It's Tuesday at 2:00pm! (PST Time: I live and work from Southern California)
START-UPS.
Thanks for your comments from last week as I talked about what an "Entrepreneur" is, and I shared the quote that talked about how everyone has ideas, but some people do something with that idea: THEY START. I'll share a couple of your comments later...
Here's my first START-UP story. This entrepreneurial flame began to burn in my life as a kid, and I was always thinking about what I could do to make money.
When I was 13 years-old, I was living in South America. I couldn't "legally" work in the country because of my visa status (and the fact that I was 13!), so I knew if I was going to make any money to support my food and snacks habit, I would need to create something.
I remember visiting a print shop, and seeing a bin full of leftover paper that was being thrown out. I don't know how I got the idea, but in talking with the printer, Javier (who I still know to this day), I asked him about the paper, and what they did with it, and he told me they burned it. I asked him if I could have some of it, and began thinking about selling it. He suggested I glue some together, and offered to make me some note pads with the scraps. I took those pads out to the street, along with my friend Keith, and we began selling them to cars a they drove by. For those of you who know Quito, we were selling at the "Y", long before the steady stream of vendors that are there now.
We sold out of our pads.
I went back, and struck a deal with Javier to cut and glue me more pads. I paid him for the glue and his work, and a business was born. We ran that booming business for the summer, making enough money to keep us in "Go Go Gum and Manicho Bars"...at least until we hit about 4 days of rain in a row, and our pads were ruined and we lost interest.
That was my first START-UP.
Again, the idea of seizing an idea, mobilizing that idea, and then making it a reality is something that I was drawn to.
Bob Shank writes in The Masters Program that there are 3 kinds of Leaders, and then a couple of blends of the 3:
#1) ORIGINATOR You're an innovative thinker and you are creating things that haven't been seen or done by anyone else. You are an ORIGINAL.
#2) ORGANIZER You're a strategist. You don't naturally create vision, but when you find a vision that you can embrace, you can create the plan to bring this vision to a reality
#3) OPERATOR You're the management expert. You're brought to the table to help guide the team into the future.
Sometimes I feel that we "romanticize" the originator as the real entrepreneur, but the truth is that we need all three of these roles to bring an original idea and make it a successful organization.
If the 3 roles define the leader, these 3 titles define the organization:
#1) MOVEMENT An idea attracts others, gains momentum, gathers attention.
#2) ORGANIZATION Sustainability and heathy systems are put in place. A team is developed.
#3) INSTITUTION You now operate at a higher level, continuing to drive the vision forward and create a legacy organization.
What started in me as a 13-year old, was the beginning of that ORIGINATOR drive. I continued working many jobs through high school, college, and into a career. I took the next 17 years to work for other people. Along the way I learned some incredible things about leadership, about vision, about management, and about myself. At 30 years old, we walked away to do a START-UP, and that's the story of Youth World, but I'll save that for another day. All the things we learned from other people we applied to this new venture, and Youth World continues to impact Ecuador and the world, but it wasn't until I was able to start something new, something from scratch, that I felt the most fulfilled. I was operating as an ORIGINATOR and then an ORGANIZER, and it was some of the most fulfilling years of my work life. I also learned a lot during those years of what I wasn't good at and where my weaknesses lie. Fortunately I had some incredible people come around to fill those gaps, and we experienced great growth and impact.
What about you? What about that START-UP stage or the ORIGINATOR role excited you?
Tell me a story of a START-UP of yours, that either worked or that failed. What did you learn from that?
What role are you in right now and is it the right fit?
Tell me your story HERE.
"Great companies start because the founders want to change the world, not make a fast buck." Guy Kawasaki
"Ideas are commodity. Execution of them is not." Michael Dell
"The future isn't a place that we're going to go. It's a place that you get to create." Nancy Duarte
Here are a couple of notes from last weeks post:
Kim shares: My first job was at a drive-through dairy called The Milk Pail. Customers drove up on either side of the open store and purchased basics like milk and bread. My older brother had worked there when he was younger and told me how fun it was. I wanted that job! I applied as soon as I was 16 and was turned down because I was "too little" to stock the large crates of milk jugs and other heavy products. I didn't take no for an answer. I visited the owner at least weekly, telling him I was in gymnastics and did 200 sit ups and 200 pushups in every workout. "I might be little, but I'm strong!" I finally wore him down and he gave me the job. I loved it! I learned that if you really want something, don't let "no" be a deterrent. After working there for a few months I was robbed at gunpoint! I didn't want to give him the money. It was my job to keep it safe. I finally acquiesced when he had reminded me several times he could shoot me. But the police caught him and they reassured my mom it was safe for me to testify because he wasn't part of a gang. So I did and he went to jail! I was fiercely loyal to that little store!
Pete shares: My first job was washing cars. I was 12 years old. I learned about hard work, attention to detail, customer satisfaction, sometimes the work is harder than the reward. Some cars came in really dirty and needed a lot of work to get clean and others were easy as the owner kept them relatively clean. I rewarded the cleaner cars by giving them a discount and had to mention that if the car was super dirty I would need to charge more. Sometimes it was worth losing a little to gain a good customer. My first job working for someone else was at a Steel manufacturing plant. It was dirty, hot, hard work that I did not enjoy. I did pay really well. I learned dedication and perseverance. They rewarded people when they did a good job and that motivated me to do the best I could even when I did not like it. I would come home black in dirt and dead tired. My Dad and Grand Father told me that these were the kind of job guys got when they did not go to college. That really motivated me to get my education. I was able to graduate from college with 0 debt by working overtime at the steel plant at Summer and Christmas breaks.
Thanks for sharing these great stories!
Things I'm Reading, Listening To, an Watching This Week:
As we talk about START-UPS, check out the Steve Jobs Biography. It's an intriguing read. Another great book is How I Built This by Guy Raz. Great stories of originators and entrepreneurs.
Adam is a friend and a part of our Global Leadership Community! Check out his videos on YouTube and subscribe. His perspective and presentation is great! Check out his latest videos HERE.
Here's a band from the 80's with some great tunes that is worth a listen. INXS Essentials.
I shared with you a number of weeks ago about the Word Genius email I get regularly. Today's word was a great one: STOCHASTIC! Click HERE to get the meaning.
I just started reading Mark Batterson's new book, Win The Day. He looks at "7 Daily Habits to Help You Stress Less & Accomplish More". I got through the intro and had to stop. He used the term "Flip the Script" to encourage the idea of changing the way you tell your story. Really good so far... I'll keep you posted! I'm working on an online course looking at the importance of Rhythms in our life, and this has some great insight!