Advice from the Mentor Summit in Miami Beach
Having conducted another Mentor Summit (where members of my global community gather for a few days to learn, network, and have fun), here are some observations I’d like to share with all professional services providers.
• You are usually much better than you think you are. Your actual competence is ahead of your perceived competence because of self-limiting beliefs. Find people who can help you overcome those inaccurate beliefs. We tend to focus on our setbacks but not our victories. Growth is about building on strengths.
• Nobody will know how good you are and how potentially important you are to them unless your name and fame appear before them. Viral marketing and word-of-mouth are fine, but the onus for that broadcasting falls on you. Simply generating material without getting in front of buyers is the equivalent of the old “sitting at your desk waiting for the phone to ring.”
• It’s more important to be “in the moment” than to have a script. However, visualizing what may happen in any meeting results in a very limited range of alternatives that you can prepare for. Begin by visualizing what you’ll wear, how you’ll travel, what the buyer’s office will be like, and so on.
• Your future is about the choices you make. You’ll be the same person in five years you are today except for the choices you make.
• When you encounter obstacles or challenges there are three possible outcomes: You will change them so that you proceed on your path; you will change your attitude and create a path around them; they will change you and your path will no longer be your own.
• If you tell me that you don’t read the Wall Street Journal because it takes too long, then you need to learn to read better. (Did you refuse to go to school because it took too long?)
• Understand your value and be able to explain it thoroughly and quickly in a provocative manner. Identify the most desirable buyers for that value. Determine how best to attract them to you. Offer a range of options that lower the barriers of entry to learn about you and pursue your help.
© Alan Weiss 2012. All rights reserved.
