by Mark West | Jun 29, 2016 | Business, entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Important, Marriage, Mentor, Success, Urgent
Last year I wrote about the importance of marriage in “An Entrepreneur’s #1 Partnership,” emphasizing the need to prioritize your marital relationship above your business. But it’s easy to write about doing so, and quite another thing to actually live it out on a daily basis.
Entrepreneurs and employees are often tempted to focus more of their attention and energies on their business or job than the relationship with their spouse. As an entrepreneur, I can affirm the struggle this dilemma often presents. And if you’ve spent any amount of time in business, you know exactly why this is.
Our businesses present a constant set of opportunities, challenges, and other “urgent” matters, that demand our immediate attention. If you’re like me, it’s all too easy to allow these demands to overshadow everything else in life. Whether it’s our relationship with our spouse, our kids, our personal health, or perhaps even our spiritual walk with God, it seems that all too often, the urgency of the immediate drowns out the preeminence of the important.
Granted, there are instances when a scenario is truly urgent in nature, requiring our immediate focus or else catastrophic consequences could ensue. These rare instances are not what I am referring to. Rather, the “urgent” issues I am referring to are the unlimited number of lesser demands that present themselves on an all too frequent basis.
If we’re honest with ourselves, we can see this reality clearly, both in our own lives and sadly in the lives of others. But in the heat of the battle, it’s easy to ignore that internal nagging voice that continues to remind us that the urgent is once again supplanting the important. And when it does, it can result in our cancelling that special dinner with our spouse, or missing our child’s ball game, because a last minute “deal” demands we do so.
So how do we overcome this temptation so that we properly address the urgent without sacrificing the important? There are at least three truths we can embrace to overcome this “urgent versus important” dilemma:
Involve yourself in an accountability relationship with someone you trust implicitly, whether individually or in a small group. Be honest and transparent with this individual in a manner that allows him to provide honest feedback. It is a rare person who can critique his own actions and choices in such a manner that he will self-correct and recalibrate his life when he veers off course. An accountability partner will provide that much needed correction to help us bring the important back to a priority over the urgent. The book of Proverbs affirms this truth when it reminds us that “…in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”
The urgent will always be clamoring for immediate attention. The unexpected and unplanned seem to show up on a regular basis, and too often at the most inopportune times. And when the urgent rears it’s head, it seems all else pales in significance. You can likely identify this reality playing itself out over and over in your own life, if you think about it. So it’s critical that we begin to identify when the urgent has arrived and that we be prepared to counter this temptation with a predetermined course of action. Whether it’s one that you’ve devised on your own, with your accountability partner, or perhaps one such as the Eisenhower Decision Principle (named after President Dwight Eisenhower), have a plan ready to deploy when the urgent shows up and seeks to derail the important.
As hard as we try, there will be times when we succumb to the urgent despite our best intentions. One truth that we know about ourselves is that we often fail to live up to our own standards and expectations. It may not be that we intended to, but old habits die hard and we frequently revert back to our old self. But this is just another instance when we must simply acknowledge our frailty, both to ourselves and our spouse and/or family, and then recommit ourselves to steps 1 and 2 above. Meet with your accountability partner, evaluate your actions, and then learn from your mistakes.
I trust that you and I will continually remember these truths and we’ll take whatever steps we need to take in order to insure that we don’t wake up someday and realize that, while we were successful at accomplishing the urgent, we failed in the truly important areas of our life. including that most important relationship, our marriage.
by Mark West | Nov 17, 2015 | Leaders, Leadership, Partnership, Success
Last week I shared my initial thoughts on the “Yoke” Principle in The Yoke Principle Part 1: Ignore this Business Principle at Your Own Peril. In the post I stated that it’s critical that one’s worldview, core values, and general goals be compatible and in sync with an individual they intend to partner or team up with in a venture or relationship.
This week we’ll look at a few of the basic requirements or factors one should assess when determining whether to partner with someone. Following these factors will ensure the greatest probability of success.
Core Values
We’ve already stated this but check and double check this area. Are your core values in sync? For sure no two people will ever align perfectly and to be honest, a partnership’s success is often found in the diversity of strengths that the two partners bring to the table. However, the core values of the partners must be compatible and in unison or it’s probable that the venture will fail, and perhaps even in a spectacular fashion.
Goals
Do you share the same goals for the partnership or venture? As oxen pull together beneath their yoke, likewise partners must have the same goals or their efforts will be marginalized and thwarted. Align your goals and your mutual efforts will be compounded and will achieve greater success than those you might realize through your individual efforts.
Risk
While partners will frequently not have an equal investment in their venture together, it’s critical that they both have some degree of risk. Consider a scenario where the first partner has significant risk, whether of his capital, reputation or even his time, while the second partner has little to no risk. In such an arrangement, it’s highly likely that the second partner will be tempted to not exert nearly the same level of commitment or concern for the success of the venture. And because of the lack of risk by one of the partners, sooner or later it will begin to strain the relationship and will negatively impact the results of the venture.
Walking in alignment
When one considers a team of oxen under a yoke, it is apparent that the two oxen are walking in unison and side by side. One doesn’t falter behind while the other surges ahead. Or one doesn’t go to the left and the other to the right. Likewise, for a partnership to succeed, the partners must agree on the strategies to achieve their goals. Setting goals is actually quite easy. Where the difficulty often lies is in the development of the strategies to reach the goals. Partners must be able to align their strategies and then work together, within their own individual strengths, to deploy the strategies that will allow them to reach their goals.
Track record
Past history is the best predictor of future results. This truth is one that can apply to so many different scenarios in life. However, when evaluating whether to partner with an individual, one’s track record is something that should always be factored in. Does the prospective partner have a track record of success with others or is he a loner? Does his past suggest that he has failed in other partnerships? If there are warning signals from his past don’t brush those aside. Evaluate them fully and carefully. They may be an indicator as to what may be in store for you.
Clearly, there are many other variables and factors that we might consider as we evaluate whether to align or partner with another individual. And to be sure there is no one size fits all list. However, I believe the above factors are some of the most critical ones that we must answer satisfactorily if we are to “walk together” and realize the success we all desire.
The alternative to a successful partnership is one that none of us want to experience. So, remember this truth as you determine whether to yoke yourself together with that prospective partner: “Can two walk together except they be agreed?”
As you evaluate that next partnership opportunity, I trust these factors will serve to answer this question for you and either propel you to great success or spare you from potential failure.
by Mark West | Nov 10, 2015 | Action, Entrepreneurship, Leaders, Leadership, Partnership, Success
In business, as well as in life, there are times when you and I are presented with the opportunity to partner or team up with another company or individual.
Generally on the front end of any such opportunity the positives nearly always seem to dominate our interest and they will often drown out any potential negatives or pitfalls. But as is the case in nearly all opportunities, it’s critical to weigh both the pros and cons.
There is an overriding principle that I have generally sought to follow when I find myself in this situation. When I have, it has consistently spared me a lot of heartache as well as significant dollars. The principle I am referring to is one I call the “Yoke” principle and it is cited in Scripture as “Don’t be unequally yoked…” There is another similar passage that states, “Can two walk together unless they are agreed?” The context of the first passage may deal with a spiritual truth but the general concept of both passages also applies in business as well as in most other areas of life.
As a reminder, a yoke is a device used to team up or connect two animals, often a couple of oxen to pull a plow. The idea is that by binding the two animals together via a yoke, it ensures that their effort is effective, efficient and productive. Without the yoke, it’s likely, if not certain, that the two animals will not walk, work or pull in unison.
In business, the Yoke principle is one of the most important concepts you and I will either validate and enjoy success or violate and reap heartache and financial loss. I know this from personal experience and have realized the “thrill of victory and the agony of defeat” when I either followed or ignored this truth.
The most obvious instance of my affirming the Yoke principle was when I teamed up in 1990 with my current business partner, Jerry Stout. It’s true that Jerry and I are polar opposites in some areas of our lives, personalities, and skills. But our worldview, core values, and overall goals have been compatible and in sync across these 25 years. This does not mean that there have not been times of great stress and even strong disagreement, but the common values we’ve shared have enabled us to work through the challenging times and enabled us to enjoy many successes together. Perhaps the greatest is the one I recounted in this previous post: The $100 Million Napkin
On the other end of the spectrum, though, I can recall an instance when Jerry and I ignored the Yoke principle when a particular opportunity presented itself back in the late ’90’s. We had been introduced to some businessmen in Las Vegas who presented us with one of those “too good to be true” opportunities. Even though the guys in Vegas did not share our values or business philosophy, we overlooked those facts and partnered up with them to acquire a couple of parcels of land and develop some properties in the Southwest. Sadly, that one relationship ultimately cost us many millions of dollars. And the main reason was because we were unequally yoked with guys we had no business in aligning with.
In my next blog post we’ll talk about some basic requirements to assess when deciding whether to align or partner with someone. We’ll also review some of the repercussion of ignoring the Yoke principle. But as we wrap up today, I encourage you to filter every new opportunity to partner or affiliate with someone through the grid of your own core values and worldview and stay true to those values, no matter what. You won’t be disappointed.
