Why Being The "Best" Isn't Enough

Happy Monday!

Do you know who Ichak Adizes is?

If not, don’t feel bad. If I asked 1,000 coaches the same question I don’t think anyone who know him either.

What about Gary Vaynerchuk?

Ah! Now there’s a name I bet your recognize. Who hasn’t heard of Gary Vee? And that’s what bothers me most about the new age of guru, in?uencer business coaches.

Both Gary and Ichak have written many books. They both speak on stage. They both have consulting businesses that work with large companies.

Yet while most of the world knows who Gary is, almost no one knows the name Ichak Adizes.

That’s a shame because Ichak’s book “Corporate Lifecycles - How and why corporations grow and die and what to do about it.” is one of the best business books ever written.

Contrast that with Gary’s most popular book “Crush It - Cash in on your passion.” which o?ers little in the way of actionable advice.

It serves more as a motivational, self-aggrandizing work to inspire you to get out there and ‘crush it’. You can quickly see what’s wrong with the industry.

Gary’s book still ranks in the top 100 in three categories on Amazon even though it was written in 2009. Ichak’s book comes in at a dismal 1,528th.

Ichak’s consulting ?rm has been helping medium and large companies grow for over 40 years. He even has an institute for training and licensing other professionals.

What about Gary? Last year he launch his latest money making scheme to separate his audience from their money. An NFT project that is reported to have made Gary a staggering 90 MILLION dollars in its ?rst 90 days.

I can bash on Gary (and the countless number of other business guru’s) all day. But that’s not my goal. I do it to illustrate a point.

Every industry has their version of a Gary Vee. And if you’re a true professional you look at that person with disgust.

They are rarely the best in the industry. They’re just the most well known. Many of them dole out bad, even harmful advice on a regular basis.

Take Jim Cramer from CNBC…

The advice o?ered by Jim is so bad there is actually a strategy called the “Inverse Cramer”. It follows the exact opposite advice of what Jim Cramer recommends on his show.

Last year the portfolio earned around an 18% ROI.

Yet Jim Cramer earns a staggering $5 Million a year to host his show “Mad Money”. Contrast that with your average investment advisor who brings in a paltry $127,000 a year.

Here’s what I believe…

The World Needs More Results Driven Professionals Willing to Take on the Gary Vees and Jim Cramers of the World.

Imagine if Ichak Adizes had have the marketing chops of a Gary Vee.

Think of the impact he could have on the world. For example, what if he’d had someone around when he was writing “Corporate Lifecycles” who could have said,

“Ichak, this book is amazing but the title SUCKS! We need to take a page out of the Gary Vee Playbook. Let’s name it something like, ‘The 1%ers - How great companies got that way, and stay that way.”

Now I came up with that title in about 10 seconds. If I gave it a little thought I’m sure I could improve on it. But even the one I did come up with is 100 times better than his title.

If you want to have maximum impact on the world it’s going to take more than just delivering results.

I happen to believe that results should be the number one focus of any company. You must deliver on the promise you make to your customers.

Here are a few tips to help you do that:

#1 Remember that accurate isn’t always helpful.

One of the things Gary and Jim do all the time is speak in absolutes. Watch any Youtube video of Gary and count how many times he uses words like must, always, never, best, only, etc.

“Now is the BEST time to XYZ”

”This is the ONLY way to get results”

”You MUST do X if you want Y”

Speaking in absolutes is what makes Gary so appealing. His advice is de?nitive. There’s no room for grey. Its what makes him such an authority.

As a professional you’re response to a question like, “What’s the best way to invest my retirement” is probably “Well, it depends.”

“Well, it depends” is accurate but it’s not helpful. What people want is the 1 thing. They want to be told exactly what to do and they want it told to them with certainty. Gary does it, most professionals don’t.

#2 Have a Simple Plan to Follow

Most coaches don’t have a clearly de?ned plan on how to get results for their customers. The ones who do rarely promote it in their marketing.

You need to have a clear process (3 steps) that a customer goes through to see results when they buy from you. Doesn’t matter if you sell life coaching or toilet bowl cleaner. Having a plan reinforces the belief that you are an authority in your industry.

#3 Have a Set of CORE Beliefs and Share Them Often

We buy from people we know, like and trust. Trust and likability come from a connection with one or more core beliefs.

How you feel about money, health, religion, culture and world events is important to you audience. So have a set of values, both personal and professional, that you live by.

One of my CORE professional values is,

“No matter how big or small the interaction, every person we connect with should leave the encounter feeling as though they are better for the experience.”

Doesn’t matter if it’s a twitter exchange or a paid coaching session. Every person should leave feeling like it was a valuable investment of their time and money.

This CORE value drives every decision we make as a company but we don’t hide it. It’s not buried in a ?le somewhere. I talk about it often. I share that value because I know my best clients feel the same way.

Now get out there an make some noise. Understand that the key to rising to the top in your industry requires you become a better marketer.

We need great coaches to rise to the top. My personal belief is that the best coach should win…period. I’m tired of seeing guys like Jim and Gary sucking up eyeballs an oxygen when there are better men (and women) like you out there.

Thanks for reading,

Jason

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