In an Aug 24 NY Times article, Alan Deutschman, who wrote a biography of Steve Jobs, was quoted as saying, “The big thing about Steve Jobs is not his genius or his charisma but his extraordinary risk-taking. Apple has been so innovative because Jobs takes major risks, which is rare in corporate America. He doesn’t market-test anything. It’s all his own judgment and perfectionism and gut.”

It seems as though Jobs is today’s Midas, making gold where others couldn’t. But, his secret wasn’t in all of his successes. His secret, was his willingness to step out into the unknown. Where others stuck closely to the shore, Jobs flung himself into the open water.

So, my sales mind is asking, “What can I learn from The Master of success?” Clearly, there is a lot – but three things stand out for me.

• YOU define you. There are plenty of people willing to step up to tell you what is possible and what you are capable of. Give them a smile and a “thank you” for their (usually unsolicited) input and then disregard it.  The Master knows that YOU define you and what you are capable of.
• Failure is the training ground for success. In sales we are judged by our numbers and by our most recent success. This makes it difficult for us to consider our failures anything but failures, and that is a mistake. The Master pays close attention to his failures – he knows they are the coaches of his successes.
• There is risk and there is Risk. Most salespeople are highly risk tolerant – we must be. The Master makes smart, conscious choices about risk – not by asking “what will I lose?”, but by asking “what can be gained?”.

As I type this, I’m smirking a bit because none of this is ‘new’. Any one of you could have written this – it is common sense.

But, The Master made our common sense, his common practice. And that my friend, is why he is The Master.

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