View from the Summit

Twenty yearsago, when I was 35 years old, I never heard mention of a life or business coach. I was under the impression that you just needed to get in the game and figure it out. I read articles, books and news post to gain all the information I could in life and business. It never dawned on me to hire a professional that could walk me through the difficulties or more importantly point me in the right direction. 

Fast forward, it's now 2015, and my experience has taught me that it is necessary to hire an experienced coach in whatever arena I'm interested in tackling. I feel that I am capable of figuring out most problems or new processes alone and possibly even mastering them, but why would I want to travel the road alone, unaided, with no direction at all? Why would I want to invest the time, resources and energy dodging all the land mines and potholes? Why not pay a professional that has walked where you're headed, rather than get all banged up yourself?

I get regularly asked what my thoughts are about partnerships. Over the past 36 years, I have had many partners, some good, some not so good. To be totally honest, I would attribute more than 50% of my stress to the partnership arrangement. 

When first starting out, it looks exciting, fun, and adventuresome and it can be, but there are also numerous considerations.

I want to bring to your attention a few very important considerations to implement into your current partnership or to strongly consider when forming your next partnership. These are a few things I have come to find important over the years. 

It’s very simple, but it's my routine. Starting my day early is without question one of the keys to my success. I hear guys all the time talking about sleeping in. I guess that is a good thing once in a while, but for me a really late morning would be 6:00 AM.

As a rule, I’m up between 4:30 AM and 5:00 AM. I prepare the coffee maker the night before and a simple touch of the switch the following morning and presto, black magic. The finest drink on the planet, no cream and no sweetener, just pure dark rich black coffee.

Starting out with a full glass of water, a fresh banana and 5 minutes in my high back leather chair sets the mood. Now, I’m ready for the day….

This has always been the $64.00 question. Is a leader born or developed? I have been asked countless times this question and I don’t feel with absolute certainty than anyone is emphatically qualified to answer beyond a shadow of a doubt. I will offer my thoughts and opinion on the topic though.

I have been an entrepreneur my entire adult life. I have not received a paycheck for almost 4 decades. If I did not go out and drag something home, we did not eat.

I personally think it takes leadership to do that. If I sat in the wings and waited, I may have starved. Has it been easy? Absolutely not.