I went to a Robert Kiyosaki - Rich Dad, Poor Dad seminar a few weeks ago, which got me thinking about the wealthy men in my life and what I have learnt from them. Six came to mind almost immediately as they had taught me some very deep and fundamental lessons. The seminar itself was fairly disappointing apart from hearing Emi Kiyosaki talk about how to avoid regret, but like all things it did prompt some self-reflection and fortunately reminded me of these lessons.

These men are all different, but in some ways the same

They are by no means the richest people I have known, and might seem on the surface of it completely different. They include a property developer, two Xerox sales people, a Xerox dealer, a wool merchant and the last is my Dad. You'll notice from that list how significantly Xerox features, and that is because although I largely hated my time working there (seven years), it was a wonderful training ground in communication and sales. Two crucial skills that need to be mastered if you wish to have a successful business. My Dad is included, not as some shallow suck-up to one's father, but because as part of a two person tag team, he and Mum have done more to develop my entrepreneurial ability, standards, world outlook and competitive streak than anyone else. They have brilliant insight, some of which I would like to share, but they'll have to wait nervously till post #6 to see what I have to say :-)

So what do these people have in common?

They are all all self made people ... they are all ambitious ... they all have high standards ... they all live outside themselves and add value to others ... and most importantly they all became successful, not by honouring "the rules", but by making them.

Les Harvey property developer - the unlikely rich guy

That's Les in the photo, complete with sailor's hat and jumper. He must have brought a new jumper for the photo shoot as my memory is that the one he normally wore was much older, and his hair always messy. He was the unlikely rich guy because to many people he looked more like he lived on the street rather than as the owner of a significant portion of Auckland's central city. When I read the book The Millionaire Next Door I immediately thought of Les. There were no airs and graces with him, no flaunting his wealth; he was almost cagey as to which buildings were his. I liked that humbleness, and noticed how it sparked more curiosity than if he had been flashy.

Lesson #1 - Set your own rules

When I worked at Xerox, the corporate uniform was strictly imposed, and peer pressure even encouraged you to spend significant money on cars and suits. Looking right, looking successful, keeping up with the Jone's. I know as entrepreneurs, we sometimes have to play the part, wear the suit and behave as expected, but what I love is being able to be like Les. That is, being myself, wearing what I want, getting past the pretence and setting my own rules.

Lesson #2 - Love the company, not the product

Les's "product", at the time we were in there ,was Parnell, as a community of souvenir, craft and speciality shops. Shops like ours (Earthworks) were his bread and butter, the innovators that became one of the first companies in New Zealand to battle for and start Sunday trading. We made Parnell a destination, something for the cafe's to base themselves around. When the opportunity arose to raise rents to a point that was no longer economic for us, he didn't get caught up in the old model, he didn't get confused by his allegiances to people who had supported him for 15 years – he just moved on. I kind of admire and feel bad about that, all at the same time, but truth is, he kept his business strong by adapting and moving with the times. That clarity is supremely important.

Thank you Les

It's not a complicated story, but certainly one that has influenced me since my time watching and learning from you as a child and teenager. Hard work, frustration and lots of responsibility may be a potential downside of being an entrepreneur, but being able to be the sailor and captain of your own ship, setting your own direction and making up your own rules is definitely a bonus.

Yesterday I introduced the fact that going to a Rich Dad Poor Dad seminar had me thinking of the wealthy men in my life. I started by talking about Les Harvey the unlikely property developer and how he taught me to 'set my own rules', 'be humble' and 'love my company more than my product'. One of the most successful salesmen I worked with at Xerox was a guy called John Burke (Burkie). It's been almost 15 years since I last saw him so I have no idea what he does today, but the lessons he taught are still with me. He is a great guy and I really appreciate the time he spent working with me; he was a hard working person and is certainly someone I deeply respect.

Lesson #1 – Information is power

I can remember as if it were yesterday, sitting out in the back of the Xerox offices discussing what was needed to be successful in business and especially at Xerox. The theme was that Information Is Power. The more you know, the more powerful you are. The trick being if you know more than anyone else you are valuable, you are needed. Know more than anyone else, and be incredibly good at using that information and the sky's the limit in terms of your ability to negotiate your terms.

Lesson #1 – A bonus

I've held that value in the forefront of my mind since that day, but it has evolved into an even more powerful version. In my opinion information shared is much more powerful than information kept to yourself. Of course there is some information you must keep confidential, but living your life sharing information, enabling others and exploring possibilities through conversation is infinitely more exciting and rewarding. The real beauty of sharing information and ideas is that, unlike most other resources, you still have it after you have given it away.

Lesson #2 – Understand your pay plan

John's second great lesson was to teach me to 'know my pay plan', by that I mean understand the numbers, know how you are paid. If you are on commission know exactly how it is calculated and what gets you that bonus. I swear John and I earned more per dollar of equipment sold than most other reps, because we always knew exactly what we had to do to maximise our commission rate. Most people just sold what they could, but we focused on what we needed. One month I even brought a $2000 fax machine on the last day of the month, because it earned me a $10,000 bonus! If I hadn't been concentrating that would have been a costly disappointment. The important thing to remember is you can dramatically and easily increase the profit of your business if you focus on what is important, but to do that you must know your numbers and know how and where your money comes from.

Hat tip to Perry Belcher, I found this on his blog on a post called "Sneaky Little Brain Tricks". Simply mind blowing. Thanks Perry. Technorati Profile

Why can't you be more creative? well, maybe it's because we aren't having fun!. Play, according to Tim Brown, is a crucial part of fostering creativity, and in the following inspiring video he talks about "play", a topic he is obviously very passionate about.

 

From the TED website :At the 2008 Serious Play conference, designer Tim Brown talks about the powerful relationship between creative thinking and play -- with many examples you can try at home (and one that maybe you shouldn't).

It's not just about "play" it's about having fun.

Lets face it, through life you will probably spend more time at work than any other single activity except sleeping. Surely therefore you would want to enjoy your work, make a difference and have fun. You will spend more time with your colleagues than your spouse, so it's ironic that often a person will spend years searching for their perfect companion, and then just settle for a pay check and the guy in a cubical next door. Not me ... its hard to find the line between my work, my private life, my family, friends and colleagues ... my work is a crucial part of my life, it's a passion, it's a form of self expression and it is also my hobby. At Queensberry we do our best to have fun, there is "Project Life", a program promoting wellness and community participation, massages every so often, birthday leave, Kabab Friday, Our Cultural Day, a Mello Yellow Lunch, stress balls, celebrating successes, the netball team, Basket Brigade, and of course our Social Club and Chrismas Celebrations etc. I wouldn't however say we've perfected "safe" communication however. Although we aspire for it, and would put right any upset caused we've got a little way to go before I could look you in the eye and say everyone speaks their mind without fear of criticism. The idealist in me wants to tell you this happens already, but we have a very passionate environment, people are deeply and emotionally connected to the cause and care strongly about how things should be done ... that brings challenges. One of my favourite people to watch on TV is Gordon Ramsay. Once you get past the theatrics he's just a guy who cares passionately about his craft, about people and wants to help people reach their potential. It's different, but in a weird sort of way, what happens on his show is a bit like Queensberry, and fortunately that comes together as an awesome, creative team changing the world they life in.

To stay creative and passionate you need to ...

Have fun Here are a few resources to use in your company. What about boss tennis, or you could consider peoples wellbeing, and of course make sure you schedule it by putting fun days in your calender. Finally to keep it fun, maybe there needs to be some rulesBe inspired On the TED website there is a group of presentations called "Design Like You Give A Damn", that contains marvellous videos of Designers talking about their passion and discovery of design. Like the winemakers we met this week that made us want to have a go, these people are so creatively passionate they inspire you to find your own passion. Be the best you can be

"Don't worry about winning, it's having fun that counts."

This is a lie, and out of context it robs our children of ambition and destines many of them to loose as they don't ever get taught to win. There is no shame in loosing, there is no shame in making mistakes, but there is certain disappointment if you are not the best you can be. I believe in thinking big, and like Jim Collins, I believe in aspiring to move from Good To GreatBe effective Finally, if you are to be happy, if you are to influence, if you are to be creative, and especially if you want to have fun you need to be effective. You need to get things done. In Leo Babauta's book "Zen to Done", he reminds us of these quotes.

"Much of the stress that people feel doesn't come from having too much to do. It comes from not finishing what they've started" ~ David Allen

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication" ~ Leonardo DaVinci

Zen to Done is an awesome book, and Leo's bi-line is "The ultimate simple productivity system". I'm not sure how it compares to all other systems, so can't say it's the ultimate system, but it certainly is a powerful way of organising your life and I have started using it myself.

"Talk doesn't cook rice" ~ Chinese Proverb

The most important part of any journey, is the first step, the second is picking a direction, and finally the decision to travel enthusiastically.

To find out more about Zen to Done click here or possibly you might like to read the Zen Habits Handbook for Life

 

I found myself in trouble on Twitter this morning ... ok "in trouble" might be a bit strong, but a tweet I received did make me realise something I was doing was causing offence and of course don't want to do that. In my "Direct Messages" (inbox) I received the following tweet. At first I thought #DM meant "Deep and Meaningful" ... what no deep and meaningful conversation?, what a weird thing to say ... but then I realised more seriously that they meant "Direct Messages".

So what happened, and why is this important?

juhasaarinen seems like a pretty cool person. Certainly they have an interesting blog, and write good articles. I followed them as I wanted to follow their tweets, and I guess they followed me in return. All good until this point. The problem was I use a service call Tweet Later, and had set up an 'Auto Direct Message' to say "hello and thank you for following me", in it I pointed harmlessly to my blog. Tweet Later is a service for managing your tweets, and other twitter activity. As I got busier on Twitter, and the number of people following me grew, I found it more and more difficult to respond and say thank you in a timely manner. I thought it more polite to send an 'auto thank you' quickly than attempt to send a personalised one knowing in most cases I probably never will. I realise now that's wrong. Twitter is about a conversation, I joined and love it because I get to connect with our clients who are photographers, my friends and people in the Wordpress community ... actually anyone that wants to say hello. Auto responders might be efficient but they aren't personal and they aren't about conversation or entertainment. With Twitter being overwhelmed with spam, it also sends the wrong message about who you are. So my thanks goes to juhasaarinen for this reminder ... DM Auto Replies are now turned off ... Tweet Later however is still helpful in many other ways."

Having said that, is their response being short sighted?

I don't want to give with one hand, and then take away with the other. The learning is certainly appreciated, but I do think the response could be a little short sighted. If something about my profile made the "follow" worth while in the first place ... is an instant "un-follow" necessary. Of course I respect their right to, and appreciate that setting standards is important, but I think a persons previous updates and blog etc says a lot more about them than a single #DM message.

Which brings me to another service I enjoy

Twitalyzer is really interesting. It allows you to review, at least from Twitalyzer's perspective, your behaviour on Twitter. The Idea of Generosity is clearly important in a conversation as it shows how much you contribute. On Twitter this is done by sharing information (links) and by re-tweeting (RT) others. I'm therefore reasonably happy with those figures. I don't care to much about velocity as I spend as much time there as I want, and don't want to spam my followers. The 1500 tweets a week, that this is measured against seems exceptionally high so question if this measure is set realistically. In terms of 'clout' and 'influence', I guess we all want to have some influence over the people we communicate with and therefore took most interest in those being so low and that's where this service has so much value. If I cared about influence, and wanted to be a "Twitter Star" then it tells me what I need to do. Relative to the 1161 people Twitalyzer are tracking that have 25% more influence than me, I would need to send out about 40 more tweets a week, reference a lot more (20 ish) online resources and Reweet at least another couple times each week. Of course I would also need to make sure the content of those tweets was of value or no one will follow.

Seems simple ... But do I care?

Yes and No. I do care in that I want to be a valuable twitter community member, and of course I want to be a little entertaining or provide information to the people gracious enough to follow me, but I don't have any aspiration to be a Twitter Heavy Weight. I'm there to have fun, and learn what I can, and it seems that is what juhasaarinen wants as well, so that is why we should NOT Auto Direct Message.