A Lifetime Of Lessons On Growth And Entrepreneurship

My conversation with Charlie Birney started off by discussing entrepreneurship and the lessons he learned from watching his dad in business growing up. While Charlie's dad was not formally educated in business, he was an entrepreneur and owner of several companies throughout his life. Charlie's dad didn't let his lack of formal education prevent him from seeing the potential and capitalizing on opportunities as they arose. When opportunities are identified don't waste time, explore them immediately to understand their viability. If an opportunity is viable, capitalize on it and start making strides to get you closer to turning the opportunity into reality. I have interviewed several CEOs and executives and they have all said a similar thing; where some see opportunity, others see nothingness. It is also important to remember that you don't need to know how to do everything in order to succeed, you need a team of people and you shouldn't go at it alone. Going into a business venture alone is next to impossible, you need to be able to identify and utilize resources and know whom to call to help. One of the hardest lessons you can learn from entrepreneurship is to leave your ego at the door and admit that you don't know everything. When you do this you open the way for much more growth potential than you had previously. Admitting you need help and identifying people to help you are two very important things in order to expand your potential, gain market share and grow your business. Charlie described his dad as having great instincts and that he always fell forward. No matter what his dad was always moving forward, towards something greater. By continually moving the needle forward you create unstoppable growth that no one can catch up to.

Charlie mentioned the phrase "just get started" towards the end of our conversation. I thought about those three simple words again and again for the remainder of the day. Just getting started as an entrepreneur is one of the hardest things you can do, as humans, we tend to overthink everything and wait for the perfect timing but if you wait too long the window of opportunity closes. It's so simple yet so profound, "just get started." If you give yourself an out for not doing something you are giving yourself permission to not succeed. What if instead of talking about doing something or waiting for the perfect time, you actually put into action and did it? Such simple advice but the only way to get better at something is to just do it, get your reps in and do it until it is natural for you and second nature. In order to become your best version of yourself, it is important to step out of your comfort zone and do things that challenge you but you first have to put in the action by just getting started. It does not have to be perfect and you may not have a complete plan, the most important thing is to simply get started. Start in small steps until the plan becomes more concrete and definite. This is wonderful life advice and business advice, in order to accomplish any goal you need to take the first step and keep going, one step at a time until your goal is realized.

We discussed transparency and employee engagement on social media or via internal company communication and their importance. This level of communication is not only recommended, but it is also necessary and it has become an expectation. Charlie mentioned something called inner podcasting which is essentially internal company communication. We also discussed other forms of executive communication such as social media platforms, including LinkedIn. Company culture is something that is reinforced with methods of communication such as inner podcasting and social media presence. This is something I believe in wholeheartedly and I'm glad Charlie touched on this subject. Clearly, Charlie was speaking from experience leading his own team as the co-founder of his company. If you are an executive in your company, it is your responsibility to lead teams of people. However, if you do not have a presence on social media platforms, especially on LinkedIn you are effectively missing the mark on company culture, employee engagement, employee retention, and talent management. It is important to remember that as a leader you need to be transparent and go where your people are. In order to be an effective leader, it is important for employees and prospective employees alike to be able to be inspired by you and view you as a source of information and inspiration. The changes that take place before and after executives develop a social media presence, appear on videos, and become clear with their communication efforts is night and day difference in terms of how they are perceived within their organization and beyond.

Our conversation covered many more topics in addition to the ones I wrote about but the key takeaways are to just get started, believe in yourself and your abilities, clearly communicate and engage with your audience, develop a strong presence on social media and give back to your community as much as possible. These are all brilliant pieces of advice for any entrepreneur or company executive especially since it is so easy to get off track and lose sight of your priorities. They are all essential to building a socially sustainable business model that survives long after you are gone. I have discussed legacy in several newsletters and it is quickly becoming a recurring theme. Think about the impact you are creating today but also years or even generations from now. Our actions compounded over time will either have a negative or positive impact on the world so actively make strides to eliminate negative impacts as much as possible so that you leave a legacy that is recognized as one of growth and not one of detriment.

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