Randy Taylor
Jamie Tripp asked what it would take to change the world and suggested that Rotary is doing that in large ways and small and suggested to our guests that they consider making the commitment to a better world through Service above Self.
Maureen introduced Randy Taylor who came from poverty and whose parents suffered from alcoholism - a combination which put him on the streets at 14 but he found himself on radio and grew through that experience and others into a career as a speaker and coach and author of The Winner Within and owner of Taylor Made Leadership.
Randy thanked Bill Richardson, who was away skiing, for the invitation. He started by suggesting that we can always learn and especially from children. His son asked him recently if they could build something and, of course, Randy said sure, what? His son needed a box with dials that you could put a person in and take him out the same only nice. Randy asked who the first customer would be to find out it was going to be himself. What Randy took from that was that if you don't like something, you should change it.
Self employment starts with belief. Children start out believing but as they learn more doubt gets introduced. As a 14 year old street kid his prospects did not seem that great - staying alive and out of jail would be called success. But as he left High School at 16 his guidance counsellor left him with a phrase he's never forgotten - "Where you are now has nothing to do with where you can go." You can move down the path you deserve.
Most businesses suffer cycles of boom and bust and they feed themselves. When things are going well a business person is confident and happy and his contacts and cold calls realize this and respond to it. When they are not going so well the contacts and calls become stressed and even desperate which puts prospects off and can lead to more failure. To stay on the top of the cycle you need to maintain consistency and be what he calls a productiv paranoid. Just cause things are going well today doesn't mean they will tomorrow so focus on the horizon and don't relax. Failure is a few errors in judgement made daily. Success is a few exercises in disciplin done every day. If you plan to make 10 calls a day and only make 5 that's an error and if you repeat it it becomes 20 calls missed, a hundred.
In a boss employee relationship there is structure and expectations. The boss directs and the employee does the stuff - it can't be put off because the boss has a list and the items have to be checked off or there will be consequences. If the list is completed successfully there may be a bonus but after taxes what does that amount to? So you feel you can do it yourself and go out on your own. But now you've lost the boss. You have to do everything - find the clients, do the work, do the books, it becomes overwhelming.
You have to take on two jobs - be the boss, plan the next day, make the schedule, draw up the list for your employee then, - be the employee and check off the list. As the boss you have to disregard your employee's preferences for long lunch hours and as the employee you have to respond to your boss's direction. You have to prepare, do the homework and be ready. He told the story of the radio announcer who never made an on air mistake. When Randy got a chance to tour the guy's studio he found scripts with the time and the record title and the announcer's own name all written in. These scripts were written while the record was playing and read, not ad libbed.
Amateurs wing it, for results, be a pro.