1. Think that ideas have value.
2. Worry that someone will steal their ideas.
3. Should spend more time pondering why no one steals their “implementation.”

Going forward, let’s call any person that fits this description Bill Jr.

I frequently hear from Bill Jr. He wants to talk about his latest start-up idea – after I sign his non-disclosure agreement, of course.  Why the NDA? Because he thinks that his idea is worth millions.

And that’s the problem – the idea isn’t worth anything. An idea has no value until someone executes on that idea.

So Bill Jr., forgive me for laughing hysterically when you protect your ideas like a mother bear protects her cubs. I just can’t help it.

Belief in the mission matters. Do you believe in yours?

“All that my customers care about is price.”

Be honest – have you ever said those words? If so, I’ve got news:

You’re right.

But do you know why?

It’s because you haven’t really given customers much else to care about in the first place.

Yet somewhere along the line, companies started to favor rhetoric and excuses instead of results and accountability.

How do you know when a company lacks character? Simple. When discussing poor results, leadership:

• Makes excuses
• Rationalizes limited progress
• Formulates arguments to minimize accountability

Not so with companies of character. They tell the truth. They take responsibility for shortfalls and failures. And they refuse to play the victim just so they can feel good about themselves.

Character is a choice. And one alternative is more likely to lead to success than the other.

Choose wisely.

“Yes, I’d like to ship that for you, but you can’t use that box.”

“That’s a good idea. I’d like to say yes, but this isn’t the time to try something different.”

Somewhere along the line, people were conditioned to say no. What would happen if everyone in the company had to look for a reason to say yes?

Time.

Sound too simple? I’d probably agree – if not for the fact that using time well is incredibly difficult.

Perhaps this story will help you to change your perspective on time. Imagine that your bank credits you with $86,400 every morning. You don’t have to pay this money back, but there’s a catch – every night, the bank deletes any balance remaining in the account. So if you fail to use any portion of the money during the day, you lose it forever. In this scenario, would you be certain to withdraw every cent? Sure you would.

Every day, we receive a similar credit – 86,400 seconds of time. As with the imaginary bank, failure to use any portion of the daily deposit is your loss. So the question is this: how much value do you place on the time you have remaining today?

Every second of time is valuable. If that seems like an overstatement, you should talk with a person who just avoided a car accident. It’s quite possible that the difference between life and death came down to a single second (or less).

Yesterday is history.
Tomorrow is unknown.
Today is a gift.

Don’t waste it.

At first, it is difficult to wrap your arms around the magnitude of that loss. But what bothers me most is how quickly they folded. After all, this was the first women’s professional soccer league in the world. The owners should have expected success to take time.

ESPN began in 1979, but didn’t turn a profit until 1985 (six years). Turner Broadcasting Systems lost money during its first twelve years of operation. Robert Murdoch expanded into the U.S. market in 1973, but wasn’t profitable until 1983 (ten years). Airbus? They took twenty years.

The list goes on. What concerns me is that I regularly talk with entrepreneurs who think that the only way to win is by front-loading their idea with lots of cash and staff. The reality is that even if you have a great product, the smart thing to do is operate with as little money as possible. Had the WUSA done that, they might still be around today.

I’m not suggesting that you stop thinking big. Keep doing that. Just act small.

A lot of people think that we overextend ourselves. “Slow down,” we’re told. “Take a breath every once in a while. You can’t run at the extremes all of the time.”

We disagree. The days of moving slow are over. Look at the leaders of yesterday – battered, bruised, and frozen in fear. Running at the extremes is now an important component of winning.

How fast do you run?

Of course not. But we will need to make changes if we expect this year to be better than the last.

Start by ignoring the negative news. Research after the economic downturn of the 1990′s found that those exposed to excessive negative news reports had lower levels of motivation and engagement than those who ignored the news entirely.* Remember, sometimes media folks will overreact to something in order to make a point.

Second, redirect your energy on new ideas. Fortunately, Seth Godin compiled a (free) ebook that will help you get started. “What Matters Now” was written by more than seventy big thinkers – contributors include Guy Kawasaki, Gary Vaynerchuk, Hugh MacLeod, Dave Ramsey – the list goes on.

To download, click on the ebook cover above. Or simply go here.

Some of the ideas will apply to you; others will not. But each one will get you to think, and hopefully lead to even bigger ideas when you discuss what you’ve read with others.

Here’s to a great 2010!

* I made this up. See what I mean about making a point?

I was impressed with the speed of his decision. “Why wait?” he said. “I’d rather do work that matters.”

He looked at me. “You can do the same thing.”

I knew what he was about to say.

“You don’t have to settle.”

He was right. And I didn’t. But far too many of us do. We decide to accept careers, projects, companies, and relationships that are “good enough.”

How do you avoid settling? Simple. It’s a choice.

Like most entrepreneurs, I believe in thinking big. But there is a difference between a naïve entrepreneur and one that is relentlessly positive for the right reasons. Positive has a well-thought out plan. Positive knows when to tweak that plan in order to deal with inevitable setbacks. Positive balances wishful thinking with reality. 

Naïve doesn’t. Naïve uses optimism to mask reality. And optimism is not enough to achieve the impossible.   

If you’re a goal-oriented person and regularly push your limits, no doubt that you regularly run into obstacles. When you do, make sure that you know the difference between Naïve and Positive. 

One often leads to very unexpected outcomes.

I recently spoke with a friend of mine who works for a large organization and is, unfortunately, quite unhappy. He told me how the company ignores change. That no one is willing to take any risk. That many non-performers managed to avoid layoffs, while good people were shown the door. All while his demeaning manager (who sounded like the type of person Bob Sutton talked about in his book) created a miserable work environment.

Oh – and he mentioned that he doesn’t believe in what the company does.

So I made a suggestion: quit.

“No way,” he told me. “I can’t do THAT.”

Wondering why? I hardly think that his reasoning will surprise you.

Money.
Stability.
Fear.

“I’ll be fine,” he said. “I can play the game as well as anyone. It’s just a job.”

For a split second I almost believed him. But he didn’t stop there.

“I just wish I didn’t hate it so much.”

This may sound odd, but I now think that hate can be a positive emotion. In this case, it’s trying to tell him something.

It’s time to say goodbye, to move on. If you can’t change things, then go find something else. There are other places to work where you can make a real difference in the lives of your colleagues and customers. Better yet, go start a business of your own.

What would you do?