Your Heart Must Be In It
I’ve spent a large part of the past few days writing a business plan for a friend. Although to do a proper one (and lamentably few people ever attempt one at all preceding a new venture) is notoriously tricky, it’s a fantastically rewarding experience when you complete.
I’ve not yet discussed the intricacies with my pal, but one of the key considerations involves staffing. The initial commercial idea was conceived after identifying a gap in the market. After this dawning though, were the ambitions centred around pure money-making, or enjoyment along with profit?
I mention this as at the same time, I happened across the Spectator Christmas edition. Best-selling author Tony Parson wrote a page about how you can only write a novel that flies from shelves by the barrow-load if your heart is truly in it, and it is never, ever an exercise in unfettered cash generation.
I quite enjoyed his postering. It really resonated with me as I’m always going on about people who really achieve do so because they follow success. And it is the subsequent accomplishment from which riches truly flow. Yet if you simply chase the dollar, you remain unfulfilled.
This is relevant in the context of my consultative business plan authoring, as the endeavour requires some management resource to be found. And their attitude is crucial to results. Also, in sales we all know that this is now the time of year when most of our ‘clocks go back to zero’, and many re-appraise where they’re headed with their career once the new target kicks in.
Parsons cites all sorts of literary mega-stars as starting out because they loved what they did, rather than seek enormous recompense, and, he contends, they’re all the better for it, including these debutants who seemingly scraped by before hitting the big-time:
JK Rowling (Harry Potter)
Mario Puzo (The Godfather)
Helen Fielding (Bridget Jones)
Dan Brown (Da Vinci Code)
Peter Benchley (Jaws)
Erich Segal (Love Story)
John Grisham (A Time To Kill)
And his final quote is annoyingly accurate for success in sales mentoring, about James Bond’s creator:
