Last week, T1, known at various times as Trojan Sports Marketing, Trojan Sports & Event Marketing, TrojanOne, and TrojanOne Integrated Brand Activation, turned thirty-one.
I did not intend to have as many names as candles on our corporate birthday cakes, but we have had a few rebrands since I launched the agency. The Trojan origins came from my high school football team, the Trojans of the now-defunct Park Street Collegiate Institute. The progression to T1 was easy, as it was the nickname our clients and colleagues referred to the agency by.
However, this is not a story about the evolution of our agency name, but rather a story about Leadership. For better or worse, when you are in business for a long time, you get asked a lot about leadership. Today, I thought I would share thirty-one leadership lessons with you that I have learned over time without any Artificial Intelligence, except my own, which is primarily made up. (* Resorted to use AI for the image.) Hopefully, I have thirty-one to share. Otherwise, I am going to have to redo the setup entirely.
Here goes. Thirty-one years of entrepreneurship translated into thirty-one leadership lessons.
- I believe passion is the most important trait a team member can have.
- A client once told me our agency meetings were the best hour of his day. Translate that into every meeting you participate in.
- Write down the three successes about your day, every day, and you will train yourself to find the daily wins.
- Always have one more deck, proposal, speech, script, or answer than you need to, no matter the meeting.
- The earlier you share bad news with people, the more likely you will be forgiven.
- Don’t be afraid of the truth; the facts are the facts.
- Routines eliminate low-value work for leaders.
- Routines also create comfort for teams.
- I am learning from my team to do a much better job of celebrating the little wins.
- The better things are going, the more likely they will worsen if you don’t pay attention. (Perhaps this is too autobiographical!)
- You don’t work for a company, you work for a person.
- Anyone who says they are an open book is an abject liar.
- Practice in sport and business should always be more difficult than the game.
- A powerful story is more impactful than an argument. (Although I should argue a little less.)
- Learn what keeps people up at night—this is my only skill.
- Every business is a people business.
- Success does not require Agreement
- The most important sale you make every day is to yourself.
- In business development, I remind sellers that no means not yet.
- Starting a new venture is not nearly as scary as leaving what is comfortable.
- Every story has three sides: mine, yours, and the truth.
- Believe you can always work your way out of any jam. (This may seem redundant when you come to # 26.)
- I have often been accused of changing my mind too frequently, a right I don’t relinquish. I believe it is the right of the individual who has the most information about a situation. You may not.
- More importantly, being consistent in approach is essential for a manager.
- Befriend the ‘janitors” in an organization to understand how it works.
- Deal from strength. As a friend shared with me, conduct yourself as you would if you were the head of state.
- Body language is the language of business.
- Leadership is a brand. What is your brand? When people say your name, what is expected, and do you deliver?
- Self-management is a choice that leaders make.
- I trust myself, because I doubt myself. I challenge myself (and others) every day.
- Life is too short to be little.
