I recently read a short yet powerful synopsis of an interview with Mark Cuban in CRN, Computer Reseller News. We all know of his remarkable success of selling Broadcast.com for billions and his future successes with the Dallas Mavericks and other diverse interests. There are a few golden nuggets from Mark relative to his road to success which I want to share:
- Shake things up. We need not be afraid to go out on a limb. Be loud and proud – even if our position, product, approach, or even our pricing is different from the status quo.
- Work ethic. Nothing happens by accident. We can’t ‘wait for the call’ to build a business. If we are waiting, there is someone out there that is knocking on that door. We have to ‘smile and dial’. Our successes are in direct proportion to our work ethic. And – working smart and hard are the critical differentiators.
- Lead by example. Show up early. Stay late. Do the heavy lifting we expect our teams to do.
- Gain the edge. We need to ask ourselves: where is our edge? What are our core competencies? What are we really good at? The more our industries change, the more nimble we need to be. The more we can anticipate these changes and ‘preemptive strike’ our competition – that will create a competitive edge for us.
These approaches obviously worked for Mark Cuban; and certainly worth our consideration.