Lessons Learned – #2

The countdown of the Top 10 lessons I learned during 2010 is almost complete. Here’s #2:

Humility Dose– For a decade my beloved Texas Longhorns were a mainstay near the top of the college football rankings. This year, an ugly seven losses. Fallout? Offensive coordinator and special teams coaches fired; defensive coordinator resigned to become the head coach at Florida. Organizations occasionally face times like these. It will be interesting to see how Mack Brown handles his greatest leadership challenge.

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Lessons Learned – #9

Continuing the countdown of the Top 10 things I learned during 2010. Here’s #9:

Big Oops – You’d think a former marketing guy like me would know better. You’d be wrong. Last year was the best ever for Success Handler, LLC, so I made the classic mistake of convincing myself we were too busy during 2009 to focus on attracting new clients. How’d that work out? Well, let’s just say I had plenty of time on my hands this summer. Note to self… it’s harder to gain momentum from a standing start.

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In Search of the Guru

Continuing the countdown of the Top 10 things I learned this year:

#7

Go For It – A few months ago I read where Seth Godin wanted to invite a select group of 10 small business owners to spend a day brainstorming. The cost would be travel to and lodging in New York City and a $3,500 charitable donation. I decided to apply and wrote a compelling business case about why the marketing guru should pick Success Handler. He replied immediately with a personal e-mail. A week later, he sent another… notifying us we weren’t among the chosen few. While that was disappointing, it convinced me that I’m one click away from anyone on the planet. In 2010, my biggest Rock is to reach out to a lot more smart people and see what happens.

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