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In the coming weeks I'll be posting interviews with the successful entrepreneurial millionaires featured in my book, 21 Questions for 21 Millionaires. Enjoy.
First, I’d love to get to know you and your background.
I was born and raised in Queens New York. I went to school in upstate New York and then got a job on Wall Street, but the market back then was awful. There was no volume, it was a different market; there was no money to be made.
Was it your dream to work on Wall Street?
On the plane this week I watched an NFL Network special on Kurt Warner, former Arizona Cardinals quarterback.
I didn’t see the whole thing, but what I did see was very impressive. I knew he had a son with special needs and was active in causes involving his son’s needs. What I didn’t know was just what a humble, genuine, solid guy he is.
When I started watching, they were talking about how he signed with the Green Bay Packers as his first NFL team and immediately bought a green JMC Jimmy with his $5,000 signing bonus, since he thought he was going to be a Packer for life.
Turns out that wasn’t going to be the case.
At training camp the coach told him to go in. He responded, “I’m not ready.” He wasn’t ready and he got cut.
He moved in with Brenda, his girlfriend, who had two children, taking care of the kids during the day and working at a grocery store at night. One night his car ran out of gas on the highway with the kids in the car. He started contemplating his situation and how disheartening it was to have been an NFL prospect and was now sitting on the side of the highway out of gas.
The idea flashed in his mind to check out the arena football league, which was growing in popularity. He thought, “I’m better than that.” Then he looked at his situation. “Oh yeah, you’re better than that,” he thought to himself. “You’re stocking shelves at night.” So he tried out.
He did well in the league, which got him noticed and that led him back into the NFL. He did well enough to become a starting quarterback. Then he did really well, leading the St. Louis Rams to a SuperBowl® victory after the 1999 season and winning a pair of MVP awards.
In subsequent years, however, he lost his rhythm and was replaced by Mark Bulger. Rather than complain and wallow in bitterness, he helped Mark and it was said that he was as excited about Mark’s performance as Mark was himself. That’s an unselfish, humble guy.
During his time with the New York Giants Kurt struggled again and was replaced by Eli Manning, who was just starting his career. Even though Eli played terribly, Kurt refused to create a quarterback controversy. Kurt said the worst decision the team could make would be to send him in in a relief situation for Eli because Eli should be able to play without having to look over his shoulder. Class act.
When he played for the Arizona Cardinals, who had been to the playoffs only one time in 60 years, he was again tasked with helping prepare a franchise quarterback like he was in New York with Eli. What he did was bigger than that. He helped Larry Fitzgerald expand his vision of just how good he could be—and just look how Larry has responded.
Not only did Kurt take the Cardinals to the playoffs, he took them all the way to the SuperBowl® (I wonder if the NFL will have a problem with me promoting their most watched event since they are real sticklers on the trademark for the SuperBowl® (oops, I said it again).
After the Cardinals lost the SuperBowl®, he went to find his family in the stands. He could tell they felt badly for him. He looked at them and said, “Life isn’t about a football game. It’s about moments. It’s about the gifts God gives you and relishing them.” He remarked later that one of the things he regretted about losing the SuperBowl® with the Rams after the 2001 season is that they didn’t celebrate what they had accomplished.
Here are some other interesting facts about the guy. He adopted Brenda’s two kids after they got married. They then had 5 more children, including a set of twin girls.
The most impressive thing, even with all of the other things mentioned about him in the special, came at the end, when his wife Brenda, the person who knows his faults and flaws as well as anyone on the planet, said, “He is the best person I’ve ever met in my life. The absolute best person. He makes the world a better place.”
Tuesday, Greg and I as Dynamic Duo Events, had a chance to conduct a team building event for the Erie Chamber of Commerce.
What a blast.
Samantha, Patty, Jim, Adam, Barrie, Augie, and the crew were in fine form. We played some minute to win it games, brushed up on our trivia, and had a great conversation about company culture and creating happy, loyal customers. It was a good conversation because they shared the good ideas.
It's a treat to participant in meaningful conversation with entrepreneurs, business owners, employees, and managers about what creates a good working environment. After all, we spent a majority of our life there. We may as well enjoy it.
In fact, 71% of Millennials want their coworkers to be a second family(1) and #3 of the top 6 reasons why employees leave jobs is the working environment/culture(2). Turns out team building is good for strengthening bonds and the bottom line.
I admit, when I used to think about team building activities I thought of kitschy, forced activities designed to get you to 'see things from the other person's perspective,' 'learn to give and take,' and 'be a team player,' all of which loosely translated to 'let the other person have their way,' and implies that all people are reasonable.
In the last several years, however, I've experienced and produced team building events that aren't like what I pictured. When they work, team building events emphasize each individual using their strengths to benefit the whole, mutual respect, and having fun without a commandeered outcome (lots of team building events seem designed to make you reach a certain, pre-programmed outcome to make a point that may or may not be accurate).
When done right, team building events allow people to get a little outside of themselves, to have fun, and to engage at a different level. This may be ropes courses, outdoor excursions, or just some time away from the office in a relaxed setting. Whatever it is, when you plan your team building events, be sure to account for the fact that people don't mind getting outside their comfort zone if they know it's safe and fun.
Safe: It's OK to keep score and it's OK that not everyone gets a prize. But if someone participants and gets shamed for doing something poorly or answering a question incorrectly, they will not only shut down during the event but also back at the office. Reward all participation with acknowledgement and thanks. See that teams are inspired to work together within themselves, rather than compete internally.
Fun: Active without being strenuous. Get people out of their comfort zone, reward people for going above and beyond, and for heaven's sake, create some excitement with prizes, trophies, recognition, etc. When you keep score at a team building event, teams rally around each other trying their best to win. There's a different level of enjoyment and engagement as you strive toward a goal with people when you're having fun.
Dynamic Duo Corporate Team Building Events
New Year's Resolutions - I hate 'em. I don't need to wait for the new year to make adjustments. I should be doing that the whole year through.
But here's the thing. I'm human. And even when I know the right thing to do I don't always do it (I'm on a journey toward self-improvement just like the rest of us). Therefore, the new year is a good time to refocus, to reprioritize, and recommit.
This is by no means an exhaustive list; how could it be?
These are just some of the things for which my gratitude is overflowing this Thanksgiving.
If I've left you off the list, it's not intentional.
Everyone I've met has blessed my life and you are no exception.
As soon as I post I know I'll think of 5 more things to add. Perhaps I'll keep updating the list on Facebook - Oh, there's one more thing for which I'm (mostly) grateful...
You need tools and insights to grow your small business, but you’re too swamped to even look up from your To Do list.
If you’re like many small business owners, you barely have time for yourself. You’ve got products to develop, sales to make, employees to tend to, customers to serve, bills to pay, and books to keep.
That doesn’t leave a lot of time to search out, much less find, valuable thoughts and ideas to help you do what you do even better.
That’s where I hope to help. I research successful individuals and companies and provide tools and insights about what they're doing so you can keep your eyes where they belong--your business.
Although I haven’t read the book, "The Four Agreements," I know that I align with its premise. The concepts resonate with my personal experience of how I learned to speak my truth, eliminate needless pain, clarify what I believe is going on, and do my best. I try to live the Four Agreements in real life, although I do it very imperfectly and it's still in progress. But that's what real life is - halting, slow, steady progress. There is no overnight success, there are no shortcuts.
Here's what I've learned about the importance of and the rewards I've gained from my imperfect efforts to live the Four Agreements in real life.
