Have you ever heard the phrase “Fear stands for False Evidence Appearing Real”?

I am a big believer that fear is the fastest way to success: VIDEO PROOF

So you can imagine my delight when I stumbled across this awesome inforgraphic from my friends at “A winning personality”:

NOTE: Click this image to view in fullsize.

See the fullsize infographic here. :)

Are you a finder, minder or grinder?

I was once told that in the business world, there are three main types of roles: finders, minders and grinders.

I feel this best applies to service-based businesses, but it still begs the question: Which one are you?

Here is my brief overview of the three types:

Finder: This tends to be a sales person, someone who finds new clients, opportunities, partners etc. If you get bored easily, love to talk, love to sell, or are often scanning the horizon for the next challenge, deal, or opportunity, then you may well be a finder.

CEOs, entrepreneurs etc would also be classed as finders.

Minder: These are often managerial types… often well organized, and in many cases, the minders look after the grinders. Roles could include account reps, middle-management, office managers etc…

Grinder: Grinders are the unsung heroes. The do-ers, the workers… they get things done. They are by far the most common role in the business world, things like: programmers, accountants, developers, designers etc. They are often paid the least, but that doesn’t mean they are not extremely valuable.

Knowing which category you are in can be very beneficial. Look inside yourself, what do you truly enjoy? What comes easiest to you? What is your natural style?

For me I am very much a finder. I love to sell, I love creating opportunities and deals, and my weakness is often the minutia, the details, the grinding. Which is why I work best with a team.

For those of you who run a business, do you have at least one person for each role? Which area are you weakest in?

So here’s to all the finders, minders and grinders out there… we salute you.

Dean

Here is a true short story to explain what I mean by “trying is a bad idea“…

About a year ago I got in touch with a contact who I was looking to do some business with… I sent him a message that said:

“Let’s try and chat tomorrow at 2ish”

His response was very eye-opening… he said:

“No, let’s not ‘try’ or ‘aim’ to chat tomorrow at 2ish, we are both adults, let’s DEFINITELY chat tomorrow at 2″

This may have seemed a little bit blunt, but the lesson was a good one, if you want to do something, then DO IT… by using language like “try”, “aim for”, “attempt”, etc… you are making it seem like a casual decision instead of an absolute commitment.

The person in question has gone from strength to strength over the past 12 months, and this lesson really stayed with me.

I still struggle with this myself, often trying to overly please people and sometimes not being able to deliver, so the re-telling of this story will act as a reminder to me too.

If you can relate to this story or have any thoughts then DO leave a comment below.

Dean

There is a little business book called The 4-hour Work Week… you may have heard of it.

One of the key points from that book is that “Reality is negotiable“… the examples used in the book were things like: “how to convince your boss to let you work from home half the week” etc…

I believe that one of the key skills in the modern age is the ability to negotiate reality.. to operate in the gap between what is expected and what is possible, to shun the norm, and laugh at those who say my least favourite phrase in the world: “That’s just the way it is”.

Disclaimer: The above doesn’t apply to science or the law.

For example, a friend of mine recently mentioned that he wanted to speak at an industry event, but there were two BIG problems: #1 – He had been told that all the speaker slots had already been taken, and #2 – The deadline for submissions had already passed.

“But Dean, the submission form is offline, so I can’t apply, it’s impossible.”

“No problem” I said, “We simply won’t use the form, let’s find out who the event organizer is and get them on the phone, maybe you can work out a deal to at the very least speak on a panel.”

There is now a good chance he will be one of the main speakers at this event.

I was on the phone with an industry leader recently, and she said something that I really liked… I was asking about the possibility of doing a win/win deal, it was a longshot, but hey, if you don’t ask you don’t get … and she said “Dean, this is what I have to tell you because it is company policy, but once I have said this, there is a comma and a however….”

I loved this… next time you are told that something isn’t possible, or can’t be done, just assume there is a comma and a however. Reality is negotiable, you just have to have the balls bravery to go for it.

Is this the most dramatic tv commercial ever?

I love this ad for so many reasons. Leave your comments and thoughts below.