Leadership and the Art of Struggle

Leadership and the Art of Struggle

The Must Read Leadership book of 2013 from Steven Snyder with a foreword by best selling author Bill George.

Leadership and the Art of Struggle shatters leadership myths to reveal a new understanding of  how exceptional leaders grow from adversity. Accelerate your leadership development through this powerful lens.

The image that effective leaders guide their organizations on perpetually smooth journeys, quite simply, defies reality. Leadership is often a struggle, and yet there are strong taboos that keep us from talking openly and honestly about our struggles for fear of looking weak and lacking confidence.

These social mores reinforce the notion that leaders are supposed to be perfect, and that struggle is inherently bad, something to be ashamed about. Many emerging leaders internalize this to their own detriment. When they encounter difficult or stressful situations, they think, “Something must be wrong with me. I’m not like all the other successful leaders out there.”

Exceptional leaders intuitively understand the paradox. They know it’s precisely struggle that unlocks the potential for the greatest growth. Instead of denying struggle, these leaders embrace struggle as an opportunity for learning, as an art to be mastered.

In his book, Leadership and the Art of Struggle, Steven Snyder synthesizes their learning into an accessible, practical set of strategies to understand leadership tensions, boost performance, and increase leadership capabilities. Leadership and the Art of Struggle paints a realistic portrait of how great leaders navigate intense challenges for personal growth and organizational success.

“When we peer through this new lens, the lens of struggle, we notice different things, a visceral understanding of the human condition and how it connects with leadership, awakening fresh possibilities previously obscured or hidden.”
— Steven Snyder

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Hear the real-world struggles that rocked leaders to their core at companies such as Apple, Microsoft, Target, Best Buy, Toro, Wells Fargo, and General Mills—and learn how they moved forward from adversity to become more meaningful, more capable, and more effective leaders.

A Breakthrough Book for All Leaders

Leadership and the Art of Struggle begins a new conversation about leadership, starting with a fundamentally different premise that struggle and leadership are intertwined. It is the very striving to make important human values real and effective that is core to the practice of leadership.

Distilling his breakthrough understanding of leadership struggle, Snyder focuses on three core tenets:

1. All of leadership struggle involves some aspect of change.
2. Change creates tension, which is central to understanding struggle.
3. Change unsettles leaders and throws them off balance.

Snyder explains that once leaders make sense of the chaos rendered by change, it’s possible to see patterns not evident before. Then they devise creative strategies for moving forward, illuminating blind spots, approaching conflict in an entirely new way, and forming a deeper understanding of leadership purpose.

While most leadership models focus on what and how, Leadership and the Art of Struggle explores why—delving into the underlying motivations to find purpose and identifying the energy that drives leaders in the larger human experience.

“Ignoring our weaknesses during a struggle can be a path to disaster. By acknowledging that we are all imperfect, we give voice to a fundamental truth about the human condition, opening pathways for compassion, forgiveness, and healing—constructs which are often omitted in technocratic models of leadership.”
— Steven Snyder

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Based on extensive accounts of over 151 examples of leadership struggle drawn through dozens of interviews with extraordinary leaders, Leadership and the Art of Struggle explores change, and the stress or imbalance that results from it, as well as the opportunities for growth. Snyder lays out practical strategies to:

• Recognize underlying tension points
• Break out of old habits and align new ones with true values
• Observe reactionary patterns and habits
• Use reflection for finding meaning and direction

By mastering the art of struggle, leaders meet life’s challenges and adversities, focusing their energies on what matters most.

Accelerate Leadership Development

Anyone in any leadership role, from a school committee to a multinational corporation, can increase leadership capabilities and effectiveness by understanding the importance of struggle.

Contact Snyder Leadership Group to learn how Leadership and the Art of Struggle and our team of proven leadership professionals can help you accelerate leadership development.

http://www.snyderleadership.com/thought-leadership/leadership-and-the-art-of-struggle/

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable?

Linchpin: Are You Indispensable? [Kindle Edition]

Seth Godin (Author)

5.0 out of 5 stars Seth Godin's Linchpin WILL Stay With You January 26, 2010

By Debbie S. Glade

Format:Hardcover

While reading Linchpin I looked around a few times to see if author Seth Godin was perhaps peering through my living room window to see my reaction. It really felt like he was talking to me, singling me out. How could he know how I rationalize things?

"There are no longer any great jobs where someone else tells you precisely what to do."

Linchpin is a most unusual, well-organized, concise book about what it takes to become indispensable in the workplace - whether you work for someone else (at any level) or are self-employed. It's about how business has rapidly changed and how treating employees like factory workers (or doing your job like one) doesn't work any longer. We must make choices and take action to "chart our own paths" and add value that others do not. We cannot wait for a boss or a job description to tell us what to do, rather we must just take the initiative ourselves. Only then can we become indispensable "linchpins," rather than replaceable "cogs." There are so many fantastic quotes in the book too.

"You don't become indispensable merely because you are different. But the only way to become indispensable is to be different. That's because if you're the same, so are plenty of other people."

The 14 chapters in this book are each broken down into short segments with great headlines that summarize them. Godin uses special vocabulary words to describe the many factors that go into becoming a linchpin. These words have unique meanings in the context in which they are used. You'll learn interpretations for terms such as art, thrashing, gifts, resistance, pranja, ship, lizard brain, shenpa, emotional labor and others.

"Art is unique, new and challenging to the status quo. It's not decoration. It's something that causes change. Art cannot be merely commerce. It must also be a gift."

You'll never be bewildered or bored while reading Linchpin. It will awaken a part of your brain that you may have never used before. It will make you take a deep look inside your thoughts, patterns and habits and oblige you to realize there are things you can change right now to become more of a success, a true "artist." In fact, you may find yourself sliding down in your chair a bit while reading, like I did. But that's okay; it's part of the learning process.

"If all you can do is the task and you're not in a league of your own at doing the task, you're not indispensable."

This is particularly true in the chapter on page 101 entitled The Resistance. Just this chapter alone is worth the price of the book. You've got to read it twice to really capture all it offers. Here you'll be faced with all the reasons why you're currently not as indispensable as you could be - as you should be. Have you ever delayed a project and not delivered (Seth calls this shipping) on deadline just because you were trying to achieve perfection? That's resistance. It is the "lizard brain" way-of-thinking that causes us to resist. Do you find yourself doing a lot of busy work (obsessive email checking, Tweeting, etc.) rather than taking action that really adds value? That's resistance too.

"The lizard brain is the reason you're afraid, the reason you don't ship when you can. The lizard brain is the source of the resistance."

Godin will educate you on what it truly means to be a valuable gift giver. He'll tell you that there's no map in existence to help you become an indispensable artist. He'll tell you that you have a choice to either "Fit in or stand out. Not both." He'll even tell you that there are times when your art will not work, and for whatever reason, you may not be able to get paid for your particular talent.

"Maybe you can't make money doing what you love (at least what you love right now) But I bet you can figure out what you can do to make money (if you choose wisely)."

"There is no map. No map to be a leader, no map to be an artist. I've read hundreds of books about art (in all its forms) and how to do it, and not one has a clue about the map, because there isn't one."

The only thing Seth Godin left out of his well-researched Linchpin book is that his principles can be applied not only to business but also to other aspects of a person's life. Linchpins can be better spouses, friends and community members at large. They can be truly indispensable in many ways.

"Nothing about becoming indispensable is easy. If it's easy, it's already been done and it's no longer valuable."

Ever read a business or marketing book that is interesting while you're reading it, but two days after you have finished it, you cannot really remember the gist of what you read? Linchpin is not one of those books. This one will stay with you. There is nothing else like it; it can change your future. That is, if you set your lizard brain aside and replace it with the true linchpin artist in you.

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3.0 out of 5 stars An important message, but not a new one January 31, 2010

By Bret L. Simmons

Format:Hardcover

I got an early copy of Seth Godin's new book "Linchpin: Are you indispensable" because I made a $40 donation to the charity Acumen. In return, I agreed to review the book in a blog post at my site. Here goes, I hope you find this helpful.

Every once in a while I run across a book that is so important, so compelling, so unique with respect to not only content but also writing style that I can't put it down until I finish it. This is not one of those books (for me); nevertheless, I am going to recommend it because I concur with his core message and if you have not heard it before from other sources, I think you need to hear it now.

Parts of this book are brilliant - they will change how I talk about my core message. Much of what Seth had to say in this book was not new to me, and frankly I prefer the way others have said it. But Seth has a style of writing that will appeal to many, and I predict many will come away reading this book thinking it is the most important book they have read in a long time. Don't get me wrong, I am a BIG fan of Seth Godin, but for this book such claims would be pretentious.

Here is Seth's bottom line:

I didn't set out to get you to quit your job or to persuade you to become an entrepreneur or merely to change the entire world. All I wanted to do in this book was sell you on being the artist you already are. To make a difference. To stand for something. To get the respect and security you deserve. If I've succeeded, then you know that you have a gift to give, something you can do to change the world (or your part of it) for the better. I hope you'll do that, because we need you. (p. 230).

I think he succeeded, and if you have never heard this message, then I encourage you to get this book and read it. Seth is right, we need you to make a difference, to stand for something. YOU need you to make a difference.

A linchpin is someone that is remarkable. They bring the emotional labor to their work. They pour themselves into what they do because they know it is the right thing to do, and they become better people for living and working this way. This also makes them very scarce, and that scarcity makes them valuable - indispensable.

Seth defines art as "the intentional act of using your humanity to create a change in another person" (p. 99). I love that. Seth acknowledges that when we give to others, the law of reciprocity kicks in and they will feel indebted to return our favor. But Seth reminded me that when we give to others with no expectation of anything in return, that posture of unconditional generosity changes us. It creates abundance in our lives and in the lives of those we connect with at work and in our communities. I've known that for a long time, but is always good to be reminded of it. Thanks, Seth.

I wish this book had been 50 pages and free on the internet instead of 236 pages and $15 on Amazon. Then more people that need to hear this message of remarkable, abundant living might get it. Alas, this book to some extent represents the cog in the system that is the object of Seth's lament.

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5.0 out of 5 stars Godin's most important book...thus far January 26, 2010

By Robert Morris HALL OF FAMETOP 100 REVIEWERVINE™ VOICE

Format:Hardcover

Others have their own reasons for praising this book. Here are five of mine. First, this is by far Godin's most personal book in which he reveals more of his emotions and "soul" (for lack of a better term) than he has in any of his previous books. Also, from the beginning, he establishes a direct and personal rapport with his reader. I felt that he had written this book specifically for me. Although he and I have never met, I felt as if he were speaking to me and discussing ideas with me as if we were engaged in a face-to-face conversation.

Moreover, unlike in most of his previous books, Godin does not climb up into a pulpit and launch a tirade, engaging his audience with a confrontational tone and Old Testament vehemence. He obviously cares deeply about the thoughts and feelings he shares but is at all times respectful of his reader. He repeatedly explains that everyone has several choices and urges his reader to make those only choices that are in her or his long-term best interest.

In addition, meanwhile, Godin creates a multi-dimensional context, a frame-of-reference, in which to anchor his insights and recommendations throughout the narrative. He skillfully uses what I describe as a bi-polar strategy: passively but alertly observing what is happening (and not happening) in order to recognize and understand the ever-changing realities of the world that we share and then actively challenging whatever demeans and diminishes anyone's dignity. Finally, Godin utilizes the manifesto genre as a means by which to celebrate humanity at its best, not as an ideal beyond human fulfillment but as an attainable destination if (HUGE "if") vision, faith, courage, integrity, and commitment are sufficient to the formidable challenges that await each pilgrim.

Near the downtown area here in Dallas, we have a Farmers Market at which some merchants offer complimentary slices of fresh fruit as samples. In that spirit, I now provide three brief excerpts from Godin's book.

On becoming indispensable to customers: "Here's the win (actually, there are two).

"If you want customers to flock to you, it's tempting to race to the bottom of the price chart. There's not a lot of room for profit there, though...In a world that relentlessly races to the bottom, you lose if you also race to the bottom. The only way to win is to race to the top. When your organization becomes more human, more remarkable, faster on its feet, and more likely to connect directly with customers, it becomes indispensable....

"Second, the people that work for you, the ones you freed to be artists [i.e. creators of unique, compelling, and substantial value], will rise to a level you can't even imagine. When people realize that they are not a cog in a machine, an easily replaceable commodity, they take the challenge and grow. They produce more than you pay them to, because you are paying them with something worth more than money....

"As a result of these priceless gifts, expect that the linchpins on your staff won't abuse their power. In fact, they'll work harder, stay longer, and produce more than you pay them to. Because everyone is a person, and people crave connection and respect." (Pages 35-36)

On résumés: "If you don't have a résumé, what do you have? How about three extraordinary letters of recommendation from people the employer knows or respects? Or a sophisticated project an employer can see or touch? Or a reputation that precedes you? Or a blog that is so compelling and insightful that they have no choice but to follow up? Some say, `Well, that's fine, but I don't have those.' Yeah, that's my point. If you don't have these things, what leads you to believe that you are remarkable, amazing, or just plain spectacular? It sounds to me like if you don't have more than a résumé, you've been brainwashed into compliance. Great jobs, world-class jobs, jobs people kill for - those jobs don't get filled by people e-mailing in résumés." (Page 73)

On the power of being genuine and transparent: "Virtually all of us make our living engaging directly with other people. When the interactions are genuine and transparent, they usually work. When they are artificial or manipulative, they fail.

"The linchin is coming from a posture of generosity; she's there to give a gift [no-strings support of your efforts to succeed]. If that's your intent, the words almost don't matter. What we'll perceive are your wishes, not the script.

"This is why telemarketing has such a ridiculously low conversion rate. Why corporate blogs are so lame. Why frontline workers in the service business have such stress. We can sense it when you read the script because we're so good at finding the honest signals." (Page 214)

For various reasons previously indicated, I hold this book in very high regard and conclude my review of it with one more observation: The person whom Godin characterizes as "indispensable" is defined by what is indispensable to that person. It could well be, for example, a sincere desire to be of service to others. Or it could well be a sincere desire to offer unconditional "gifts" of trust, faith, respect, and candor. Those whom Godin characterizes as "artists" possess the vision, faith, courage, integrity, and commitment needed to create -- in collaboration with others -- a "post-commercial world that feeds us, enriches us, and gives us the stability we've been seeking for so long." That said, it would be a serious mistake to underestimate or ignore the importance of self-interests. Those who create the world to which Godin refers also feed and enrich themselves as well as those whom they serve and with whom they share a community of faith. Only then can they obtain for themselves as well as others the stability they have been seeking for so long. That should be our vision and Godin challenges us to fulfill it.

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Lessons Learned from the Dip

Lessons Learned from the Dip

15 DECEMBER 2008 14 COMMENTS

Winners never quit and quitters never win, right?  Wrong!  Winners quit all the time.  Winners quit the things that aren’t working or the things that won’t pay off in the long run.  They move on to where they can be their best.  Perhaps the best in the world.

Winners don’t quit when it gets tough.  In fact, that’s exactly the wrong time to quit.  That’s where the Dip comes in.  The Dip is that long curve between starting out and making it to the top.  It’s where you find the resistance that can wear you down and make you want to quit.  But it’s that same resistance that creates the scarcity at the top.  And the top is where your greatest rewards lie.  In The Dip: A Little Book That Teaches You When to Quit (and When to Stick), Seth Godin writes about quitting and sticking more effectively.

Lessons Learned from the DipHere’s my key lessons learned from the Dip:

• Winners quit.  Winners do quit and winners do win.
• Being the best is the best place to be.  Being the best in the world is seriously underrated
• Winners quit more effectively.  Quit the wrong stuff, stick with the right stuff. 
• Know the Dips.  If you know the dips in place that encourage quitting, you’re more likely to beat them.
• Scarcity at the top makes it worth something.  Those at the top get exponential rewards.  See Zipf’s Law.
• Best in the world is relative.  It’s best for them, right now based on what they believe and in their world, the one they have access to.
• The world’s getting bigger and smaller.  The world’s getting bigger because you can look everywhere, but it’s also getting smaller because categories are getting specialized.
• It’s better to be the best.   People pick the market leaders.  People narrow their choices to the top
• Be exceptional in the areas that matter.  Being well-rounded is not the secret to success.  In a free market, the exceptional get the rewards.
• Figure out what you don’t know.  Superstars don’t skip the questions they don’t know; they get really good at figuring them out.
• Getting there is the tough part.  It’s easy to be a CEO, but it’s hard to get there.
• Lean into the Dip.  Successful people don’t just ride out the Dip; they lean into it.
• Where there’s scarcity, there’s value.  The Dip creates scarcity; scarcity creates value.
• Adversity is your ally.  It insulates you from the competition.
• The winds of change turn easy problems into hard ones.  Every function in an organization has a wind problem.  The wind is unpredictable.   The difficult and unpredictable works to your advantage.  We’re here to solve the hard problems.
• Obsession and success go hand in hand.  The real success goes to those who obsess.
• Recognize when you’re in a Dip.  Knowing that you’re in a dip is the first step in getting through it.
• Stick with the Dips that make sense.  Stick with the Dips that are likely to pan out, and quit the Cul-De-Sacs to focus your resources.
• Pick your dip.  If you enter a market too big or too loud for your resources available, your message gets lost.
• Change your approach.  The opposite of quitting is rededication – an invigorated new strategy to break the problem apart.
• Have a realistic, long-term view.  Persistent people visualize light at the end of the tunnel when others can’t see it and the smartest people are realistic and don’t imagine light when there isn’t any.
• Stay committed to your outcome, but flexible in your approach.  Don’t quit your long term strategy, quit the tactics that aren’t working.
• Quitting isn’t failing.  Quitting is not the same as failing and coping is a lousy alternative.
• Pride is the enemy of the smart quitter.  Don’t let your ego get in the way of your effectiveness.
• One person or organization will behave differently than a market of people will.  The market doesn’t have just one mind.   Different people in the market are seeking different things.
• Influencing one person is like scaling a wall.  If you make it over in the first few tries you’re in, otherwise the wall gets higher.
• Influencing a market is more like a hill than a wall.  The higher you get the easier it gets and people in the market influence each other.
• Don’t quit a market or a strategy or a niche.  Quit a product or a feature or a design.   Don’t fall in love with a tactic forever.  Decide if you’re in a market and get through the Dip.  Your strategy – to be a trusted source in your chosen market – can survive even if your product is canceled.
• 7 reasons you might fail to become the best in the world: You run out of time, you run out of money, you get scared, you’re not serious about it, you lose interest or enthusiasm and settle for being mediocre, you focus on the short term instead of the long, you pick the wrong thing at which to be the best in the world.
• Eight dip curves: manufacturing Dip, sales Dip, education Dip, risk Dip, relationship Dip, conceptual Dip, ego Dip, distribution Dip.

3 CurvesSeth identifies 3 curves:

• Curve 1: the Dip.  Almost everything worth doing is controlled by the Dip.   The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery.  The Dip is where success happens.  Stick it out, only if you’re going to get the benefits of being the best in the world.
• Curve 2: the Cul-De-Sac.  You work and work and work, but nothing much changes.  These are dead-end jobs.  If you’re in a Cul-De-Sac or Cliff, you need to quit.  You need to quit these so you can refocus on something with promise.
• Curve 3: the Cliff.  It’s a situation where you can’t quit until you fall off.

Brave, Mature, and Stupid Seth says you can be brave, mature or stupid about a given Dip:

The brave thing to do is tough it out and end up on the other side – getting all the benefits that come from scarcity.  The mature thing is to not even both starting to snowboard because you’re probably not going to make it through the Dip.  The stupid thing to do is to start, give it your best shot, waste a lot of time and money, and quit, right in the middle of the Dip.

The Real Success Goes to Those Who Obsess Seth shows the value of focus through a woodpecker example:

And yet the real success goes to those who obsess.   The focus that leads you through the Dip to the other side is rewarded by a marketplace in search of the best in the world.  A woodpecker can tap twenty times on a thousand trees and get nowhere but stay busy.  Or he can tap twenty-thousand times on one tree and get dinner.

Remind Yourself of Life at the Other End of the DipSeth says to remind yourself of the end in mind to make it through the Dips: 

Short-term pain has more impact on most people than long-term benefits do, which is why it’s important for you to amplify the long-term benefits of not quitting.  You need to remind yourself of life at the other end of the Dip because it’s easier to overcome the pain of yet another unsuccessful cold call if the reality of the successful sales career is more concrete.

3 Questions to Ask Before Quitting 
Seth provides 3 questions to ask before you quit:

• Question 1: Am I panicking?  The wrong time to quit the Dip is when you’re panicking.  The best quitters decide in advance when they’re going to quit.
• Question 2: Who am I trying to influence?  Influencing one person is more like scaling a wall, but influencing a market is more like taking a hill.
• Question 3: What sort of measurable progress am I making?  You’ve got to make some sort of forward progress, no matter how small.

http://sourcesofinsight.com/lessons-learned-from-the-dip/

Lessons Learned from the Bootstrapper’s Bible

Lessons Learned from the Bootstrapper’s Bible

3 FEBRUARY 2009 11 COMMENTS

The Boostrappers Bible by Seth Godin is one of the best compilations of actionable, business insight I’ve seen.  It took me a while to go through it and each time I go through, I find another nugget of insight or a new lens.  I’ve been recommending it to friends, family, and colleagues.  The price is right – free – and it’s one of the best consolidations of insight and action I’ve seen in a while.

What I especially like about the Bootstrapper’s Bible is that it actually resonates.  For more than 8 years, I’ve pitched projects and ran them cradle to grave.   I know the challenges of bootstrapping projects and getting incremental buy in.  I also feel the pain of getting incremental results and keeping the score, and proving yourself to your stakeholders, while trying to knock the ball out of the park.   I also know how crucial it is to innovate in your process in order to grow your capability and keep your business agility.  Seth’s lessons definitely reflect experience from the school of hard knocks.

Key Take Aways Here are my key take aways:

• Know whether you are an Entrepreneur or a freelancer.  The mindsets are different.  An freelancer will happily work away at their craft, while an entrepreneur is about being a part of something bigger than themselves, and changing the game.  Risk is a key part of the entrepreneur’s lifestyle. It’s more of a roller-coaster ride.  A freelancer on the other hand, prefers routine and perfecting their skills.
• Know the 9 rules to take care of your business.  While there’s no guarantees of success, Seth’s 9 rules are a way to help you stay on track.
• Reinvent your business process every 3 months.   Review your business process every 3 months and look for opportunities to change your approach.  A tweak here or there could change your game.
• Keep the score.   Monthly checkpoints are a good way to stay on top of your game.  This is especially true for the business.  A lot can happen in a month.  If you’re keeping the score along the way, you’ll avoid some wild surprises down the line that could wipe you out.
• Plan for the money.   If there’s no money, you’re out of the game.
• Use mini-mentors.  Learn from everybody.  Whatever you want to learn, chances are somebody’s been there and done that.  Rather than start from scratch, leverage other people’s experience and expertise.
• Surround yourself with people who are succeeding.   You become who you hang with.  By surrounding yourself with people who are succeeding, you’ll learn what’s working and what’s not.  You can model their success and open doors that you might otherwise not see.
• It’s like walking through a maze.  I really like Seth’s maze analogy. Each time you open a new door, you have to stop and take a new look at where you’re at.  Each new door presents new choices.  One of the most important choices is that if you’re in the wrong place, move.

What’s a Bootstrapper Seth writes that a bootstrapper is:

… A bootstrapper isn’t a particular demographic or even a certain financial situation. Instead, it?s a state of mind.  Bootstrappers run billion-dollar companies, nonprofit organizations, and start-ups in their basements. A bootstrapper is determined to build a business that pays for itself every day. In many ways, it?s easiest to define a bootstrapper by what she isn’t: a money-raising bureaucrat who specializes in using other people?s money to take big risks in growing a business. Not that there?s anything wrong with that…

9 Rules to Take Care of Your Business Seth outlines 9 rules to take care of your business:

• Rule 1: Find people who care about cash less than you do.  Seth writes that borrowing from other businesses to fund your business is smarter than borrowing personal money.  Borrow money from suppliers and your customers who have the greatest interest in your success.
• Rule 2: Survival is success.  Seth writes that if you can survive dealing with a tough project or a testy customer, do.  Survival is the name of the game.  Don’t wait for the perfect pitch.
• Rule 3: Success leads to more success.  Seth writes being in front of people will lead to new opportunities, new products, new enactments.  Be in motion, because customers like motion.
• Rule 4: Redo the mission statement and the business plan every three months.  Seth writes success brings more success, and you learn as you go.  He adds that six months in you’ll realize your first business plan was naive. 
• Rule 5: Associate with winners.  Seth writes that four groups dramatically influence how your business evolves: 1) Customers 2) Employees 3) Vendors 4) Peers. 
• Rule 6: Beware of shared ownership.  Seth writes that a 50/50 split is almost never fair.  Someone feels cheated and someone goes for the ride.
• Rule 7: Advertise.  Seth writes that from the first day you should allocate a percentage of your income to marketing.  He suggests letters, phone calls, banner ads, space ads, and TV.  Don’t think of marketing as expensive, think of it as an investment.
• Rule 8: Get mentored.  Seth writes that you should find someone who’s come before you and ask for help.  Don’t ask for money and don’t ask for free output.  Seth adds that mentors don’t commit for money, but for the gratification of seeing someone else succeed.
• Rule 9: Observe those little birds that clean the teeth of very big hippos. Seth writes that you should find a bigger, richer, more stable organization and partner with them.  It gives you credibility and access and sometimes, cash flow.

Key Points Here’s my notes from the Bootstrapper’s Bible and Seth’s advice:

• What big companies have that you don’t have.  Seth says there’s five things that big companies have: 1) distribution 2) access to capital 3) brand equity 4) customer relationships 5) great employees.
• 7 bootstrapper tools.  Seth says the little guys have: 1) nothing to lose 2) happy with small fish 3) presidential input 4) rapid R&D 5) the underdog 6) low overhead 7) time.
• You can’t win if you’re not in the game.  Redefine the game.  Play on your home field.
• Figure out which business to be in.  It’s one of the most important things you can do to ensure your success.
• Success is more fun than failure.  Seth gives the example it’s way more fun to run a successful vegetable stand than to be a bankrupt comedy club owner.
• Great ideas can wipe you out is the first law of bootstrapping.  A great idea is bold, brazen, and takes your breath away.  Seth goes so far as to say great ideas will kill you.
• It’s not the brilliant idea, it’s the business model.  According to Seth, finding a business model that works is more important than a brilliant idea for a business.  According to Seth, a business model is a machine, a method, a plan for extracting money from a system.
• Get off on the right foot by starting the right business.  Know the mechanics of a business model before you start your business model. 
• Five Attributes of a Business Model.  Seth says there’s five keys to starting the right business: 1) They should be profitable 2) They should be predictable 3) They should be self-priming 4) They should be adjustable 5) There should be an exit strategy (optional)
• Without a business model, you won’t make a profit.  Seth writes that without a business model, a company can get publicity, hire employees, and spend money – but it won’t make a profit.  He also points out that the Internet is the home of scary business models, with many people with no idea how they’re going to make a living.
• Don’t fall into the trap of doing the easy business, fun business or sexy business.  The critical rule is, just because it’s hard to start, doesn’t make it a good business.  You can look for scalable, predictable models that allow you to extract excess profit, but don’t ignore the critical rule.   Any failed business is no fun.  Seth adds that The Inc 500 (http://www.inc.com/inc5000/ ) is a list of the fastest-growing small companies in the country, and almost all are boostrapped.  His key point is that the businesses are varied and boring, but the people running them are having the time of their lives.
• Decide if you’re a freelancer or entrepreneur.  Seth writes that a freelancer sells their talents.  While they may have a few employees, they’re doing a job without a boss, but not running a business.  There’s no exit strategy or pot of gold, but they make their own hours and be their own boss.  Examples include layout artists, writers, consultants, film editors, landscapers, architects, translators, and musicians.  Seth writes that an entrepreneur is trying to build something bigger than themselves.  They take calculated risk and focus on growth.  An entrepreneur is willing to receive little pay, work long hours, and take on great risk in exchange for the freedom to make something big, something that has real market value.
• The Subway Example and the Photo Booth Example.  The numbers of the business model for Subway don’t support absentee management.  You end up both the franchisee and the manager. In the photo booth example, an entrepreneur mortgages everything to build a company with 60 employees in less than a year.  They either hit a home run and influences the lives of a lot of people or it fails and they’re out of the game for an inning or two, but they’ll be back.  Seth points out both are good opportunities but only one will do for you.
• Entrepreneur vs. Freelancer.  The entrepreneur is comfortable railing money, hiring and firing, dreaming big, and persuading others to share the dream.  The freelancer focuses on their craft.  They build their business by doing great work consistently.
• If you bootstrap successfully, you’ll get the money to grow.  Seth writes that if you bootstrap successfully, you’ll find that bankers, angels, and investors are more likely to give you the money you need to grow.
• Trade on the success of a proven business model.  Seth writes that the most successful boostrappers don’t invent a business model.  They trade on a proven one.  Seth identifies 4 advantages: 1) You can be certain that it can be done 2) You can learn from their mistakes 3) You can find a mentor 4) You’re not alone.
• Know your value chain.  It’s the first step in getting to the core of how you’re going to succeed.  The value chain is the path the product goes through to reach a consumer, along with who adds value along the way.
• Consider selling your service or product directly.  Seth writes that if you’re selling a custom service or high-priced good, consider selling it directly.  The example he provides is that an architect who brings in a contractor can expect more profit than a contractor who got the job and brought in the architect.
• Instead of starting a business that makes stuff for people just like you, do some real research.  Don’t assume everyone is like you.  Everyone is not like you.  Seth writes that your business should reflect what you know, love and are great at, but don’t fall into the trap that everyone needs what you need, wants what you want, buys what you buy.  He puts it bluntly by saying don’t extrapolate from your own experience and multiply it by 250,000,000.
• Emulate and improve on the market leader.  Rather than invent something that requires you to have a handle on the purchasing habits, the psychologics, and the changing demographics of the country, find a thriving industry and emulate the improve on the market leader.
• Consumer products are almost impossible to boostrap.  Seth warns that it’s expensive to get the first person to buy, and you have to pay a bunch of money to let people know they need one, and you have to share a lot of the profit with the retailer.  The worst part is you have to fill the shelves in advance, but the retailers won’t pay you just to fill their shelves.
• Find the flaws behind a potential business.  Seth writes that all the trappings of a successful business – business plan, marketing plan, PR agency, patent lawyers, and articles of incorporation – can hide the real flaws behind a business.
• Is the market ready?  Seth gives the examples of Steve Jobs, bill Gates, Phil Knight and Ted Turner.  He says they picked giant business models and got lucky.  The market was ready and they won.
• Pick a business that’s friendly to boostrappers.  Seth writes to find one that will likely give back what you put in.  He points out that businesses that are also hobbies usually cause the most trouble and he gives examples of restaurants, toy design and invention, and creating gourment foods. (I think he’s alluding to the E-Myth issue).  He says on the other hand, mail order, consulting, acting as a sales rep or other sort of middleman all work great, as does focusing on an obscure market that is growing fast.
• Don’t compete in a world where you’re not wanted.  Seth tells the story of a friend who wanted to break into the toy business.  She had worked on the process of meeting people, inventing products, licensing them and earning a profit. 
• The problem is the toy company works hard to keep inventors away because of lawsuits and hassles of outsiders.  On the other hand, the book business publishes 50,000 new ideas every year, relies on 100 percent on outsiders, and hires editors who look for ideas from the outside.  It’s a different product, but the same job.
• Understand the market and persevere.  Seth writes that his friend succeeded because she understood what her market wanted and she persevered for years and years to build her reputation.  She was also careful with expenses, didn’t waste her equity, and set herself up for success while protecting against failure.
• Get used to being wrong.  Seth writes that starting a business is the most public, most expensive, riskiest way of all to be wrong.  Consider all the sensitivity analysis, business model, and value chain analysis.  He says you’re going to be wrong so get used to it.
• Stop planing and start doing.  Seth writes that you have to get out there and do it.  The more you do, the more you do.  Doors open, opportunities appear, models change, your reputation increases and you become a magnet for smart people, good customers and investors.  He wants this won’t happen if you stay inside and keep planning.  Seth sums the guidance as build your business, one day at a time, one customer at a time, lower your downsides, focus on the upsides, and start building.
• Plan for the money.  Without money, there is no business.  Seth writes that when you run out of money, your creditors will shut you down, your employees will leave, and your spouse will worry.
• Get a 9 month look on your worst case expenses.  Identify your most, average and least expenses for the past six months.  Write down your expenses for each month.  Next, identify the most, average and least for the past six months.  this tells you your best and worst case.  Next, figure out 9 months of maximum expenses.  Multiply your most, average, and least expenses by 9 to see what your potential expenses would be.
• Get a 9 month look on your worst case revenue.  First, figure out 9 months of contracted revenue.  Write down guaranteed revenue you have for the next 9 months.  Next, figure out figure out 9 months of likely revenue, from all possible sources.  Hope for the best, but plan for the worst.  Be pessimistic in your predictions.
• Figure out how much you’re willing to sacrifice for the business.  The expenses and revenue don’t include money for you to live on. 
• Successful boostrappers change their lifestyle when they start the business.    If they’re too focused on taking from the business and not focused enough on building it, it’s a sign of failure.
• Figure out key decisions before you run out of money. Seth suggests figuring out critical decisions with your family including whether you’re willing to move, sell your car, and cut major personal expenses to invest in the business.
• Run with your business or bring in freelance income.  If you have enough money to run with your business if everything goes wrong, then go run your business with focus and confidence.  If you don’t, then spend a percentage of your time each week on low-risk revenue sources, while you build your core business.
• Build multiple income streams.  Develop a multiple income source strategy before you run out of money. Seth writes that a cash flow makes you more stable more confident, and more likely to have a successful business and that freelance guys can turn into that that will help your core business.  The caveat he points out is don’t focus your energy on the sideline instead of the dream.
• Keep the score.  Every month, share the numbers with your spouse and board of advisers: 1) Cash in this month 2) Cash out this month 3) Money in the bank right now 4) At the current rate, how many months until no cash left.
• Don’t live on debt.  Seth beautifully points out that having available credit is good, but living with debt regularly will enrich everyone at the banks long before it will enrich you.  He sums is nicely with borrowing to build is the only borrowing you should do.
• 3 key rules to remember on borrowing.  Seth identifies 3 key rules: 1) don’t borrow money just to cover expenses 2) try to avoid personal borrowing at all costs 3) when you borrow money from friends, spell out the terms.
• Be sales-focused.  Seth writes that a well-financed company can afford to build a product and hope customers will come buy it.  You can’t.  According to Seth, a company with plenty of sales can almost always fix its other problems, but a company without sales is close to dead.
• If you figure out how to get the money, you’re the king.  The customer is king because the customer has money.  Publishers go to Barnes & Nobles because they sell a lot of books.  Actors and directors want to do a movie for Disney because Disney has a huge customer base.
• 2 key sales rules.  Know the 2 most important sales rules.  Seth writes the most important rules are 1) sell something that people want to buy (and know how to buy) 2) Own the sales process.
• Make it easier or more effective.  You need to make a product significantly easier or more effective.  Seth writes easier to buy, easier to use, easier to teach other people how to use, more effective at solving the problem.
• People with power do the buying or make the sales.  Seth writes that if you pick any industry, the people with power are those who either do the buying or make lots of sales.
• Follow the money.  Seth writes that money leads to power – the power to make decisions, the power to build the business you want to build, the power to hire and fire and shape and dream and succeed.
• Sales is the reasons your business exists.  Seth writes that if you can’t sell what you make, you can’t help anyone, or make anyone’s life easier, better or more convenient.  If you can’t sell what you make, you can’t pay yourself.  You’re finished.
• Have a formal business reinvention process every 3 months.  Seth suggests adding a formal business reinvention process to your calendar.  Involve your most trusted advisers, employees, backers, and customers.  It helps you correct course and avoid having short-term decisions become habits.
• Sometimes firing a customer is the smartest thing you can do.  Seth writes that some customers are greedy and dishonest, and some demand products and services that non one else could possibly want.  Seth sums the guidance as sometimes the cash you’re receiving from a particular customer – even a big one – may not be worth it.
• Find peers.  Seth writes devote several hours a week to doing favors for people with no intent of being repaid.  Do some favors for strangers and some for friends.  This could be anything from sending a relevant e-mail to finding opportunities to brag about them or referring business their way.  His key point is that a few hours a week should net you a group of 100 or more peers who will benefit from your efforts as much as you’ll benefit from theirs.
• Surround yourself with people who have succeeded and are still enjoying the ride.  Seth writes that an alternative to finding peers through favors is to start or join an organized peer group.  He warns that you should join one that’s as upbeat and enabling as you are.
• 5 rules for shared ownership.  Seth identifies 5 rules for when you start talking about shared ownership: 1) Plan for success 2) Ideas aren’t worth much 3) Always leave both sides an out 4) Match compensation with performance 5) Never, confuse profit participation with governance.
• The four most important rules of advertising.  Seth writes the four rules are: 1) Spend regularly on advertising 2) Persistence is the secret to success 3) Be clear 4) Test and measure.
• Two steps to get a mentor. Seth identifies 2 steps to get a mentor: 1) pick the right person and 2) make it easy for the mentor to say yes and easy to say no.
• Use mini-mentors.  Seth writes about somebody he knows who has a series of mini-mentors, people who help her with specific issues.
• Do your "sensitivity analysis."  Seth writes that this is about looking at the pressure points of your business.  It’s knowing what you have to do to increase profit.  For example, do you need to reducing overhead or increase prices, or increase productivity.  He suggests pending an extra month to figure this out since you’ll be in business a long time, you’ll save yourself headaches, and you’ll have a better understanding of what to focus on.

It’s Like Walking Through a Maze 
Seth writes that it’s like walking a maze:

Learn as you go.  change as you go.  Building a business from scratch is like walking through a maze with many, many doors.  Once you open one, 100 new doors present themselves.  As you move your way through the maze, you need to stop and check your location.  Look at a map.  If you’re in the wrong place move.  But if you’ve discovered a new place, there’s nothing wrong with exploiting it.

3 Example Business Models 
Seth identifies 3 example business models:

• Business Model Example 1. Nike – Hire the world’s best athletes as spokespeople.  Buy an enormous amount of advertising.  Use the advertising to get every sporting good store to carry your produces.  Make your product overseas for very little money.  Charge very high prices.
• Business Model Example 2. Poland Spring – Find local businesses that care about their employees.  Offer them a free water cooler if they allow you to refill it.  Earn money by making deliveries on a regular basis.
• Business Model Example 3. Microsoft – Create the operating system that runs every personal computer in the world.  Then use the power you gain from knowing that system, which controls the computers, to create software, Web sites, online services, even travel agencies.

According to Seth, what makes these descriptions business models is they are the formula that takes the asset of a company and turns them into cash.

7 Questions to Ask a Business Model and Value Chain Seth offers 7 questions to challenge a business model and value chain:

• 1) Who’s going to buy your product or service?
• 2) How much are they going to pay for it?
• 3) Where will they find it? 
• 4) What’s the cost of making one sale?
• 5) What does it cost to make, package, ship, and inventory the item you just sold?
• 6) What’s your profit on one sale?
• 7) How many sales can you make a month?

4 Action Steps for Your Value Chain 
Seth turns the first four questions into actions:

• 1) define the audience
• 2) do a value analysis to figure out what it’s worth compared to alternatives
• 3) determine how much of the distribution of the product you control, and what value is added by the retailers or reps you use
• 4) divide the cost of sales by the number of products you’re going to make.  (You just figured out whether they’re worth selling.)

Additional Resources Here’s key additional resources::

• The Bootstrapper’s Bible
• Seth Godin’s Blog
• The Inc 500

My Related Posts

• Lessons Learned from the Dip
• 8 Rules of businessThink
• STARS Model of Business Evolution
• Working on Your Business is Working on Your Life
• What Our Business Is, Will Be, and Should Be

http://sourcesofinsight.com/lessons-learned-from-the-bootstrappers-bible/