Every few years, I ask business leaders what they believe to be the key to their success. I get responses like “”setting goals”, “sticking to your values”, “building a great team””getting up and doing it again”, and “persistence”.
Not very fancy is it? Seems like common sense, doesn’t it? Anyone can do these things.
The goal setters are also the “find a way” folks. They set a big audacious goal like have a $100 million company, and keep trying different ways to get there. That may not motivate you, but it sure motivates them. They choose actions that can scale what they do. They go for the big play. They are willing to lose in the process and they will cut their losses and move on.
Sticking to your values builds a dependable, repeatable-process based company that tends to have long term customers and team members. Service, quality, and customer satisfaction drive the success of the company. The company tends to have bankable assets and survives through downturns. Lots of small to mid-sized companies fit this description and employ a majority of our workforce.
Building a great team companies are often aligned around a purpose. “We will go to the moon by the end of the decade.” Why was the Jet Propulsion Laboratory such a great place to work for decades? It was about getting to space. Many engineering companies were doing aerospace and defense projects and made lots of money when those industries did well. But the folks who were fascinated by space wouldn’t leave JPL. They didn’t want a job, they wanted a purpose.
Getting up and doing it again companies find their way into successful niches by being better every day at the details. They have mantras like: today is a new day, one percent better. Over time, they may go far from consistency and hard work.
Persistence underlies everything. These people don’t give up. Nor should you.
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