Rick Baker Thought Posts
Left Menu Space Holder

About the author

Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

E-mail me Send mail
Follow me LinkedIn Twitter

Search

Calendar

<<  April 2024  >>
MoTuWeThFrSaSu
25262728293031
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293012345

View posts in large calendar

Recent Comments

Comment RSS

Motivation, Self-Confidence...Entrepreneurship & Sales

by Rick Baker
On May 16, 2013

Some people are convinced their motivation is not their responsibility. They rely on others for motivation and they blame others when motivation isn't happening. In their world, self-motivation does not exist. For people with this view, company enjoys misery. Like-minded, these people naturally congeal around the lowest-common denominator. Low or even zero motivation becomes the benchmark and hue and cry [for example, around the water cooler].

And, within the group, there can be a lot of crying and other forms of complaining.

These people tend to approach everything with a What's-In-It-For-Me? attitude. Or, they consider themselves victims.

At best, these people spread out the breeding ground for the mind-virus called mediocrity....a 'mob' mentality.

Each and every person who chooses not to join this 'mob' feels a personal responsibility for the task of self-motivation.

Often, these self-motivated people railroad over the people in the 'mob'…and, often, the 'mob' responds by providing the things desired by the dominant person in command.

Most of these not-in-the-'mob' people could not care less why the 'mob' refuse to self-motivate. Dominant people who are not in the 'mob' simply dominate and the people in the 'mob', to a large degree and with consistency, do what they are told or forced to do.

Some of these not-in-the-'mob' people think about how people in the 'mob' might be converted into self-motivators.

They wonder:

  • Perhaps, the answer lies in big sticks and loud screams? 
  • Perhaps, the answer lies in nurturing arms and soothing tones? 
  • Perhaps, there is no answer and we must accept that resistance is futile, a necessity under the human condition? 

[I think, yes, for certain people we must accept it.]

Needless to say, if you buy into anything I am saying, you will quickly understand why many business problems exist around self-motivation. For business-work the real problem is, the people in the ‘mob’ lack the self-motivation and the self-discipline to have the required level of work-drive to do well in the entrepreneurial or the sales environment.

The people in the 'mob' may be able to survive in different-than-entrepreneurial environments but even that is getting tougher and tougher to do under globalization [if that exists] or global commoditization [which I know exists]. Certainly, these days, a complete career in a blue chip organization is not anticipated to be a most-likely outcome for very many people, especially the people in the 'mob'. In fact, the people in the 'mob' have no job security.

A Key Point: Virtually 100% of the time, low self-motivation, low self-discipline, and low work-drive have a single root cause. That root cause is low self-confidence.

Entrepreneuring ain’t easy.

Sales ain’t easy.

And, the 'mob' attitude is business-weak. So, the people in the 'mob' really suffer in entrepreneurial and sales environments. They suffer because they accept this defeat or that defeat, without accepting this responsibility or that responsibility or learning this lesson or that lesson. The people in the 'mob' make this excuse or that excuse.

They choose to accept failure after failure while rejecting any we-can-win thinking.

The 'mob' recognizes some struggling happens prior to achievement. And the 'mob' understands winning requires directed effort.

Some struggling & directed effort…well, that's a whole bunch of work, isn't it?

Tags:

Attitude: Creating Positive Attitude | Entrepreneur Thinking | Sales

I'm no Economist...

by Rick Baker
On May 2, 2013

 

I'm no Economist.

So, I have no delusion about being able to either understand the financial-facts and number-nuances or accurately forecast the future economy. I have, however, experienced instances where I felt 100% certain I could accurately predict the direction of [natural gas] commodity prices. Perhaps, I was lucky; perhaps, it was real intuition. Regardless, my big-picture financial thoughts are more-or-less limited to questions and untested answers.

I understand people keep digging up gold, diamonds, and other precious things...which, for an interesting range of reasons, people value. As precious things are found and sold and bought - wealth increases. I understand people keep pumping up oil and gas and digging up other fuel sources...which, for practical reasons, people value. As these practical things are found and sold and bought - wealth increases...albeit, the growth in wealth is temporary for the buyer who sooner or later consumes them.

Outside of that and other similar simplistic views about how economies work, my big-picture financial thoughts are more-or-less limited to questions and untested answers.

Here are a few of them:

Debt is increasing. So what!

Isn't that the normal direction we should expect overall debt to take? Shouldn't debt follow the same trend as wealth? About the overall trend for wealth...isn't that trend an 'upward-sloping' line with overall wealth increasing with time? To the extent human beings place value on Value and call it wealth...haven't they always and won't they always tend to create it? Put another way, to the extent human beings innovate [in the commercial sense]...won't that tend to create wealth? And, as people create new pieces of Value and wealth and then exchange that new Value with other people won't the exchange be accompanied, in some instances, by new debt? So, isn't it natural for debt to increase as wealth increases? Shouldn't we expect that?

And - Isn't the extent of debt limited by the extent of wealth?

Wait a second...I worked through that Enron experience...let me rephrase that.

Isn't real debt limited by real wealth?

I'm no Economist...but...it seems to me the answer is 'Yes'.

We cannot expect one without the other. 

Sure, greedy and tricky hucksters can and do balloon the presentation of wealth. [not to mention Enron, again]

And, other folks - for example, the suckers Barnum said are born every minute - can be overconfident about the amount of debt they can afford and they can and do become over-extended.

However...

The aggregate of debt cannot exceed the aggregate of wealth...can it?

In the event the extent of aggregate debt gets too high relative to the extent of aggregate wealth, doesn't that get cleared up quickly with 'market corrections'? 

Don't market corrections reduce [right-size] both wealth and debt?

Questioned another way...

If wealth is not real then isn't the related debt also not real?

Don't stock-market corrections walk hand in hand with bankruptcy write-offs?

Don't these things pave the path for post-traumatic economic growth?

And...

When we say "debt is too high" don't we also mean "wealth is too high"?

 

PS: related to this -

  • Do people, on average, take debt more seriously than wealth? 
  • Do people in debt feel more obligated to pay their debt than people possessing wealth feel obligated to state its value accurately?
  • Aren't interest rates simply a reflection of confidence in [future] wealth creation? 

@GKWCC #CEOP2P: CEO - "We take something we believe in and provide it to people that need it...that feels good."

by Rick Baker
On Mar 14, 2013

Related articles… About Entrepreneurs

The @GKWCC #P2P series of thought tweets contains ideas, quotes, & suggestions provided by local business leaders at "CEO Peer-to-Peer" group meetings, sponsored by the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

The goals of the thought tweets: to help local business leaders and to promote the sharing of business thoughts.

The thoughts expressed are not opinions of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce...they are opinions of local business leaders who are Chamber members and participate in the Chamber's CEO P2P program.

@GKWCC #CEOP2P: People want to create value.

by Rick Baker
On Mar 4, 2013

A related article…  About Creating Value

The @GKWCC #P2P series of thought tweets contains ideas, quotes, & suggestions provided by local business leaders at "CEO Peer-to-Peer" group meetings, sponsored by the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce.

The goals of the thought tweets: to help local business leaders and to promote the sharing of business thoughts.

The thoughts expressed are not opinions of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce...they are opinions of local business leaders who are Chamber members and participate in the Chamber's CEO P2P program.

Tags:

Entrepreneur Thinking | Greater KW Chamber - CEO P2P Groups | Leaders' Thoughts

Thought Tweet #670

by Rick Baker
On Feb 8, 2013

Thought Tweet #670 Stepping from excelling at execution to excelling at delegating it...one giant leap for business growth.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

Some technical experts master supervision. Fewer master supervision and management. Even fewer technical experts master the ability to master delegation and influence. When a technical exert masters delegation and influence we have entrepreneurship at its best.

Tags:

Delegation & Decisions | Entrepreneur Thinking | Leaders' Thoughts | Thought Tweets

Thought Tweet #659

by Rick Baker
On Jan 24, 2013

Thought Tweet #659 Entrepreneurs have an innate talent: moving back and forth between narrow and wide focus...identifying opportunities.

 

The Thinking Behind The Tweet

I have talked with many successful entrepreneurs who possess this innate talent. Many of these talented entrepreneurs work in our Waterloo area. This innate 'focus-talent' provides them the ability to see problems & opportunities before others see them.

Because of their innate Focus BrainSmart, it is accurate to say these entrepreneurs see things that are invisible to most people. 

They see problems before others see them. Sometimes this is interpreted as pessimism. It isn't pessimism. It's better-than-most vision.

These entrepreneurs also see opportunities before others see them. Sometimes this is seen as maverick. If it is maverick then maverick is a really good thing because it opens the doors for innovation and insight...and injection of value for clients.

When this valuable talent is not recognized by employers...well, that's a common cause of successful entrepreneurial start-ups.

Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.