Have you ever read Napoleon Hill’s book, Think and Grow Rich?
In the book, there is a story about an insurance salesman and his uncle who headed west during the gold rush to get a piece of the action.
Here’s a snapshot of the story:
After a few weeks of sweating and working hard, the pair found bits of gold. Excited, they hid the dig site and went home to ask friends and family to help them buy the machinery so they could dig deeper – and uncover a gold mine.
They thought they hit the jackpot when they uncovered a full cart of gold deep in the mine.
So, they increased their efforts and sent the drill down again and again only to get ……….nothing.
After a ton of effort, no more gold was to be found, no matter how much they dug.
Eventually, they gave up, sold the machinery to a local junk man for pennies, and went back home disappointed, unable to even pay back their debt to their friends and family. (FYI: To speak to how honorable they were, after many years, they did repay all they owed).
The junk man called in an expert, a mining engineer, to find out for sure if the mine was worthless.
The mining engineer shared that the project had failed because the insurance salesman and his uncle didn’t know what they didn’t know.
The real god mine lay just 3 feet from where they’d been digging. They were exactly 3 feet from enough gold to set themselves up for a lifetime of riches.
Armed with this knowledge, the “junk man” put the machinery to work…and become a millionaire practically overnight. All by calling in an expert in an area he wasn’t familiar with, making the few small suggested tweaks, and riding the wave of expert know-how straight to the bank.
I notice something similar when I consult with business professionals about how to position themselves as an expert so they can get the recognition and money they deserve.
I have worked with both men and women who have been solo-entrepreneurs, small business owners with brick & mortar businesses, non-profit directors, multi-million dollar startups, and corporate professionals in over 20 industries on 3 continents.
Often, I find a few simple mistakes that decrease their visibility and cause them to bevirtually invisible even when standing in front of someone.
These mistakes can mean the difference between attracting BIG opportunities and absolutely NOTHING at all.
For example, meet my client Sally (not her real name) who was a former CEO for a successful startup and was recruited into what she thought was going to be her “dream job” in a larger company. But, that didn’t happen.
Instead of inspiring her employees to create big change in the world and using her creativity and hutzpah to bring the company to new heights, Sally ended up working long hours that left her exhausted and working on an endless list of things she really didn’t have passion for.
Even though her employees loved her, she’d been passed over for promotion and demoted (or at least it felt like it) and she was beginning to wonder if she should quit and start over.
And this is when she hired me as her coach to help her be a better leader. In the end, she got a new title, a promotion that added $25K to her bank account each year, plus the largest bonus ever given in her organization.
Are you three feet from gold?
ACTION: The Upside Challenge this week is to identify an area where you don’t know what you don’t know. Now, that may sound a little silly but I’m sure you are just aware as I am about where my expertise falls short and when I need to call in for a little help. Don’t delay in reaching out for support. The difference between great leaders and mediocre followers is being willing to surround yourself with people smarter than you and get the assistance you need, just like the junk man did in the story and my client Sally did on her own journey. Maybe it’s in selling yourself, maybe it’s in knowing what to say and how to say it, maybe it’s how to make connections – but whatever that area is commit to doing ONE THING this week that will get you closer to your pot of gold. And, whether it’s with me or someone else, have you known you need to hire a coach but have been putting it off? Reach out to someone TODAY.
The world needs your brilliance – and you could be just 3 feet from gold.