Success Tip #4: Todd Bradberry

For this weeks Success Tip, I'm featuring Todd Bradberry, MBA, Parallel Management Company.  Todd is also assisting me during my maternity leave this month on my 12-week Mastermind program.

Take a moment and read his success tip and his accomplishment and more from 2016.

Q What is your piece of advice?A "Learn to work harder on yourself than you do on your job." Jim Rohn

Mr. Jim Rohn was my first virtual coach and mentor. We didn't refer to audio cassettes as "virtual" in those days, but his simple wisdom, through that simple medium, instilled in me a lifelong commitment to personal development. Many of his quotes, including the one above, remain top of mind today. Another was "for things to get better for you, you must get better." Not the economy, tax rates, the company, the boss, the market, the product, the government, or anything else outside your control. You must get better to increase your value in the marketplace. As your value increases, your income follows.

Commitment to personal development helped me become a more effective leader. More important, I began expecting that same commitment from my team members, creating new leaders and a cycle of team success.

Often while leading teams of up to 500, someone would request a promotion and/or raise, based on talent, qualifications, education and hard work. That's understandable. Working hard on the job is important. In fact, the person might perform well at the next level. But leaders should think two or three moves ahead. What gets a person to Level Two might not get them to Three and Four. Most people don't get the continuous, personal development that such growth requires. So, the first question I always asked was "how many books have you read in the past year to improve your skills in management/sales/whatever?" Instead of the number I requested, the candidate most often answered with a story. The story contained some combination of long work hours, family obligations, etc., In other words, excuses for not reading. Jim Rohn would respond with something like "hey John, I have a box here to put a number in. A story won't fit. That's why I made the box so small."

In The 10X Rule, Grant Cardone says that the average American worker reads less than one book a year, while watching TV five hours per day. Five. Top CEOs read an average of 60 books per year, and earn 319 times more than the average worker. The "average" worker complains about the 319% income discrepancy without recognizing the 600+% difference in personal development effort. That candidate who answered my question with a story could likely tell me who was eliminated last night on "The Voice."

I set a goal in my mid-twenties to read at least fifty books a year. A book a week. Now with audio books and e-books, I often exceed that number. It really doesn't take much time - certainly not five hours per day. And I'm just fine not keeping up with "The Voice."

Set your own personal development goals. They don't have to include reading fifty books. Making personal development a daily discipline will have a huge, positive impact on your business, income and lifestyle.

 

Q What is your favorite thing from 2016 (accomplishment, resource, book, quote, experience)?

A Several books in 2016 taught me more about how the human mind works, and helped me become a more effective business coach. I especially recommend Just Listen, by Mark Goulston.

I hand picked each one of these fine successful business owners because they represent the national population, different backgrounds, as well as different areas of expertise, cultures, companies and journeys!  I feel by having each one of these wonderfully successful men and women included with their success tip we can reach thousands with their advice!