...............................................................................................
Creating Breakthroughs in Business and Life
By Ted
Santos
I often
talk about creating breakthroughs.
While it is fulfilling to
accomplish a breakthrough, what do you do once the breakthrough is realized?
Too often the thought is to
do it more, better or different of the same thing. This could be a strategy
that has a high probability of getting you stuck in a rut.
For example, in the early
1900s, Henry Ford declared most households would own a car. At that time,
automobiles took 9 months to build by hand and the cost was around $1,500.
In a country where the
average annual income was about half that, cars were still for the wealthy.
However, Ford’s assembly line made it possible
to build a car in 9 days. In 1906, he charged $806 for an automobile.
By 1924, his Model T cost $247 and at that time, most households
owned a vehicle. To top it off, Ford had 60% of the market share.
And what did Henry
Ford want? He wanted to further reduce the cost of buying a car.
At the same time, GM
went beyond Ford and provided consumers with different colors and models. By
the 1950s, GM had 60% of the market.
Although
we still celebrate Henry Ford’s breakthrough, at some point, he became stuck in
a rut of trying to make cheaper cars.
His declaration of ensuring
most households owned a car was accomplished in the 1920s. And that was the
time to explore new possibilities and declare a new future.
That leaves one question
What
do you do once the breakthrough has been accomplished? Unfortunately, too often
this is the dilemma of high performers.
It does not mean you do not
enjoy the fruits of your labor. The successful accomplishment of fulfilling a
bold future opens the door for you to declare a new future.
Instead of doing more of the
same, it’s the time to ask what you stand for and make a declaration for the
future that will shape an entirely new set of actions.
The
declaration is a way of showing something as missing.
Ford’s declaration about all
households was bold and there were no structures to fulfill it until the
invention of the assembly line.
Once the declaration was
fulfilled, there was no longer anything missing.
Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone
If
you find yourself stuck in a rut, it may be the proverbial comfort zone.
High performers sometimes hit
this wall of frustration. They are focused on doing more, better or different
things they already do well.
To get out of the rut,
allocate time to sit back and think about what’s next for you in your life or
career.
Ask questions like who do I
want to be in the future? What’s missing to get me there?
What structures do I need to
put in place to bridge the gaps between where I am and where I want to be? It
also helps to brainstorm with someone.
It will help you vet thoughts
and more clearly articulate what you would like to accomplish.
Mr. Ted Santos is skilled at reinventing
companies and individuals. Over the past 25 years, he has reinvented himself
several times. From sales trainer, executive manager, entrepreneur, executive
coach to currently Chairman of an organization that provides high-value
services to CEOs of midsize to large corporations, Mr. Santos is experienced
with change. As Chairman of the Board of Veteran CEOs, Mr. Santos is
responsible for developing strategic direction. He also recruits former CEOs of
Fortune 1000s to lead roundtable discussions to provide guidance and mentorship
to sitting CEOs of mid-cap companies. In addition, he offers direction to scale
BoV's value proposition beyond NYC and into major cities throughout the US. BoV
has expanded its offering to middle market CEOs by creating innovative
platforms designed to educate and develop CEOs in a confidential environment
with peers. Mr. Santos is a native of New Jersey and attended Howard University
as a marketing major.
No comments:
Post a Comment