Why do you get up in the morning?<\/p>\n
If you asked 100 different people, you would get 100 different answers. For me, it\u2019s about digging deeper, always being a student, and always trying to learn new and exciting skills. I get up every morning to innovate, influence, and impact by getting to the core value of my current goal or project.<\/p>\n
When I interview potential team members, I always ask this question. Everything in business is about digging deeper, getting to the core value, the reason why, and the true motives for a person, idea, or company. To me everything can go deeper; there is always another layer to uncover, explore, and master.<\/p>\n
Rarely is anyone the person they portray upon first impression. We need to dig deeper and probe potential team members to understand them beyond the surface. Interview jitters, a bad morning, or a family emergency could all attribute to an improper first impression. I never take anything at face value. It\u2019s crucial to truly dive in and make sure you find out all involved variables before making an informed decision.<\/p>\n
I have never met an entrepreneur who was satisfied with an answer they were given at first, and I don\u2019t think I ever will be. In school, I was constantly labeled as the \u201cannoying question asker.\u201d Whatever the topic, I always wanted to explore it further.<\/p>\n
When it comes to starting a business, small or large, with or without investors, there is always one universal aspect to start-ups: they need people. Finding the right team is, in most cases, the difference between succeeding and failing. Understanding people on an emotional level is everything to me. Why they exist, why they love (or hate) what they are doing, and where their passions lie.<\/p>\n
Without passion, their skill level, expertise, or work ethic is meaningless to me. Being vocal, being loud, being creative are all attributes I look for when hiring a team. For me, passion is a key emotion. For you it may be different, but you need to dig deeper and know what exactly it is that makes your gears turn and what you need out of everyone who works with you. Without this understanding, you may have a billion dollar idea with a ten-dollar team.<\/p>\n
I have developed a team of 6 heavily dedicated interns, 4 part time employees and 3 partners who all view team building and bonding this way. It\u2019s not about having the best person at each position, but the right person. Just ask the 1996 Yankees.<\/p>\n
I tell all my team members, \u201cWe don\u2019t want any of the undead rising from the ground, becoming blood sucking vampires and draining our blood supply. We need to dig deeper, get past the dirt to be better prepared.\u201d At first they believe, like I am sure you do, that I am just making an analogy, but I seriously mean it. My biggest fear is blood sucking vampire demons. We live in an era unlike any before, where people become disinterested after 10 seconds. Everything is \u201cinstant\u201d and everything is about gratification.<\/p>\n
But it doesn’t have to be.<\/p>\n
Apple has a great saying that I love to use, \u201cSimplicity Isn\u2019t Simple.\u201d Just because the end user will give you 10 seconds of their time and not a moment more, doesn\u2019t mean you should return the favor. The best companies spend countless hours figuring out how to deliver a simple, yet effective message to connect with their team, shareholders, and customers. If we all dig for it, we could create a message that is not only easily digestible, but powerful as well.<\/p>\n
Digging deeper allows us to get to the core value of what is really trying to be designed, created, or accomplished.<\/p>\n
By being able to look at your concept from the \u201cback side,\u201d you gain the advantage of taking a different approach than your competitors. Build down, not up. Reverse engineer your product, solution, or innovation to create a stronger and better-suited selling proposition to your target audience. Ensuring that it can handle the scrutiny of 2013 media, your idea will have enough depth, and you will have dug deep enough so that blood-sucking vampires don\u2019t rise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Why do you get up in the morning? If you asked 100 different people, you would get 100 different answers. For me, it\u2019s about digging deeper, always being a student, and always trying to learn new and exciting skills. I get up every morning to innovate, influence, and impact by getting to the core value […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":959,"featured_media":33800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[43902],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-professional-development"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n