Incompetent, evil, lucky or just plain good people?

I come from a middle-class family. I had no wealthy uncle or aunt who gave me huge sums of money nor did I have access to a family business. I worked at UPS from 4 a.m. to 9 a.m. every day for five years to pay my way through college. As entrepreneurs go, I am pretty typical. Most of us started with little or nothing and then built on that over time. As I’ve gone down this path of entrepreneurialism, I’ve met some very successful people. And most of them have something in common that we in America are being influenced to actually assume the opposite of. Most of them are honest, caring people. But the rich and successful tend to be viewed as either evil or incompetent by society. My theory on successful people is that they are like everyone else in that there are good ones and not-so-good ones. They have gone down a path that has led them to extraordinary situations. And along the way, they have, in most situations, been good, honest people who have earned a lifetime of loyalty and respect from those whose lives they’ve touched.


Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com

Vanity

It's funny, don't try to talk sense to someone who's obsessed with status. Don't try to explain that a big office or a title or special parking space mean nothing. There is no logical argument that I have seen that will influence that person.

It's like telling a coke addict that cocaine means nothing and is unimportant. So what do you do?

As much as it's not my style, I have to say that the best course is moving on. It's not a debate. A person focused on status cannot be focused on the right things, because their brain is obsessed with it.

In my business, there's only room for doing our best for the client, anything else—vanity, ego, laziness—depletes and defeats us. So, for me, it's focus on the right thing or nothing at all.

Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com

He's our "devil"

I saw a rock band once talk about their manager, who had a dubious reputation as a cut-throat son of a gun. One of the members of the band said, "He may be Satan, but he's our (meaning his band's) Satan." His point was that this guy may have been really ruthless, but the band was comfortable with him and felt he was the best manager they could ever have.

When I hear someone complain about a customer, I remember this. Sure, they may be difficult or demanding, but they're our customer. We can complain or moan about someone, but who says another person (your manager or your customer) would be any better?

Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com

The Who

I just saw the two surviving members of the classic rock band The Who play one of their rock operas. For a couple of old guys, they rocked the house.

What inspired me most was how much they enjoyed playing their music. I bet they enjoyed it more in 2013 than they did in 1973 when they were fighting each other, tearing up hotel rooms and breaking their instruments at the end of each show.

That applies to all of us whether it's our families, our businesses or our other activities. Enjoy them, why not?

Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com

Just another

It's just an ad.

All they want is another brochure.

C'mon, lighten up, it's only an annual report.

The above are comments that could be heard at any marketing company as they have been asked by a client to perform some work.

Our challenge at LaBov Marketing Communications and Training is that we can't look at any assignment as "just another." If we do, we sabotage our future.

Think about it, if you had a disease and the doctor told you, "It's no big deal, it's just (fill in your most dreaded illness)." When it comes to our life or our health, we ARE the most important thing in the world.

Well, it's no different for our client. That ad or annual report is not just another one; it's the most important one...ever...until the next project comes in.

There is no "just another" and yes, whatever it is (a project or an illness)—it is a big deal.

Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com

Don't know where we're going to end up

We like control, predictability, order and ease. But if we're going to go for greatness, we have to be prepared to have no idea where things may end up.

Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com

Great thinking vs mediocrity

I'm the Chief Creative Officer at my company, LaBov Marketing Communications and Training. I get to see some really great thinking on projects and quite often, that results in happy clients.

Many times we think of a great idea as something that dropped from the sky, angels started to sing and life was beautiful. But in reality, that's not the case.

Simply put, there is one difference between a great idea and mediocrity: an inspired concept or strategy.

Ideas that are regarded as great all have some inspiration behind them—even if it's flawed. I look back on some of my "big ideas" and once in a while I'm shocked that I was so excited about them. But, they all were concepts that had a strategy and, at least at the time, they were exciting.

Contrast that with an idea that is merely what the client asked for or what they did the last time and usually you'll find an idea that is soon forgotten.

I've told my creative team that if you have an inspired strategy or concept, you will be ahead of 90% of the competition that's just following orders. Most of the time, that's enough.

Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training

www.labov.com

Malaise to Momentum

Ever get asked to take over something that was failing? Like a kid's basketball team or a committee on a non-profit? I have. I was asked to coach a girls' basketball team that was in the midst of a 100-game losing streak. I was appointed the chairman for a non-profit's award program after that program had failed year after year. I even was "volunteered" to raise money to save a golf club that was within weeks of being sold.

It's tough to achieve in those situations because you're fighting failure, specifically in many cases, you're fighting malaise. The girls' basketball team was filled with great girls who had long ago given up. The non-profit program had people running away from it in droves. The golf club situation was years in the making and most people had no belief there was the slightest chance to save it, so why care?

It's a long journey from malaise to momentum and just as you're starting to feel there's no hope, you start to see signs of life, of hope. If you're the lucky person to be leading people in those situations, you need to realize that you may be the only person who sees a way out until it appears to everyone. But take heart, it is worth it.

Barry LaBov
LaBov Marketing Communications and Training
www.labov.com