Are you MARKED for success?

How committed are you to your success?  I like to think I am but I don’t think I would go as far as my friend Kevin Daum has.  He is on a quest for what he calls the “Jewish Super Bowl Ring”; a New York Times Best Seller with his latest book, Roar!

Kevin shared his thoughts earlier this year with Mike Michalowicz, The Toilet Paper Entrepreneur about personal commitment and what it takes to succeed in the Sales and Marketing Jungle.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K62ponMIHtU]

“Go Big or Go Home” – Kevin Daum

In days like these,  we hear a lot about leaders who are looking for commitment, engagement, and the need for people who are willing to give all they have to the project, the plan, and the goals of the company.  Yet, how many of us as leaders are truly committed to ‘go all in” as they say in Vegas.

Commitment is not measured in words – JKW

The true measure of commitment is not your words, it’s your actions.  If you don’t believe me – ask your team.  They know what their leaders are truly committed to because they pay attention to not just what we say but what we do.

Your team may listen to what you say… but they do what you demonstrate. – JKW

I’ve met a lot of authors who say they want a New York Times Best Seller. OK, lets be honest, most of us would be doing the happy dance if this happened.  But would we sell our big house, and move to a nice (but small) apartment in Manhattan to be closer to the action.  Would we hound our publisher with idea after idea to get extra support, stand on a street corner in the cold passing out flyers to passer-byes,  meet  with group after group telling the same story over and over again, or chronicle each step of the way on a blog for all the world to see.  I’ve watched Kevin do it.  (Ok, I admit it – after the tattoo I had to see what he would come up with next.  And I am not even his publisher, that honor went to John Wiley and Sons.)

Watching Kevin pursue his dream, I believe him when he says he will be a New York Times Best Selling Author some day.  And because HE is so committed, it made me want to ‘join his team’ by offering some encouragement here.

If you want your team engaged, keep your sense of humor. – JKW

As leaders, we need to keep trying new things, finding ways to add more value, and deliver a quality product .  We need to recruit champions and inspire our team to carry the message further.

In Kevin’s case he has come up with some very innovative ideas to promote his book.  I’ve even used some of them, with his blessing, in promoting CorePurpose Publishing’s latest release, The Recipe: A fable for leaders and teams by Amilya Antonetti.  It must be working – after a while Amazon started to offer the books as a pairing together.

In watching Kevin what I have noticed, through it all, is he is loving every step of the journey.  He never loses his smile or his personal belief that he will get to the end of the road.  He has a quality product (I bought the book and read it) and he’s kept his sense of humor.  For example – check out his “book trailer”…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qord1Y_VU-8]

So whatever dream you and your team are pursuing, you might want to take a page from Kevin’s book and live your commitment.  You just might end up doing your own happy dance!  (Hey Kevin – what IS the name of that song?)

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay Tuned…

Joan Koerber-Walker

Posted in Real World Inspiration.