Gail Perry-Mason

Gail Perry-Mason, now that’s what I’m talking about. Gail is successful, energetic, knowledgeable and most of all real. We’ve had many speakers in Business Wisdom. I can’t think of any that were particularly bad. As far as I remember they have all offered a great amount of knowledge and wisdom, but none have in the way that Gail Perry-Mason did. Most of the speakers seemed as though they submerged their lives into their business and became extremely successful. The thing about Gail is it seems as though she brought her business into her life and then continued to live her life and managed to be extremely successful.

 

Gail had an element that I haven’t seen in any other speaker in the class. It’s hard to exactly pinpoint what it was, but it was all incased in an ounce of realness. She never got out of the box, and frankly I think there’s some credit in staying in the box. It was simple real talk. The most applicable talk we’ve ever had in that class. She gave us the kind of advice that a rich successful aunt would give. She didn’t feel a need to come across as wise, just honest. I respect that.

 

The way she got to where she is today also amazed me. The fact that she had so many cards stacked against her really made me look at the opportunity that we all have set in front of ourselves. We have guidance, advice, great instructors, and funding. All she had been her own will and a can do attitude. If we can never cease to incorporate those into our mindset I think there is no limit to what we can do.

One Bad Mofo

Obviously slightly cocky he, Bob Lanier began the session with an uncomfortable pill for most of us to swallow. An entrepreneur needs to have an ego. After being overwhelmed by the Isms and books like Good to Great that stated great leaders are rarely cocky but innately humble, Bob’s maxim smacked us in the face harder than a Spalding basketball dunked by Wilt Chamberlin.

 

In our first meeting with Dan Gilbert, he mentioned that Donald Trump’s seemingly big ego was actually a small ego. In Good to Great, a level 5 leader rarely saw success as their own doing. As I tried to digest this statement by Bob Lanier I had to draw some connections in order for it to make sense. Dominic Pangborn was the first thing that stuck for me. Dominic boldly told his boss after barely hearing about the health benefits offered at his new job that he better be nice to him because he was going to be his boss one day. Then he made it happen.

 

As I thought more, an entrepreneur really did need an ego. A great leader can be humble, sure. A great leader probably needs to be humble, but I think that’s part of growth. Entrepreneurs need to have bravado in their ego that tells them they can do what’s never been done before or what others don’t believe they can, that’s the only way it happens. An Entrepreneur needs to think that it’s them that make good things happen in the beginning, because in most cases it will have to be them that make things happen.

 

As I rethink the past few months I can only help but wonder, have we been led astray. I believe everything we learned is important in developing an organization that is built to last. But everything has it’s time. A billionaire CEO wouldn’t throw a party after closing a million dollar party to celebrate and bask in his glory, but I bet at his first million dollar deal he did gloat a little. An Olympic track star wouldn’t get on the track and start crawling around, but at one point that track star had to crawl before he could run. Are we being taught that crawling is what week entrepreneurs do before we’ve learned to make solid steps?

The life of the virtual rich and famous…

“China’s fastest growing currency isn’t the Yuan, it’s the QQ,” begins an article in the Wall Street Journal talking about a new player in the world’s economy. With the rise of internet use, the online world has almost taken on a life of its own. Now in China the QQ, which began as an online currency to buy things such as ring tones and for online promotions, is big business. According to the article it has risen as much as 70% within the last few weeks.

 

According to the Chinese government the amount of currency spent on virtual items last year came up to $900 million last year. This number only seems to be getting larger as well. All of this online use of the QQ is starting to make the Chinese government nervous. Online people are starting to accept the QQ for non-virtual good such as CD’s and makeup. Private online chats are accepting this currency and most threatening to the Chinese government, gamblers have started using the QQ as a way to get around Chinese gambling laws.

 

As I first read this article I was amazed how something like this could happen. Later that week I was introduced to Second Life and saw similar things going on in that virtual realm. As the article states, currency is simply as valuable as the confidence people have in the entity that backs it. Talk about opportunity.