The month of March has been our/my best single month ever. I am in awe of this year’s first quarter as well, three record months that will go down in history. Momentum is the only word that comes to mind when I try to describe our accomplishments in March. During the 4th quarter of last year, I made a commitment to myself that 2007 would be our best so far. We spent much of 2006 laying a well thought out foundation that grew to be as solid as a mountain of granite. When I say foundation, I not only mean infrastructure, people, strategy and practices, but also foundations of psychology, spirituality and mentality. Unlike in home building, in business and in life, foundations are constantly added onto, extended, improved, restructured and reinforced… so why is our foundation so strong?
A few words come to mind…. Strategy, Commitment, Execution and Consistency. These four words are the core of our foundation. Our team’s focus on each, has led to the coveted momentum that we are experiencing today. I’ve been asked time and time again, “How do you catch momentum and how do you quantify it?” In response, I offer to the world or the 5 people who read my blog a simple formula to quantify and measure momentum. Calculate your current Strategy (S) X (C)Commitment X(E) Execution X (C)Consistency = (M) your Momentum or SxCxExC =M Sound complicated???…. Here’s a simple way to do the math. Rate each area described on a scale of 1 to 25 (round numbers make it easy). If you’re honest, you won’t rate yourself as a 25 on all fronts. If you do rate yourself that high, then please send me a comment as to why you’re reading this post and not buying a small country. The goal in this assessment is to be hard on yourself! It doesn’t matter what number you assign, what matters is that you’re honest in your self-assessment. The closer you are to 100 points (percent), the more success you’ll have. Okay, I know there’s some subjectivity here, and that’s the beauty of it! If you’re a part of a team, have each member rate themselves and average the score (take the sum score/surveys). If you’re a solo artist then assess yourself…. And make sure to always ask yourself the following question. What do I need to do to improve my score today? I find that when I have unanswered questions, I eventually find the answer, usually in my sleep. You’ll know where to start asking questions based on where your low scores are.
Lastly, here’s my subjective input on definitions: Strategy: This is your written plan; your game plan. I always recommend that you start with the short term and write your strategy by week, then month, quarter, year, and decade. This plan should be grounded in numbers (thank you John Tolmie). Now that you’ve assessed your strategy, it’s time to take a hard look at your Commitment: Commitment is the most subjective of the bunch. This should be rated by how committed you are to the strategy/game plan/subject. Would you die for it or lose sleep for 100 months to achieve it? The aforementioned are some anecdotal concepts of commitment, degrees of severity vary by personality type. Some people might have to ask the question… Would I postpone a vacation? Or quit eating chips and salsa? For me it’s a question of “will I, or what will I sacrifice for it?” That’s how I self measure commitment (I am admittedly very very high maintenance). Execution is where the money is. Once you’ve got the strategy and the commitment, you need skilled experienced team members to execute (big nod to all of our team members). Recruiting the best team members was a major focus of our Board of Directors in 2006. To paraphrase Jim Collins in Good to Great… “get the right people on the bus, wrong people off the bus and drive the bus toward the collective vision of the team”. Wow, can I tell you, this is an area that I’ve found religion in. Fred, Scot, Russ, Mark and everyone else who broke your pick on me… I finally got it!!! Hire the very best and cut like a Ginsu knife. Which leads me to Consistency: Now, I’ll be humble with you. This is an area of improvement for me. Ever since my early years, teachers have always had to tell me… “Ryan, stay focused!” sometimes with a paddle. Partly because of my ADD and partly because of my creativity and partly because of the way this plane smells “wait get focused Ryan” oh, yeah and partly because I get bored easy and I’m a thrill seeker. Okay, so read it or leave it… Those are my thoughts on momentum as I fly to Alaska, 24 hours before March is in the record books with the wind at my back and a strategy (23) a committed team (24) focused on execution (19) and being very consistent (23). 89% not bad…. But what’s it going to take to be 100? Stay tuned… In momentum,