KEYS TO SUCCESS
Does Someone Else Hold the
Keys to Your Success?
10 Ways To Prove To Them You Are Deserving
BY: KEVIN DAUM, AUTHOR OF ROAR!
E
very day you are being
assessed.
This
successful
CEO shares how to rise to the
challenge...always.
Although sometimes it appears
to the contrary, most leaders, business
owners, and entrepreneurs agree that no
one really succeeds alone. Even the most
talented and driven person benefits from
having good mentorship and connections,
or at least from having the occasional
door opened. The big problem, as many
ambitious people discover in the early
phases of their development, is proving
to gatekeepers that you deserve access
and acceptance.
Marc Blackman has been proving
himself for 24 years. You might think him
lucky since he married the daughter of
a successful entrepreneur. But making
the marriage was insufficient to earn
immediate respect in business.
The company was Gold Eagle Co.,
a
60+-year-old
Chicago-based
manufacturer of performance chemicals
and surface treatments. Blackman
obviously did not start out in the respected
CEO role he holds today.
Blackman recalls, “So I left a good sales
career at E&J Gallo winery to join another
family business.” He knew that all eyes
would be on him from the start, waiting to
see if he would become an asset or just
dead weight. He would have to do more
than anyone else to prove his worth, and
he would have to do it every day. “Nobody
knew anything about me, except that I’d
married into the family business.” Ten
6
|
SPRING 2018
years later, he is running that business. and believe his good fortune was earned.
“In the end,” he says, “It actually isn’t that
different from earlier professional and
personal experiences. There are a few
simple practices that demonstrate your
worth. Do them well and doors will open.”
Here are Blackman’s 10 recommended
practices for proving yourself to the
gatekeepers of your success. 3. KNOW YOUR STUFF.
1. KNOW AND SHOW YOUR
STRENGTHS.
“I knew what I was good at,” says
Blackman, “I have approachability,
friendliness, and inquisitiveness along
with business acumen and knowledge
of consumer product sales. “He saw that
Gold Eagle, a company with a powerful
85-year history in Chicago, wanted to stay
true to the core values that it developed
as a small storefront during the Great
Depression. It also needed to chart a way
forward. Blackman demonstrated how his
people skills and business acumen could
help them reach the future while honoring
the past.
2. BE GENUINE, AND SHOW THAT YOU
DESERVE YOUR GOOD FORTUNE.
Early in his tenure at Gold Eagle,
Blackman realized that some would see
his role in the company as the result of
plain luck. If he could show integrity,
honesty, and passion, however, they
might decide to appreciate him instead of
resenting him. “I can’t be anything other
than me!” he quips, “So I just tried to
bring my best qualities to the table every
day.”The better he was appreciated, the
more his colleagues came to respect him
6
Gold Eagle might be a family business,
but it is a business-first family business.
Blackman saw the need to quickly
educate himself about all aspects of
manufacturing. “Every day is a chance
to learn and to prove yourself,” he recalls,
“I continually learn about chemical
formulations, EPA compliance, research
and development, human resources,
packaging, operations, quality control,
distribution, customer needs, and
marketing.” Becoming an insider means
developing insider information and
expertise.
4. SURROUND YOURSELF WITH
STRENGTH.
There’s an old adage that says, “We are
the company we keep.” That includes the
professionals you choose to surround
yourself with at work and in your networks.
“Build strong teams, and empower them
to do their jobs,” advises Blackman, “and
remember that teams don’t exist on an org
chart; they thrive by trust, empowerment,
autonomy, cohesiveness, and ultimately,
daily fulfillment.” You will get more done,
and the keepers of the keys will see that
you attract worthy companions.
5. LET CULTURE WEAR THE CROWN.
At a “traditional” manufacturer like Gold
Eagle, cultures can collide within the
organization at all levels, especially in
moments of transition. As they recruited
younger talent, adopted digital marketing,
and gained competence in e-commerce,
Blackman knew he could not take an