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Newsletter #4: I never knew I always wanted to…

Before you skip past this newsletter and get on with more important things, complete this sentence:

“I’ve always wanted to…”

Last week’s newsletter received an even more overwhelming response than the previous week, so before I elaborate on the question I asked you to ponder, let me start with another heartfelt thank you to everyone who rated and responded. Your comments are much appreciated.

So, on with this week’s thoughts…

I never knew I always wanted to…

About 10 years ago, while I was sitting in the classrooms of my final lectures of the MBA, I remember being given a task by the late Ketan Lekhani during a leadership module. The entire 2 day elective was like being on a retreat, and the facilitator was like a guru with his polished toffee coloured head, and his white goatee. And the rounded belly. Well, he was like a Guru to me, anyway. Chairs were arranged in a circle, not in boring rows, and he never actually taught anything either. He just threw the floor open to questions, and as these were asked, he would choose something appropriate to talk about, and each discussion was a complete repositioning of everyone’s understanding of themselves. The two days were quite profound. The task Ketan gave the class at the end of the two days was to draw our own vision board.

To me, this was new. This isn’t particular to The Secret, but if you’ve read the book, the Vision Board is one of the things with which the book by Rhonda Byrne has become synonymous. I had to draw a picture representing what I wanted to achieve in the next 5 years, and for me, that task alone was challenging. My life up to that point was all about believing but not really. About knowing what I wanted, but not quite. I had an idea of what I Wanted, but it was vague. So I drew my picture.

There were several little iconic images on my flipchart page, each representing something I wanted to achieve in the next 5 years. I won’t list all of them here – that’s another story. (Those who have heard the whole story in the classroom have told me afterwards that they found it very inspirational and motivating.) One of the icons was a drawing of three books, each of them a novel I wanted to write. The unwritten novels even had names. The other images on the page were very ambitious considering where I was at the time, and every single one of them was a stretch. I stuck the page up inside my cupboard door and I’d be reminded of what I was dreaming about every day.

Still, a few years later, I hadn’t yet gotten further than the first few chapters of the first book. I had moved house and lost the original flipchart page on which I’d drawn my map for the next 5 years, although I remember it vividly. At the 5-year MBA reunion, I was reminded of that vision board, and I felt very uncomfortable because, although I had achieved some of the goals I had set for myself in that classroom, I hadn’t finished. And it was that sense of leaving things unfinished that nagged and nagged and nagged.

It is now ten years since I drew that vision board. During this past week, I penned the last words of the third novel. I have this week finished the last of every one of those things I drew on that page. Incidentally, none of the novels I’ve completed were the titles I had written on that first drawing, but I had three novels on the vision board, and this week saw the completion of the third one.

There’s a lesson in there, and it’s all about the power of Vision. This is what I want to share with you about the power of vision in both your personal and work lives:

Vision is a very clearly defined, but indefinite idea of where you want to be. I say indefinite because you need to know what you want to achieve in a very clearly defined manner, for example, I wanted to write three novels in the next 5 years, but indefinite in that I didn’t know at the time what the novels would be about, nor exactly when or how I would go about finishing them. Or even where I would come up with the creative ideas. Articulate where you want to go very clearly. Once you’ve done that, and commit to achieving that vision, something very profound happens…

Your actions begin to steer you in the direction you have chosen. Once you’ve chosen a clear direction, you begin to make choices that move you in the direction you have chosen for yourself, and you begin to avoid making choices lead you elsewhere. You become more selective about what you take on, and you develop a thorn in your shoe, a niggle, that makes you feel that there’s something unfinished until you begin to work on the goals you set for yourself.

Every step becomes a decision. You become acutely aware that life doesn’t just happen. Like expenses in a business (and in your personal budget) every action is a decision. Being happy or unhappy about something is a decision. Choosing to learn to play piano or to watch a movie is a choice you make. You start making decisions more selectively, and you begin to focus your efforts on doing what you want to accomplish rather than allow time to pass by doing less important things. Steering your ship one degree off course at the start of your journey will put you hundreds of miles from your destination the further away from home you travel.

Small visions guarantee small results. Dream big and dream ambitious. Collins and Porras call it a BHAG – a Big, Hairy, Ambitious Goal. Putting something in your vision board that you know you’re going to achieve in the next year or two (like completing a degree, or getting a promotion when you know you’re up for it) does little more than make you feel good, but it isn’t going to change the playing field. Your vision should frighten you. If it doesn’t, you’re not dreaming big enough.

Without a vision you can be sure of one thing. You will end up somewhere. It just won’t be where you planned to be. If you’re anywhere near someone who has a stronger vision than yours, you’re more likely to get caught up in their tailwind than in blazing your own trail. Other people (and that includes your employer) will command your spare time if you don’t have a firm grip on what you want to do with it yourself. (There’s a little allusion to this in my next novel.)

So, if you completed the phrase, I’ve always wanted to… when you started reading this, I have one question for you: What’s stopping you? For many people, it’s just that they have dreamed about doing something but never really converted the dream to action. A dream is a vision without commitment. A vision is a dream with a game plan. We all have dreams. We must dream – it is dreams that keep us alive and moving forward. But it is only those who persist that realize their dreams.

About the new novel:

I’ll release the “trailer” when Garage Band is approaching its release which will probably be around April 2016, just in time for the April holiday season. April is a lot like December, only you have to work in between all the holidays.

Porter’s Rule: Slave to the City comes out in print this week. While you’re waiting for Garage Band (which has nothing to do with music, and everything to do with getting even) you can pre-order your copy of Porter’s Rule: Slave to the City here (SA only until mid-November) for 15% off the retail price. And if your Kindle or Kobo is running dry, put Porter’s Rule: Slave to the City on your reading list too, and remember to post a review on Amazon.com when you’re done being thrilled.

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Published on November 02, 2015 00:06

Newsletter #3: Not just for Entrepreneurs. For Managers too.

Last week’s newsletter received an even more positive response than the previous week, so thank you all very much for all the great feedback. I introduced a little scorecard at the end of the last newsletter so you could give me some feedback on the relevance of the newsletter. Last week’s scored a resounding 4.8 stars. Pretty impressive. Please let me know how you find these newsletters – your comments help me keep it relevant and real.

One of the things that generated a lot of discussion unexpectedly from last week’s letter was the bit about coffee. It’s becoming as personal as religion and politics. For all those whose favourite coffee shops I didn’t mention, thanks for sending in your comments. I’m going to have to learn how to mark off spots on Google Maps and publish Adam’s List of recommended coffee shops around the world. My favourite comment, though, was from Barry in New York who doesn’t have a cappuccino machine at home but uses a high-speed blender to heat and froth the milk. You’re going to have to post a video; this is going to be a must-see!

I got carried away in the last newsletter, and promised to pick up on the last point,, which is where I’ve carried on this week’s amazing insights to life, the universe, coffee, and everything else.

Most people in management positions weren’t promoted because they’re good at being managers.

One of the modules I present on management development programs to junior and mid-level managers representing many of the prominent companies on the South African and global landscape, is called “General Management” and is, I guess the introduction to management, or Everything you Ever Needed to Know about Management, but Never Knew you could Ask. I usually begin with a question that stems from Small Business Management 101 – a book called the E-Myth Revisited by Michael E Gerber. It’s the must-read for anyone in business or wanting to go into business for themselves. One of the staggering statistics quoted early in the book is the percentage of businesses that fail in the first 5 years. When I ask the class to take a guess, I get answers ranging from 60% to 80%, and they’re all wrong. Only one out of every twenty five businesses makes it past the first five years. That means 96% of small businesses fail in the first five years. For small business owners, this should be a wake-up call. For managers in my classroom, it usually creates an interesting statistic to add to their artillery of interesting facts that don’t concern them but that make them sound really smart at braais (barbecues for those outside the borders or SA). But there’s a reason I ask this question to managers in the corporate world.

The discussion then explores why small business failure is so high. I get suggestions from the class: Cash flow problems. Lack of marketing. Lack of this, lack of that…and all of which are true, but the real reason goes right to the heart of what Gerber calls the E-Myth, and it goes something like this:

Spot the error or the common misperception in the following statement: “Most small businesses are started by entrepreneurs in the hopes of making a profit.”

The discussion in the classroom then picks apart every word in the sentence. Common suggestions begin with the words hope and profit. My answer to those two is that nobody has a crystal ball, and nobody knows for sure, so of course there’s an element of speculation or hope in the initial phases of starting a new venture. And of course businesses are started in the hopes of generating a profit – have you ever met someone who started a small business in the hopes of making a loss? Or Breaking even? So after elimination of pretty much everything else, the only word left on the board is entrepreneur.

According to Geber’s research, and verified by my own encounters with small business, most small businesses are not started so much by the Entrepreneur, but by what Gerber refers to as the Technician, or a person with a technical skill. An accountant leaves his job (or gets retrenched more likely in today’s economy) and starts up his or her own accounting practice. The qualified electrician or plumber or builder opens their own business offering their technical skills as a service. Gerber calls that the result of the entrepreneurial seizure, which is based on the fatal assumption. I love the description of the Entrepreneurial Seizure. You can just imagine the scene at the bar when the hopeful individual says, “I’ve got a great idea…I’m going to start my own business. Hell, I can do it way better and I can make far more money…” And then more rounds of drinks are ordered, following which people discover they have hidden talents and can dance like a Beyonce or sing like Sam Smith. Or do the Hora in a hammock, (which actually happened) which didn’t end well.

But the truth is that the Entrepreneur doesn’t start the business in most cases. It’s the technician who starts the business because they make the fatal assumption:

“Just because you know how to do the technical work doesn’t necessarily mean you know how to run a business that produces the product of that technical work.”

Think about many of the small businesses (let’s choose coffee shops, seeing as they’re an integral part of this newsletter) with which you’ve had personal experience. Coffee shops, particularly those that are not franchised, sometimes get it right, and sometimes get it horribly wrong. Sometimes the food or the coffee is just right, and sometimes, it’s slow, or overcooked, of the order is wrong, or the coffee is too milky, or they’ve boiled the froth and ruined the coffee. (There’s cappuccino secrets in there – the milk needs to be between 65o and 75oC (150 – 170F) or it boils and spoils). Sometimes you get your food in minutes, sometimes you wait hours. And it all boils down (if you’ll excuse the pun) to management of the operation. Just because the owner of the coffee shop knows how to make a cappuccino, or bake a cake, or make a great salad, doesn’t mean they know how to run a coffee shop.

Then the million dollar question hits the classroom:

“How many of you were promoted to your positions of management because you are great managers?”

This is usually where the smiles stop, because 90% of the people in the classes I’ve taught were promoted to positions of management because they were good at their technical function, not because they were great managers. These are middle managers of banks, insurance companies, manufacturing firms, finance houses – the trend runs across the spectrum.

So what does that mean? Managers and Entrepreneurs alike face the same challenges. The only difference between the two is that those in corporate employ have a more robust safety net compared to those who are out there on their own. Both are managers of people, strategy, marketing, finance, and operations, and both need to master similar basic disciplines of management in order to be more effective and produce successful results, be that on the KPI’s at your next performance review, or on your income statement at the end of the month. Understanding these principals made the difference between working a 25 hour day to fight fires for a handful of customers, and being able to service more than 5 times the number of customers in less than one tenth of the time, which leaves me free to grow the business and add value to my customers.

Books and Writers

Some readers asked for more about my writing (and your writing, if you’ve got writing on your bucket list). But once again, this newsletter has just passed the comfortable length you can absorb whilst enjoying the average cup of coffee. Although, if it’s an average cup of coffee, it’s not worth drinking. Coffee should be exceptional.

I’ll pick up on this next time, but I did spend the weekend working on the exciting ending of my third novel which I completed yesterday. Writing is a great creative avenue, but it can become a job, and as such, you need to manage it like a deliverable. I try to write 1000 words a day (apart from this newsletter), and sometimes I battle with writer’s block, just like every other writer.

Writer’s block is a signal that your creative energy needs to reboot. You’ve been at it too long. Sleep on it, drink a glass of red wine, have a whiskey, get out, go play tennis, or soccer, or ride a bike, go for a run, take a walk but clear your mind completely, and stop trying to force yourself to come up with a solution. Leaving the problem allows your mind to wander, and you’ll think of something soon enough. Now I’m off begin editing of novel #3.

If you haven’t read my first two books, visit www.adamrabinowitz.co.za. Lost Soul – Immortality is available for Kobo and on Amazon, as well as on the shelves Exclusive Books, and Porter’s Rule: Slave to the City is available on Amazon, and will be released in softcover just in time for Christmas.

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Published on November 02, 2015 00:04

Newsletter #2: Should I / shouldn’t I

A friend mentioned that he was toying with the idea of doing an MBA at the age of 48. Actually, by the time he registers and the semester starts he’ll be 49. And then you think, “well I’m almost 50, why bother?”

If you know my story you know my experience with the MBA. Skip this but if you’ve read it, but I’m the only person I know to do an MBA by accident. The short version is that I went with a friend (not the same one I’m talking about here, but co-incidentally, theyvsharevthe same name now that I come to think of it) to the open day at GIBS for moral support. I was running my own business, and I really didn’t think I would gain anything by spending 2 years in a classroom working for a certificate I didn’t need because I wasn’t going to my to work for a company anyway. I couldn’t have been more wrong. What I learned from business school was life changing, and profound.

Some of the most valuable lessons I learned were these:

Even a company with no staff needs a leader. Leadership is widely misunderstood by those who haven’t yet begun to learn about it. Being a leader doesn’t necesarily mean you need a team of followers. And having a team of followers doesn’t necessarily make you a leader. Most of us are at the same time leader and follower. Without a strong sense of direction, actions are misaligned and misguided. A little effort to move in this direction, a change of heart of a loss of vision and the next action takes you in a different direction. One thing is true though. You can’t lead others unless you can lead yourself, and the journey of leadership more often than not is a journey of self mastery. I’m not talking about plunging your bare hands repeatedly into buckets of burning hot sand. Self mastery is knowing yourself, knowing your limits, knowing when not to give up, and knowing when to walk away.

I could talk about leadership for hours. In fact I’ve facilitated eight-hour leadership sessi bs for the university and the response from the classes is always the same – it’s like lifting the scales off eyes that have been open but unable to see.

You’re never too old to start learning. At the age of 36, I was in the oldest 1/3 of my class at GIBS. Often, I wondered what I was doing there. There were about 70 of us in the room. Most people were middle and senior managers, many senior execs and one or two CEO’s. I felt a little out of my depth being the only entrepreneur in the class, and not a very successful one at that. My business was on the verge of closing down, and I had zero sense of vision or direction.

I wish I could quantify the value of the learning that took place in that classroom. Not so much the hundreds of pages of articles and text books I read and learned and debated – essentially you can do that kind of learning anywhere – but the personal growth that took place as my mind evolved. It was as if my life had been a ship I was steering from the cockpit, but I’d never stepped onto the deck to see what the ship looked like, nor did the ship have a rudder or a working engine.

There was one recurring thought as I made sense of dozens of issues I’d never fully understood until I made that journey, one recurring thought that plagued me: why did I wait so long before I started learning? How different life would have been if only I had done this five years earlier.

It’s never time to stop learning. Once the journey of learning begins, one thing becomes abundantly clear. There is so much still to learn and there’s so much of what I already know that I still need to master. When my son was 13 he started playing drums. By the end of his grade 2 exam he became convinced that there was nothing more he needs to learn and that he knew everything. Isn’t that most teenagers?

But the more he progressed and the better he became the more he realized there was still to learn and the more humble he became about his talent.

Once you begin learning you’ll get bitten by the bug. It bites subtlely and it bites hard. The more you learn, the more you’ll realize you want to learn.

I’ve spent many days in the back of the classroom listening to lectures delivered by my colleagues at the University and although I’ve heard it before, there’s always something new I learn each time. You can look at the same thing many times over but you notice different aspects each time.

Take humility with you when you graduate. It will open en your mind to discover new things.

Most people in management positions weren’t promoted because they’re good at being managers.

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Published on October 25, 2015 18:43

Should I / shouldn’t I