Releasing the Genius Releasing the Genius Magazine - Issue 2 | Page 11

receiver ever. If you ask those who
have ever played with him what made
him different, they would uniformly
say “Jerry practiced like he was in the
game.” Rather than using practice to
warm up for the games, Jerry practiced
like they were the game. So, when game
day arrived, it was just like another
practice. He over-rehearsed. Most guys
couldn’t keep up in practice. They may
have had more raw natural talent, but
they didn’t love to practice as much as
Jerry.
THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE
What I’ve found is that the people who
achieve real lasting success in life have
more than just one skill or attribute that
defines their success. Very often, their
life success is an unusual combination
of their skills and attributes. In fact, few
are real standouts in any single area, but
the combination of their various skills
makes them really successful.
Let me give you a real-life example. I
know a man who is a CPA (Certified
Public Accountant). He started out his
career in a national public accounting
firm where he consulted with a number
of companies. Eventually he left to work
inside a single company. He had never
been the best accountant at his public
accounting firm or won any awards in
accounting. He was not the world’s best
and he didn’t care.
He’s also been a marathoner and ultra-
marathoner. He’s run 32 marathons in
his life and a few ultra-marathons. Much
like his accounting career, he’s never
been remarkable as a runner. He’s never
won a race. In fact, he hasn’t even made
really good times, but he has finished
all of his races. He learned when he
was a middling high school basketball
player that he was never going to
distinguish himself with his athleticism,
but he could learn how to outwork his
teammates. This guy has learned how
to gut it out. Hard work and brute force
effort sometimes are enough to succeed.
He is also the son of a flea market
merchant. His father spent a second
career buying and selling collectibles
at flea markets. His dad could spot an
undervalued item, buy it, and sell it for
a profit. His dad had a deep knowledge
of the collectible markets and used
it to his advantage. Our accountant/
marathoner is also a stamp collector.
Like his father, he can spot a bargain
stamp, buy it, and turn it to his profit.
In his little circle of stamp collectors,
he’s known as a guy who can make
deals happen. So much so that other
collectors want to be a part of his team
of purchasers.
At his job, he doesn’t look remarkable,
but this combination of deep accounting
knowledge, brute force effort, and the
ability to spot a deal has brought him,
and the company where he is CFO,
great financial success. One winter, he
spent weeks plowing through (brute
force) dozens of legal contracts with
investors. Because of his accounting
knowledge, he spotted a way to
renegotiate the contracts so that both
the investor gained and the company
gained (“finding money in the couch
cushions”). By the end of the fiscal
year, he and his team renegotiated all
the contracts and gained his company
millions of dollars. He’s done the
same thing again and again, year after
year. His boss finally asked him to
get some help running the accounting
department. It seems that every year,
he’s able to find several million dollars.
Who would have ever thought thousands
of hours running and years of hanging
out at flea markets, combined with
some knowledge of accounting, could
make a company millions of dollars?
DR. ROGER HALL
As a consulting psychologist
licensed in Idaho, Ohio, and
Indiana, Dr. Hall provides
executive coaching to
business owners, senior
executives, and high
potential young leaders. Dr.
Hall also provides executive
assessment services for
companies as they choose
people to develop.
Dr. Hall enjoys training work
groups to enhance their
performance, and facilitating
executive agenda and team
building meetings. and has
worked with leaders from
Fortune 20 companies as
well as small entrepreneurial
firms.
YOU TAKE IT FROM HERE
What are the things that you love to
do? What are unusual ways that you
can combine your skills, attributes, and
interests to make you truly successful?
A wheel with just one spoke will never
get you anywhere. Find the multiple
spokes of the wheel that makes sure
you’re a smooth-running wheel. You
will likely never be best in the world at
any one thing, but you are likely to have
an unusual combination of skills and
attributes that makes you world class.
Find those and have a happy, successful
life!
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