RECOGNIZING WHAT TRULY MATTERS …

Over the past few weeks my Monday Morning Mojo has focused on the evolution occurring at Keller Williams Coastal Properties.  Questions posed have offered a reader the opportunity to reflect upon the potential message in context of their own business.  This week I am taking a more personal path; thus as I reflect upon a few defining success principles, hopefully, you will resonate with how certain data points are interrelated.

This week a friend shared a book with me entitled ‘The Go-Giver’ written by Bob Burg and John David Mann.  A national bestseller (so I might be the last person on the planet to read the book) that seems to crystallize the mojos of the past several weeks into ‘five laws of stratospheric success.’

Sharing these mojos with you is a personal journey.  Oftentimes, these incomplete tangents are threads that I need to resolve within to create the business, the life and journey that I desire for myself and those I love.  So between the paragraphs of the book, I reflected upon people who have crossed my path for the past five decades.  Hang in there with me for a few moments … developing business models, business plans, business strategies, marketing channels and service platforms are but fancy terms with no heart, unless we understand (beyond saying the words, but is all about ‘walking the talk’) the why behind everything they suggest.  The why reflects the soul of what we do by reflecting the heart that gives meaning to the experience of all those we touch.  The main points in the book are oddly well timed and relevant when considering my past several blogs – some might explain a bit of synchronicity is at work.  That is a topic for another time though!

In summary, Burg’s ‘five laws of stratospheric success’ are:

1.     The Law of Value:  “Your true worth is determined by how much more you give in value than you take in payment.”  The real question is what I do … does it really serve other people?  Does it add value to others?  In a world consisting of ‘what is in it for me’; and ‘what is mine is mine, and what is yours is mine’ speaks to contrary values.  If you listen closely you will hear this value at the core of what most businesses and individuals say.  Last week I had a meeting with a key service provider to Keller Williams.  The goal of the meeting in my mind was to discuss the concept of ‘strategic partnership’ and collaboration.  After nearly three hours I asked this rather dynamic person sitting across the table, how often do brokerage companies or realtors come to him from the place of true partnership?  His response was ‘never’.  Why?  Even with our meeting’s goal being collaboration, the participants struggled with this notion because the under current was still prevalent – ‘what’s in it for me or my company’?  

2.     The Law of Compensation:  “Your income is determined by how many people you serve and how well you serve them.”  Relishing the opportunity to “survive, save and serve” – and the greatest of these attributes is to ‘serve’ crystallizes the personal mantra that I must integrate into my spirit.  My compensation is directly proportional to how many lives I touch – ‘value’ merges with ‘impact’.  As I read these words, I thought of my father who toiled without a hint of resentment looking for simple ways to just be of service, to be a servant of those who crossed his path and to lighten the load of all.  This gracious gift was reflected by dozens of people at my dad’s funeral … a lesson I am only beginning to understand – thanks dad, maybe someday soon!  Be watchful … compensation is not restricted to only money … rewards of the soul are more meaningful and lasting than those wrapped in paper bearing a dead president’s picture. 

3.     The Law of Influence:  “Your influence is determined by how abundantly you place other people’s interests first.”  Contained in Keller Williams’ mission statement is the term “win-win or no deal.”  If you listen, negotiators, marketers and sales people often deliver this message; and for most this message resonates as being a worthy value.  Yet think about it … ‘win – win’ infers each person getting some fraction of a 50-50 deal that creates a winning compromise.  Is that demonstrative of real ‘value’ and beyond that this sentiment of ‘win-win’ is not unique – nay but a snappy catch phrase often over used and rarely understood.  The book summarizes (and I immediately connected with) “watch out for the other guy.  Watch out for his interests.  Watch his back.  Forget about fifty-fifty … it’s a losing proposition.  The only winning proposition is one hundred percent.  Make your win about the other person, go after what he wants.  Forget win-win – focus on the other person’s win.”  How many of us have that all backwards – mega companies have as their mantra delivering less than total satisfaction and have us believing that this is something special?  What would happen if we really created one hundred percent wins?  How about setting our sights on delivering what another person needs in total? 

4.     The Law of Authenticity:  “The most valuable gift you have to offer is yourself.”  In a world of commodity all we have to offer that is unique is ourselves.  Reaching our goals is about ten percent knowledge and technical skills, and ninety percent is about people skills.  At the core of people skills is who we are as individuals.  Ah, all that coaching and after billions of dollars spent on self improvement, and it really boils down to delivering an authentic and real you in service to others – delivering to other people what they want, when they want it, and how they want it.  A message packaged thousands of different ways, but each of us at our core already knows it.  How often and at what cost must I be reminded of that one simple reality – just be authentic while engaging with other people (for me – be ‘interested’ not ‘interesting’)? 

5.     The Law of Receptivity:  “The key to effective giving is to stay open to receiving.”  The yin and yang of life … we can’t give until we are open to receiving; and we can’t receive until we are open to serving others.  How often do I dismiss a compliment or a gift shared by another?  That is all about me and not the other person … in that moment I’m not open to receiving, and I cut off the other person’s opportunity to give or serve.  Ugh … I am so uncomfortable with accepting another person’s reflection that involves me.  I would much rather give than receive – so much easier!

So as I sat down to write this blog, I reminded myself that in articulating a new vision at Keller Williams Coastal Properties and while developing my own business plan for 2010 that really … I need to deliver a tangible service that embodies these principles at all times!  Sounds simple doesn’t it … well maybe it just might be … if I listen and remain open to other people’s journey and stories.  And you, how do you deliver a product or service that encapsulates these principles?  Or are you part of the majority who believes that this ‘mumbo jumbo’ has a place only around Christmas or in your family, AND not in business?  Most of us would agree, if we stopped for a moment; however, our language contradicts all or most of these principles, and most of all ‘our walk’ oftentimes is in conflict with these values.  Ah, now that is the rub … ‘how do I walk the talk’?

I hope you enjoyed the reflection, and take the time to consider how these questions may present opportunities for you today and in 2010.  Most importantly, I hope you make it a GREAT day and week!!  If you wish to read all the other Monday Morning Mojos written for you, then visit: http://mondaymojo.blogspot.com.  As always, I welcome and encourage your feedback and your reflections (please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts with me).  If I can be of service to you or your friends, please let me know or visit us at http://www.coastalcommunityhomes.com.  And, thank you for your continued support and inspiration … each of you are a cherished gift that enriches my life in ways you will never understand … Thank you!!  Jim Peys