View from the Summit

Holland America can teach everyone about perfection. Early every morning, I sip dark roasted coffee sitting next to the window on the Lido Deck. It's on the 9th floor of the Westerdam, a fabulous cruise ship that treks through the Caribbean weekly. Getting up early allows me a unique perspective that many guests never get to experience. I know. You're thinking, "What an idiot, you need to be in your suite sleeping." The unnoticed tasks are immeasurable. I titled a few noteworthy ones "The Dynamic Duo". While you were still asleep, this pair was combing over the Lido Deck like well-trained detectives. One with a clipboard in hand and the other fully equipped with a laser focused flashlight. Everything from the hot sauce to the telephone gets inspected from stem to stern. I interrupted them momentarily to inquire about the depth of their investigation. One simple sentence was all they offered: "Yes, this is what we do."

How much effort do you put into being a smarter individual? I tease clients all the time and I say, “You are not just going to wake up tomorrow smarter”. I usually get blank stares or the inevitable “I just don’t have the time."

I’m like seriously? What that tells me is you are not making progress a priority.

Listen, if it’s really important to you, you will make the time. Go ahead, privately, be honest with yourself, admit what I am saying is true.

This question invariably gets asked over and over throughout your entire adult life. I’m reading Business Brilliant right now and Lewis Schiff addresses the question right out of the gate in chapter two.

Many folks say that your true happiness is found in non-tangible things like a spiritual experience, for me it would be in Christ. Happiness is a choice, not a trait.

Five things I have learned about marketing a product or brand are:

1) Give full disclosure.

2) Clearly define the benefits

3) Give multiple choices on benefits and price

4) Be consistent.

5) Be on time every time.