LETTER FROM THE CEO
Run Your Routes , It ’ s All Your Fault
Based on the speakers I ’ ve chosen for my events , no one can say I ’ m afraid of controversy . Sammy the Bull , Jordan Belfort ( Wolf of Wall Street ), soon Jordan Peterson , and recently , Lance Armstrong .
While I fully understand and appreciate the marketing value of a good controversy , that ’ s not why I decided to have Lance speak to my Producers Club members last October . I did it because I had a personal desire to meet the man and to know how he mentally and emotionally was able to thrive after such a devastating fall from grace .
Think about it : How do you go from being one of the most beloved , winning , and famous athletes in the world — a household name synonymous with hard work , determination , and success — to being a pariah in the eyes of the media and millions of people , many who felt deeply betrayed by his actions , in one fell swoop ?
When I was a kid , I was a fan of Lance like many other people . His fame was right up there with Michael Jordan , Wayne Gretzky , or Andre Agassi , not only winning the Tour de France seven times but doing so after an unbelievable recovery from advanced , metastasized testicular cancer that should have ended his life . Love him or hate him , you cannot deny the dude is an elite athlete and gritty , determined — a serious winner at heart .
There were two big takeaways I got from his presentation that I will carry with me as I continue my own “ Tour de France ” in growing my business .
The first was how he completely and totally owned his decisions and mistakes . He even said as much during the interview — that his choices and mistakes made him who he is today , and given that his life was pretty damned good , he lived without regrets . This is one of the things that irked a lot of people initially when he publicly admitted to doping . When asked what he would change if he could do everything over again , his honest response was , " I wouldn ' t change a thing ." He believes , as I do , that illegal doping was a necessity to have a chance at winning , given 20 out of the 21 top three finishers admitted to doping as well — a wellknown truth that has since come to light .
Truly owning our mistakes and choices is a strange , unfamiliar , and loathsome personal trait to a large ( and sadly growing ) number of the general population who are forever in search of someone or something to blame for their shortcomings and miseries . So many social programs , even ones with good intentions , start to breed an attitude of irresponsibility and entitlement for personal choices .
The second really big takeaway was Lance ’ s insights into what he did when he was going through the pinnacle of losing everything — his titles , his sponsorships , his Livestrong Foundation , and his reputation . He said , and I ’ m paraphrasing , that he kept waking up every day and running his routes — a nod to what football players practice over and over again in practice . He said , “ I just knew if I kept running my routes , that at some point , life would throw me the ball , and this time , I wouldn ’ t drop it .”
Often , when we hit a bump in the road in business , we stop doing the things that make us successful . We stop “ running the routes .” In sales , that ’ s constantly prospecting and practicing your presentations , closing strategies , and objection handling . Making the calls , doing the follow-up , and going to the place where you ’ ll meet prospects — even when ( and especially when ) “ nobody ” seems to be buying . In marketing , that means keep posting the content , sending out the campaigns , working on the SEO and website , nurturing the leads , conducting the webinars , the seminars , the events — even when “ nothing ” seems to be working .
Far too many people are easily deterred and quickly discouraged to the point of stopping . They are not so determined to continue until they “ get it to work ,” whatever that is , from hiring a great salesperson , implementing a productive marketing oil well , raising the profitability of their organization by whatever means is necessary . They stop “ running their routes ” and perfecting them . Instead , they throw down the ball in disgust , take off the gear , and go sulk in the locker room .
There were a ton of other great golden nuggets from his talk , and we ’ ll share some of them with you in the article on Lance as well as some video footage from the interview . Get some .
Sincerely ,
Robin Robins Founder And CEO , MSP Success
Robin Robins is the CEO and Founder of TMT . TMT is the parent company of MSP Success .