Thinking, Working, and Hustling

I have always loved self improvement. I am lucky I was born positive, so I Iook at improvement as and opportunity rather than being deficit focussed.

When I joined Thought Leaders Business School I noticed the others around me. Some academics, some world class deliverers and some who had the work ethic of beavers.

Some, like me, had high levels of belief and had no problems selling themselves or the horse they rode in on. I knew I was a good speaker, that I could entertain a crowd but if I am honest, my thinking was shallow and I was getting paid in applause!

It was quickly drummed into us that our job was to think, sell and deliver. To do the work, capturing our IP, selling our clusters and delivering experiences to our clients. In a room full of 150 high-performance humans there were plenty of strengths but it was the gaps I was most intrigued by.

I used a couple of Thought Leaders case studies, people I admired for being incredible at either Think, Sell or Deliver. I labeled them as Thinkers, Workers and Hustlers.

The Thinkers could decode huge problems, they loved developing and extending ideas and were experts in procrastination! They needed to get out from behind their desks, to take action and get comfortable with selling themselves. Their strength was the quality of their IP, their challenge was simplicity and action, and their risk was they were often complicated and hard to buy!

The Workers were super organised, they typed fast, they were always prepared and worked a lot. You could set your watch on the time their blog arrived in your inbox – at exactly the same time and day, each week! They needed to allow themselves time to think and wonder, to sell stuff before it was perfect and to stop being so hard on themselves! Their strength was discipline and action, their challenge was self belief and trust, and their risk was they were often intense and exhausted!

The Hustlers loved action, they were selling things they hadn’t even created and loved the thrill of delivery. They needed to sit still and ‘do the work’, they needed help with systems and processes and they needed to commit to regular positioning rather than spasmodic flashes of inspiration! Their strength was their belief and ability to perform, their challenge was discipline and accountability, and their risk was being superficial and misleading.

The aim of the game is to get in the middle of the Venn. To get really good at thinking, at selling and at delivering.

Throwing myself head first into the curriculum helped me to develop my thinking. Employing a business manager helped me get better at doing the work. Having someone with strengths in the areas I was lacking, forced me into systems that knocked me into shape. The pressure of paying someone else also helped. It was a commitment to me, to my practice and to me doing the work.

• What do you need to become a “Thorough Thought Leader”?
• What is the solution to your gap?
• What exists between where you are now and where you want to reach?
• Are you a Thinker, a Worker or a Hustler? You can find out here!