What's YOUR Stock Selling For?

If you were a business, what would your stock be selling for?

My dad worked hard every day of his life.  With five kids to feed, who wouldn’t! 

My father had a 25 year career in the telecommunications industry.  He installed phones and phone systems. In the beginning he was that crazy guy who’d climb telephone polls to fix the wires.  Dangerous...but it paid well.  He knew this wasn’t the life he wanted forever.  

Hours, days, and sometimes weeks were spent studying new systems, learning new programs, getting his hands on anything that would give him an opportunity to advance in the industry.  He moved from company to company, always in a positive upward direction, until he eventually retired at 54.

If my dad was a business, and his stock was worth his hourly wage, he might have sold for $8 a share back in the 1970‘s.  By the time he retired his stock was worth well over $40/50 a share.  He was a hard man to replace.

Years ago someone taught me the concept that “We are paid based on the value we bring to the market place.”  

Most people don't think this way.  Most people think, "I get paid based on the hours I work" or "I get paid on how hard I work."  Listen, I live in Ventura County CA and we have strawberry fields where people are working harder than I'd ever work, for longer than I'd ever want to.  It's not just about time and effort, it's about the "value we bring."


My father was a laborer.  He worked hard, over time every chance he got, to provide for his family.  He understood this concept VERY WELL.

Add more value...make more money.

Add little value...make little money.

Add no value...you get the picture.


For some of you...this may be empowering and reinforcing to your current situation.  If you aren't happy with your present level of income, this should call presence to the reality of your current situation and how you can powerfully impact it.

In any company, we add value to the degree we perform our job.  

Personally, this is why I am such a proponent that people get involved in sales for some period of time in their lives.  You are afforded the opportunity to directly experience adding value and receiving a reward for it.  

If you sell a product or service that makes a positive difference in someone’s life, you’ve officially “added value” to them.  You also ADD VALUE to your company because you just made them money, so they PAY you.  Add more value, make more sales...make more money.  Simple...agreed?

At 19, my ‘stock’ was trading pretty low.  I was attending Gonzaga University in WA state and I NEEDED a job or I would have to drop out.

The summer after my freshman year, I was blessed with the opportunity attain a sales position with with Vector Marketing, the direct sales arm of Cutco Cutlery.  Not much of a natural sales person, I remember the nervousness of my first sales presentation.  As bad as I was, I still managed to make a sale.  My commissions rang up to $65 from that hour long sales presentation. $65 may not mean a whole lot to you...but to a 19 year old that was gas, food, beer, and date money!

I went to advanced trainings, and worked hard to understand the philosophies of the job. Shortly there after came the day when I EARNED $100 from a sale, then $300, then $500.  OOO-WWW-EEE!  

By getting better at my craft, I made more money.  Paying for college was a cinch.

I developed a passion for selling.  I went through every company training, even paid money out of my own pocket to go to non-company sponsored trainings, bought and read every book I could get my hands on.

I took every chance I could to increase my STOCK, and VALUE to the marketplace.  By the time I moved out of sales in my early twenties, I was making more than my father made the day he retired.  His lesson lived on.

Here’s what I’m getting at.  You don’t NEED to be in sales to experience this phenomenon.  If you work for ANY company, learn to do your job BETTER than anyone else and you will increase YOUR value to your company.  Spend time learning new products or programs that are coming out...you are INCREASING your VALUE to the company.  Find SOLUTIONS to PROBLEMS that they are having and you will INCREASE your VALUE to your company.  

Live by the CANEI principle= Constant And Never Ending Improvement

Take your growth seriously.  Act as if your life depends on it...because it does.  Bring a relentless passion for excellence in your field. 

When that next promotion opens up...who do you think they are going to pick?  When that new office opens up, who do you think they want to run operations?  When major layoffs occur...who do you think is LAST on the list? 

Most people don’t think this way.  They look to their company for job security.  For assurance, for guarantees.  Now that’s scary!

There are no guarantees in life except that people get what’s coming to them.  Commit FIRST to add a ton of value to the world, and you will always have financial security.  IT’S HOW THE WORLD WORKS!

Even if you were to actually lose your job, and you’ve really taken the time to invest in yourself, there is no doubt in my mind...someone would be chomping at the bits to ‘buy stock’ in your company.

It’s a simple process.  The world responds to EARN not DESERVE.  We EARN our keep every day.  Never forget that!

Knowing the Ropes

There are many moments in life and some particular ones have a way of transforming our outlook on EVERYTHING.
When I was 21, my father introduced me to a seminar company called PSI (People Synergisticly Involved). After taking their introductory course, which was very eye opening, I decide to jump into their week long personal development camp called PSI 7 (Seven days long ;-).
We went to a cabin on a ranch somewhere in Northern California. We were doing several fun, challenging, and eye opening excursions every day. One particular has stuck with me.
One morning we were woken up extremely early, and told to meet outside in 15 minutes. With it still being dark out, I decided to throw on some warm clothes for the morning adventure.
We walk about 15 minutes from the cabin to the base of this mountain, at which point they blind folded each of us. The facilitator put a 2 inch rope in my hand and said "follow the rope."
For thirty minutes I fearfully take steps into the unknown of this mountain and move my hands along this rope. So many thoughts were shooting through my brain. ‘Why are we doing this?’ ‘What if I trip and hurt myself?’ ‘Where are we going?’ ‘How long will this take?’. Eventually, the person in front of me came to a stand still.
The facilitator walks up to me and asks, "Why did you stop?"
To which I replied, "The person in front of me stopped moving."
I will never forget what he said next. "When are you going to stop holding yourself back because of the people around you and in front of you? Follow the rope!"
I work my hands past the 3 people in front of me who were stopped, and I continue vigorously along the trail. After about 45 minutes to an hour, we make it to the top of this mountain, which overlooks this majestic wilderness of pine trees and the rising sun. "What a view!" I thought to myself.
Thoughts started to race through my head about what the facilitator had said. "When are you going to stop holding yourself back because of the people around you and in front of you?"
I felt a conflicted empowerment. My friends and family were all I had. I couldn't up and stop talking to them all together. BUT at the same time I felt this strong desire to do what they weren't doing. To bring a higher level of energy to my work and passions. To stop giving excuses. To truly be 100% responsible for my results. I felt invigorated to do anything.

There are 2 core messages that profoundly changed my life from this experience.
1) I do not need to leave the people around me to go where I want to go. I simply needed to GO. To get on the journey. Regardless of what they say. To be THEIR inspiration. To be the one THEY follow. I realized that I CAN BE A LEADER. Then I learned the second lesson...
2) I AM ALWAYS LEADING. The thought came to me as I passed the 3 people on that hike who were stuck on the rope. Why were they stopped? The 3rd would say, "because the one in front of me had stopped." To which the one in front her would say, "The one in front of me had stopped." To which the one in front would say, "Because I was scared."

"Who is being held back in my life because of who I'm choosing to be?" That's a question I often ask myself that and puts a queezy feeling in my stomach. It's my motivation to be great, to get better, to try new things, to lightly consider others opinions, to break through fears, to make unreasonable requests, to bring fire to my foot steps. The world starts and stops with me. If it is to be, it is up to me.

TAKE HOME:
Consider that...whether you like it or not...you are a leader too. Who you are choosing to be today has an impact on the people around you. Positively and negatively. KNOWING THAT...what do you want your impact on them to be?
And if that doesn't motivate you to grow...then maybe you need to read this blog again!