manager to fire my employee, he called me up asking if I wanted to reconsider as he knew his numbers were solid.  Of course I did not change my mind and I am glad I held firm.  The great part is my same store sales were up 9% over last month since I fired my supposedly “star performer” compared to an average of 3% growth in my other stores.” “Do you think it is related to the move of getting rid of her”, I asked half knowing Mitch’s response.  “Of course, the rest of the staff respected the move and the signal I was sending about what was valued in the organization.  In fact, the story made its way to other stores and I expect it will have a positive impact on my other stores as well in the months ahead.  In addition, my original concern that some clients would leave did not materialize.  It confirmed what I have been working towards --  my company, my brand, my process, what I am in the process of building -  is more important than one talented individual or even one valuable client.  I knew I was headed in the right direction of building a valuable business through a team oriented approach.  This one move has been the clearest proof that I am on the right path.”

I expect LeBron James as he ponders his next move will consider joining an organization with a management team that values the building of the team to win championships and not just coddling him so he racks up individual statistics and fills seats in the stands.  That is, if he wants truly be a great teammate and champion like his idol and NCAA champion, 2 time Olympic gold medalist and 6 time NBA champion , Michael Jordan. 

(Are you listening New York Knicks management -- Jim Dolan, Donnie Walsh, and Mike D’Antoni?)

 

Struggling To Build A Sales Team? Work On It Until It Clicks

I am in a Tennis Drills class that I attend roughly once every two weeks.  During the 90 minute workout we typically work on our forehand, backhand, some net play, and our serve.  This lasts about an hour, the last 30 minutes is reserved for a short singles or doubles match.  It is a good work out and I have noticed an improvement in my game as has a friend that I occasionally play with, “You hit the ball harder now” is the way he characterized it.

One aspect of my game that has not improved as much as I would like is my serve.  I am 6’ 4” tall and so opponents that have not played me before expect a booming serve.  I can see a sense of relief when they see me warm up and that my serve is at-best, quite average.

Since joining the instructional class, I reworked my serve and I am in the midst of learning to consistently hit it harder and in the box.  There are a number of other people in the group that also work on their serve with some having had tremendous success.  There is one person though who has the worst serve in the group and also works on his serve the least.  I speculate that he has basically given up.  The funny part is that he is at the stage where he can have the greatest improvement.  The serve just has to click for him.   Think about any learned skill and the greatest improvement is typically made at the beginning stage once you breakthrough, once it clicks.

The concept of waiting for something to click is not a new thing.  We have all witnessed it in ourselves and in others.  My older daughter started reading last year while in Kindergarten.  It was a very frustrating time for her as well as for my wife and me.  If she couldn’t read a word she would immediately guess or worse put the book down and quit.  This went on for what seemed like an incredibly long time, I speculate it was only a month, and then finally it clicked and she could read.  A month later I couldn’t believe how many words she knew and now in 1st grade I am blown away with how far she has come along.  This is not about praising my daughter or the teacher as I know all children go through this process of struggle and then it suddenly clicks when it comes to reading.  After it clicks, it’s much easier to make progress.  The same thing happened when I taught my daughter to ride her bicycle.  Luckily we went through all the ups and downs in one day.

The problem with waiting for something to click is that sometimes without encouragement from others, we do not have the patience, so we give up.  Back in the1990’s when I was learning to snowboard I was very close to quitting after having fallen a number of times and being physically exhausted.  Luckily, a friend who had learned a few years before me, gave some great advice, wait until it “clicks” as he went up the lift.  Without believing that it would click for me, I might have given up.

What today have you tried without having much success and  have very little competence that if it clicked would create Order of Magnitude Value for you: Hiring/Recruiting? Presenting to Investors?  Marketing? Building a Sales Team?  Don’t give up, figure out what you need to do to get better and wait for the click!